Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition visits Ft. Worth

I recently visited an exhibit that was more moving, and more beautifully laid out than any I’ve experienced in recent memory -Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition.

This traveling exhibit is currently making it’s home at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, and is a truly engaging experience. Museum goers are able to use all their senses to experience what being a passenger on the Titanic may have been like…

Upon entry to the exhibit – you will receive a ticket to board the Titanic. On the back of your ticket, it will give you the name of an actual passenger of the Titanic along with pertinent facts about them. Why they were sailing on the titanic, and what class of passenger were they? You experience the rest of the exhibit through “your” passengers eyes. You may even come in contact with some of the artifacts that your passenger had on the ship in one of the museum cases.

Walk down a corridor that is recreated to look like what first class passengers would have experienced walking to their staterooms. Perhaps “your” passenger was in 3rd class, down in steerage? Walk down a hall that recreates that experience, as well as showing you what your room would have looked like. You will even hear the ships boilers rumbling as steerage was located close to them…

Learn why most of the passengers of the Titanic that perished did not die of drowning… but from something else. Put your hand on a real frozen “iceberg” and feel how cold the water would have been, see the emergency steering wheel that would have been at the center of the chaos that April night.

There are truly so many amazing objects recovered from the wreck that you can actually look at close up.  Jewelry, clothing, china, personal papers- it’s truly riveting .

At the end of the exhibit I was met with a memorial wall. All the passengers of the Titanic are sorted by class – and if they perished or survived. The passenger ticket I was issued upon entrance was of a man newly married, on his honeymoon. He and his wife were 3rd class passengers, and I was truly saddened to find my passengers name on the list of those that perished. Next to me a child on a school field trip exclaimed “I made it! I made it! My passenger survived. She got on a life boat!”

What impressed me most about this exhibit was it’s ability to satisfy so many aspects of a museum goers interests in this tragedy. The mechanics of the sinking, the history of the time, the daily life of passengers – and a window into the personal experiences of those on board as dictated by the class of ticket that they purchased. Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition is a must do in my opinion, too moving to be missed. And the gift shop may be just what you need this holiday when shopping for the person who has everything. You can even take a piece of the Titanic home with you:)

It should be noted:  tickets to this exhibit are separate from regular museum admission, and can be purchased for specific time slots online or at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History box office.

OCTOBER 13, 2012 – MARCH 24, 2013

 *Special thanks and  all photo credit goes to Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition.

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