Titanic Exhibit

Introduction

Just a few words about the present exhibit. Serious scholarly effort is not represented here, but rather an attempt to highlight the potential of newspapers as sources for historical and cultural research.

Why an exhibit about the Titanic? Its a great human story, with cultural significance, enduring appeal, old and new controversy, and very well covered in newspapers.

These images represent first and foremost a story. The Titanic sank on April 14, 1912, off the coast of Newfoundland. The story is full of the pathos of 1500+ casualties, the heroism and/or cowardice among the passengers and crew; the very real questions relating to cause and effect; and the continuing aftermath.

But the sinking of the Titanic is more than an isolated historical event. She was the product of early 20th century industrial vigor, a concrete sign of western progress which supported a naive confidence in the boundless limits of technology in man's conquest over nature. The disaster has been interpreted as a metaphor for the failure of industrial civilization to build itself into a better unsinkable tomorrow!

The images themselves represent a sort of social history, 1912 caught in the amber of newsprint. In this context it is not just a question of what is covered--society, fashion, world events--but how the news is conveyed, these images reveal a past era's norms of public expression.

Lastly, there is the simple issue of preservation. Newsprint is a fragile and transitory but invaluable resource for this sort of factual and cultural information. This exhibit will underscore the potential of newspapers for research and the challenge they may present to students and researchers. To this end no heroic efforts have been made to produce the best images possible, but to produce a serviceable image from microfilm. Many newspapers exist on poorly produced or maintained film, researchers and students face this problem everyday!. The images reproduced here illustrate the need to preserve our heritage in a stable and durable medium which maintains content as well as format.