Dramatic story of “unsinkable” TITANIC unfolds this summer at Portland Science Center
PORTLAND, ME – One hundred four years ago today, the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Within three hours, the largest ship in the world, touted as “unsinkable,” was gone. For more than seven decades, pieces of history lay undisturbed, 2.5 miles beneath the surface of the ocean. The wreckage of Titanic was discovered in 1985, and in 1987, recovery of historic artifacts began.
On June 18, 2016, the world-renowned Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition will open at the Portland Science Center.
The exhibition tells the dramatic and poignant story of the Ship, crew, and passengers who embarked on the voyage of a lifetime, only to be part of one of the greatest maritime disasters in history.
“The exhibition uses artifacts recovered from Titanic to tell the compelling human stories of those who were traveling from Southampton, England; Cherbourg, France; and Queenstown, Ireland to the United States,” said Joe Gold, President of The Gold Group, which owns and operates The Portland Science Center. “Some were First-class travelers, making the trip solely for pleasure, some were Third-class passengers hoping for a better life in America. The world changed—and certainly maritime travel changed—forever with the sinking of Titanic.”
Upon entrance, visitors to Titanic: The Artifacts Exhibition will be drawn back in time to 1912, as each will receive a replica boarding pass, that of an actual passenger aboard Titanic. They’ll then begin their chronological journey through the life of the Ship, moving through its construction, to life on board, to its ill-fated strike of an iceberg, and amazing artifact rescue efforts. Visitors will be able to press their palms against an “iceberg” while learning of countless stories of heroism and humanity. In the “Memorial Gallery” guests will take their boarding pass to the memorial wall and discover the actual fate of their passenger and traveling companions.
Titanic: The Artifacts Exhibition immerses visitors in the history of both the Ship and the Edwardian era, including the then-acceptable enforced separation of social classes.
“Passengers” will see full recreations of First- and Third-Class staterooms, containing authentic artifacts from Titanic.
The Ship carried 2,228 passengers but enough lifeboats for only 1,178. Following Titanic’s sinking, nations
came together in 1914 to establish the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea. In addition, numerous new regulations and communications protocols were put in place to improve maritime safety and prevent another such human tragedy.
“There’s so much history in this exhibit,” added Gold. “There’s also a look at the science and engineering that went into building Titanic. In this day and age, it’s important to understand what a marvel of engineering this was for its time. Aside from the declaration that it was unsinkable, Titanic was an amazing construction.”
Titanic statistics
882 feet, 9 inches long
92 feet, 6 inches wide
175 feet high, from keel to the top of the funnels
78 feet, 8 inches – the height of the rudder
46,328 tons
15 tons – the weight of each anchor (2)
840 staterooms
Over the past 25 years, more than 40 million people have seen this powerful exhibition in major museums worldwide – from Chicago to Los Angeles and Paris to London.
RMS Titanic, Inc. is the only company permitted, by law, to recover objects from the resting site of Titanic. The Company was granted Salvor-in-Possession rights to the site of Titanic by a United States federal court in 1994 and has conducted nine research and recovery expeditions to the Titanic recovering more than 5,500 artifacts.
Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition is a presentation of Premier Exhibitions, of Atlanta, Georgia
About the Portland Science Center
About The Gold Group (Portland Exhibitions, LLC)
Media Contact: Jill Valley-Orlando jill@knightcanney.com 808.271.3624
Portland Science Center
68 Commercial Street – Maine Wharf – Portland, ME