Titanic victims find peace in Halifax
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia -- You know when you're in the White Star Line plot at Fairview Lawn Cemetery because the tombstones are lined up in military precision. There are 121 of them, all bearing the identical date of death: April 15, 1912.
On a gray, drizzly day, retired school principal Glenn Taylor pauses before a stone inscribed J. Dawson. The grass in front is trampled. Faded flowers lie at its base. It has been this way since 1997, when Titanic first hit theaters.
"The gardeners can't get the grass to grow since the movie came out," Taylor says. "People think the J. Dawson buried here was the basis for Leonardo DiCaprio's character (Jack Dawson). He wasn't. This was 23-year-old Irishman Joseph Dawson, a coal trimmer on the Titanic."
Fairview Lawn Cemetery is one of 24 spots in this Atlantic Canada city with links to the world's most famous shipwreck. Of course, it has more going for it than Titanic lore. There's a vibrant waterfront that in summer bustles with outdoor diners, buskers and shoppers. Its 19th-century hilltop citadel is imposing. And its maritime museum and public gardens (with a model of the Titanic floating in a pond) are top-notch.
But with 2012 marking the centennial of the maritime disaster that killed 1,523 passengers and crew, the city is poised for a flurry of Titanic-related activity that will continue even after solemn ceremonies on April 14 and 15.
Two commemorative Titanic cruises bound for the wreck site 700 miles offshore are planned in April. And Titanic-themed events, including theater performances, lectures and exhibits, will play into summer.
"People are drawn to the Titanic like no other disaster," says Taylor, who comes to this conclusion after six years conducting tours of Halifax's Titanic-linked sites for Ambassatours Gray Line.
In the two hours and 40 minutes from the time of the first distress call to being rescued or enveloped by the North Atlantic waters, "people faced so many consequences. Individuals can ask themselves, 'What would I have done? Would I have been brave?' How do you say goodbye to your husband or your wife?" Taylor muses.
"It draws out so many emotions, and that's why I think the Titanic story will go on forever."
Halifax was an unwitting participant in that story. St. John's, Newfoundland, was closer to the wreckage, but because Halifax had reliable rail connections to America, Titanic's owner, White Star Line, chose to stage recovery operations from here.
An exhibit opening April 12 at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic will explore the role of cable ships (used to lay trans-Atlantic communications cable on the ocean floor) in recovering bodies.
In its permanent Titanic exhibit, the museum displays a wooden deck chair from the ship (it was picked up by the cable ship Minia and given to a local clergyman who had performed many of the services at sea for victims). Part of the ship's Grand Staircase and a newel post are on display. So are a pair of tiny leather shoes belonging to a victim dubbed "the unknown child."
Transcripts of the distress calls, the first of which came at 12:05 a.m. April 15, are here, along with details of personal effects found with the victims. For instance, records show that financier John Jacob Astor wore a blue serge suit, gold watch and gold diamond-inlaid cuff links, and he carried 225 pounds in British currency and $2,440.
Related sites walk 'a fine line'
