Tag: John S. March
RMS Titanic: Letters from a Lost Liner
- A detail from the claim submitted by Florence Gwinn, the widow of William Gwinn.
Today’s guest post was written by William B. Roka, a longtime volunteer at the National Archives in New York City. You can follow them on Facebook as they launch “Titantic Tuesdays” in the weeks leading up to the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.
Since I’m a total history nerd, I was ready to do a little dance when I was allowed to examine some of the Titanic documents in the National Archives as part of my work as a volunteer researcher. But I was disappointed when I saw that most of the documents looked very mundane.
This collection documents the court cases brought after the ship sank. The Titanic’s owner, the Ocean Steam Navigation Company (better known as White Star Line), did not want to pay in full the hundreds of claims for compensation filed by survivors and relatives of victims of the sinking. But as I trudged ahead with my work, I soon realized how wrong I was.
As I examined the claims, I saw that each one had a story to tell. One in particular stuck in my mind. William L. Gwinn was a sea postal clerk working for the U.S. Postal Service (see widow’s claim below). At first I thought he was a regular passenger … [ Read all ]
Posted by Hilary on February 7, 2012, under Unusual documents.
Tags: disaster, J. B. Williamson, Jago Smith, John S. March, mail, maritime disaster, new york city, Ocean Steam Navigation Company, Oscar S. Woody, post office, RMS Titanic, sinking, Titanic, White Star, White Star Line, William L. Gwinn, William Roka
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