The Titanic: More Than Just History

I had the opportunity to visit the Titanic Exhibit at Foxwoods Casino in CT on Monday.  This traveling exhibit contains actual artifacts recoverd from the Titanic and tells the story of the Titanic and the people aboard.  It was quite a moving experience seeing personal possessions and realizing that these were people with plans, hopes, and dreams that went unfulfilled. 
One artifact recovered was of a gentlemen's itinerary.  According to this itinerary, he was supposed to continue traveling through Europe and Africa.  Had he followed these plans, he would not have died aboard the Titanic. There were many stories of passengers that were not supposed to be aboard the ill-fated ship but were transferred at the last moment.  There were heroic stories of people sacrificing their lives for the greater good and cowardly stories of people only out for themselves.  It reminded me that under extreme cicumstances you see the best and worst of humanity.  I like to focus on the best. 
One story that struck me was of a crew member that continued to send out distress signals to ensure that the people on the lifeboats were saved.  He eventually made it to a lifeboat, but died of exhaustion and hypothermia.
This exhibit also reminded me of why it important to preserve the past.  These stories are all part of our common history.  They remind us that we are all part of something bigger than ourselves and that each part is important.  I think that's why I love antiques so much; they connect me to the past and I feel that by appreciating these "things" we are helping to preserve our history for future generations. 

Visit http://www.titanictix.com/ for more info about the exhibit...

Photos of the recovery effort...

Passengers aboard the Titanic...

Recovered artifacts...