Blockbuster Titanic exhibition brings objects, stories to the Milwaukee Public Museum

ONE OF the most popular museum exhibitions in history, telling the tragic story of the sinking of the RMS Titanic nearly a century ago, comes to the Milwaukee Public Museum Oct. 10.

Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, already viewed by more than 20 million people worldwide, will be making its first Midwest appearance here. It will remain at the museum through May 25, 2009.

"Titanic holds a fascinating place in history, and we are thrilled to present her story through this blockbuster exhibition at the Milwaukee Public Museum, " commented Dan Finley,

In an otherwise calm April morning in 1912, the RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic after colliding with an iceberg. On board the maiden voyage of the "world's largest ship" were 2,228 passengers, from titans of industry, artists, senior governmental leaders to immigrant families dreaming of a new life in America.

More than 1,500 died in the disaster that nobody believed could happen.

The exhibition is designed to focus on the legendary RMS Titanic's compelling human stories as best told through hundreds of authentic artifacts and extensive room re-creations. Perfume from a maker who was traveling to New York to sell his samples, china etched with the logo of the elite White Star Line, even a 3,000 pound portion of Titanic's hull - these and many other authentic objects offer haunting, emotional connections to lives abruptly ended or forever altered.

Entering the exhibition, visitors are quickly drawn back in time to 1912 as each receives a replica boarding pass of an actual passenger. Then they begin a chronological journey through the life of the Titanic, moving through the ship's construction, to life on board, to the ill-fated sinking and amazing artifact rescue efforts.

Visitors marvel at the re-created first and third class cabins, view the ship's cargo hold, and press their palms against an iceberg while learning of countless stories of heroism and humanity.

One of the many galleries will be dedicated to Wisconsin connections, where visitors can learn about how the sinking of the great ship strongly resonated, even locally. And in the "Memorial Gallery" guests will take their boarding pass to the memorial wall and learn if their passenger and traveling companions survived or perished.

The exhibition is produced by Atlanta-based TMS Titanic, Inc., which is the only company permitted, by law, to recover objects from the wreck of the RMS Titanic. The company has conducted seven research and recovery exhibitions to the Titanic site, recovering approximately 5,500 artifacts.

The Milwaukee Public Museum is one of the country's premier natural history museums, opening its doors in 1884, 28 years before the Titanic sank and a century before the wreck of the ship was first discovered in 1985.

A preview of Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition and a look at the museum's new Hebior mammoth display is available in the first KEY Insider video on this month's KeyMilwaukee.com home page.

Advanced tickets to the Titanic exhibition are strongly recommended and can be purchased at www.mpm.edu or by calling 414-223-4676. The exhibit will be open from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and Saturdays, on selected Fridays from 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. and from noon - 6 p.m. Sundays. Admission to the special exhibition includes museum general admission.

Fascinating facts about RMS Titanic

- It cost $7.5 million to build Titanic and carried a $5 million insurance policy. It would cost about $400 million to build today.

- If the ship's bow had crashed straight into the iceberg, the Titanic and most of its passengers would have survived.

- Even if all 20 lifeboats had been filled to capacity, there would only have been room in them for 1,178 people.

- At first, most of the passengers did not believe the Titanic was really sinking, hence the low number of 19 aboard the first lifeboat, even though it could carry 65.

- Lookout Archie Jewell had told his mate George Symons, "You can smell the ice before you get to it." The minerals in icebergs that have broken off from glaciers in Greenland give off a distinctive odor as the icebergs melt on their journey south.

- The Titanic was one of the first ships in distress to send out an "SOS" signal..

- Initial headlines of the Titanic disaster claimed all passengers survived and the ship was being towed to land.

- The White Star Line was not blamed for the Titanic's sinking because the Board of Trade feared that this would result in lawsuits that would hurt the line's profits and damage the reputation of British shipping.

- No skeletons remain at the wreck site. Any bodies carried to the seabed with the wreck were eaten by fish and crustaceans.