By JOE HART , 07/09/2004

If there was one common memory among the survivors of the RMS Titanic after the morning of April 15, 1912, it was the cold - the bitter cold of the Atlantic air and the numbing cold of the Atlantic Ocean.

They could agree on that - and on the shock of seeing the grandest luxury liner ever built literally disappearing beneath their feet.

Advertisement
Those twin sensations - the cold and the shock - are vividly recreated as "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition" opens today at the Franklin Institute, 222 N. 20th St.

The 15,000-square-foot display, which extends through two floors of the grand old museum, recreates the saga of the doomed White Star liner from conception to destruction and rediscovery. Through artifacts, through sight and through sound, the tragedy that claimed some 1,500 people comes to vivid life in a digital age undreamed of when the great ship went down.

"It's an opportunity for people to connect with the story that's kind of entrenched in our history," said Steve Snyder, the Franklin Institute's vice president of exhibits and program development. "It's really an opportunity to see the truth of the history in a very real and tangible way."

At the emotional core of the exhibition are the artifacts recovered from the wreck, 2.5 miles below the surface, by an international consortium of scientists and explorers. Since the ship was found by oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard in 1986, that consortium has made six journeys to the site and recovered thousands of items from Titanic's decks and the debris field that surrounds them on the ocean floor. Those items, the exhibitors vow, will never be sold but will be shown to the public to continue to teach the history of the ship.

More than 300 of those artifacts are on display at the Franklin Institute. There's a Welin davit that helped launch one of the ship's 20 lifeboats, being shown in public for the first time. There's the bridge telegraph First Officer William Murdoch used in a frantic attempt to steer the ship away from the iceberg. And there is a chandelier, a purser's safe, and other ship's instruments, all painstakingly restored after spending more than 80 years at the bottom of the North Atlantic.

And there are more personal items, reminders of the people who made the maiden voyage, and of those who would never complete it. There's a man's pocket watch, its hands forever frozen after the ship sank at 2:20 a.m. There are playing cards bored travelers may have used to while away the hours of a long sea voyage; a hairbrush back, perhaps from a first-class dressing table; a man's suitcase; a neatly folded brown suit vest and slacks. There's an ink- and water-stained piece of sheet music for the song "Put Your Arms Around Me Honey." And there are delicate pieces of white Titanic china, still bearing the red flag of the White Star Line, some of them chipped, themselves survivors of an improbable journey into darkness and back to the light.

Snyder said he was most moved by a pair of bifocals recovered from the wreck because he, too, wore bifocals as a child. "It really brought it home what we're talking about. These were very really personal objects. That made it more than the story of the unsinkable ship that sank." Visitors are given tickets bearing a Titanic passenger's name at the entrance of the exhibition, and they hold them as they walk by full-scale recreations of a First Class stateroom, the Grand Staircase, and a Third Class bunk.

They pause before a massive "iceberg" mounted on the wall and feel how cold the water was on that star-crossed night. And then, after entering a Memorial Hall that details the aftermath of the disaster, they can stop before an imposing wall listing the names of all the passengers and crew -- and learn whether the person named on the ticket survived the sinking.

"That's the power of this. There are so many archetypal stories that resonate with people - from the band that played even though they knew what their fate would be, from those who stayed off the lifeboats, who stayed on the boat and took their chances with the boat going down," Snyder said.

"All these things point out the very human qualities, the strength of the people during a crisis. That's the strength of the exhibition."

If You Go

* "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition" runs through Jan. 2, 2005, at the Franklin Institute, 222 N. 20th St., Philadelphia. Hours are 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Tuttleman IMAX Theater featuring the documentary, "Titanica," runs until 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

* Tickets: $22.75 for adults, $20 for seniors and military; $16 for children ages 4-11. Audio tour is $5 additional. Admission to "Titanica" is $4. Evening summer admission on Fridays and Saturdays is $14 for adults and seniors and $10 for children ages 4-11; first admission is 4 p.m., last at 7:30 p.m. Tickets include admission to the Titanic exhibition, all museum exhibits and live shows. Timed tickets will be issued for the Titanic exhibition only. For advance tickets call (866) 312-3931 or go to www.fi.edu/titanic. Payment by Visa, MasterCard or American Express accepted.

* Parking: The museum's parking garage is on 21st Street between Winter and Race. Reduced rates available with museum validation.

* Information: Call the museum at (215) 448-1200 or visit www.fi.edu.

from 302251The Daily Times 2004