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In this Issue

48 Years of continuous publication

This is the final issue for 2011 and our readers have a wonderful variety of articles to choose from. The featured story is about a famous building still in London under another name––however a century ago without a doubt, Oceanic House was a landmark and will always be associated with one man and two steamships. J. Bruce Ismay, as President of the IMMCo and Chairman and Managing Director of White Star, was instrumental in acquiring the site for the combined companies in the centre of London. Following his late father and the design and construction of 30 James Street, at the height of the Victorian era, the son wished to mark his tenure at the head of White Star and IMMCo with an equally impressive structure. Always in the shadow of his father, Oceanic House, with its exuberance of decoration, was a design Thomas Ismay would probably have disapproved of; nevertheless it symbolized his son’s determination in an age of excess in ornamentation to make a lasting impression. Oceanic House, the name chosen for the West End offices would represent not just White Star as the leading line in the combine but all the IMMCo companies including Holland-America. Paul Louden-Brown chronicles the building’s fascinating story.

While history has given prominence to coverage of the Titanic disaster by male reporters Carlos Hurd (New York Evening World/St. Louis Post-Dispatch), Jim Speers (New York Times) and Jack Binns (New York American), editors Charles E. Chapin (New York Evening World) Carr Van Anda (New York Times), and Ogden M. Reid (New York Tribune), and publishers Ralph Pulitzer (New York World), Adolph Ochs (New York Times), James Gordon Bennett Jr. (New York Herald), and William Randolph Hearst (New York Journal), extraordinary reporting of the ‘story of the century’ was also provided by four newspaperwomen: Americans May R. Birkhead and Katherine C. Hurd, and Canadians Mary Dawson Snider and Betty Thornley. Michael Dupuis brings their stories to life. [if not enough room on home page, cut here]

Also in this issue is a follow-up letter by Katherine Hurd onboard Carpathia about Titanic’s sinking; an interesting commentary on the “Responsibility for the Titanic Disaster” and two little features on how the sinking of the Titanic was commercialized in April 1912 and why Olympic was in the Panama Canal in Company advertisements.

The 2012 THS convention itinerary (April 20-22, 2012) and registration form is in this issue. Built around the Titanic Centennial Memorial unveiling and dedication at Oak Grove Cemetery in Springfield, Massachusetts on April 21, the convention programs and dinners will be especially memorable. Please sign up early either online or by surface mail.

CONTENTS

OCEANIC HOUSE–WHITE STAR’S LONDON WEST END OFFICES
By Paul Louden Brown

WOMEN REPORTERS AND THE TITANIC STORY
By Michael Dupuis

KATHERINE HURD WRITES ABOUT THE TITANIC DISASTER AFTERMATH
With thanks to Frances (Hurd) Stadler

TITANIC CENTENNIAL MEMORIAL DONORS AND DEDICATION WEEKEND CONVENTION

THE WHITE STAR LINE, S.S. OLYMPIC AND THE PANAMA CANAL
San Francisco Call Archives

TICHNOR BROTHERS AND SELLING THE TITANIC DISASTER IN 1912
By Karen Kamuda

TITANIC PIGEON FORGE REMEMBERS THE 100th ANNIVERSARY WITH A ROSE PETAL CEREMONY
By Karen Kamuda

RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE TITANIC DISASTER
From the Literary Digest May 4, 1912

SEA POSTE
A couple of letters correcting the glass slide as Mauretania was Aquitania; what happened to Edith [Russell] Rosenbaum’s pig?, what was it made of?; a rivet from the Titanic?; information on the final identification of the unknown child in Fairview Lawn Cemetery is available; questions on original findings of unknown child in same cemetery; questions about a deck chair purchased many years ago in South Australia.

BOOK REVIEWS
How to Survive the Titanic, or the Sinking of J. Bruce Ismay by Frances Wilson reviewed by Paul Louden-Brown; RMS Titanic, Owners’ Workshop Manual by David F. Hutchings and Richard de Kerbrecht also France/Norway by John Maxtone-Graham reviewed by Tim Trower

FRONT COVER A striking illustration of Olympic steaming along near the end of her transatlantic voyage as a pilot boat stands by. The painting circa 1910 is by the noted maritime artist Charles Dixon.

BACK COVER A postcard of Oceanic House, published by the Company in 1905. The printing, like all White Star’s postcards, was by the Liverpool Printing & Stationery Company. (Paul Louden-Brown collection)