The Dogs Aboard the Titanic

Of all the coverage of the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster, has anyone thought about the dogs? There were a dozen canines aboard the ship when it sank. J. Joseph Edgette, professor emeritus of education and folklorist emeritus at Widener University is curating an exhibit devoted to the dogs of the Titanic.

Those that were saved included a baby Pomeranian named Lady, owned by Margaret Hays of New York City, who kept the puppy in the cabin with her, Edgette said. When passengers were evacuated, Hays wrapped it in a blanket. Crew members allowed her to get in a lifeboat with the puppy. “Because they assumed it was a baby, it survived,” he said.

Others that lived were Sun Yat-sen, a Pekinese belonging to Henry and Myra Harper (of Harper & Row publishing fame), also of New York City, and a small Pomeranian owned by Elizabeth Rothschild from Watkins Glen, N.Y.

All surviving dogs were small and were kept in the first-class cabins of their owners, Edgette said. “The crew was very respectful of first-class passengers and usually gave them what they wanted to make them happy.” The nine dogs kept in the onboard kennel perished, though the kennel was well-kept and the dogs were well taken care of, he said, by crew who fed and walked them.

The exhibit at the Widener University Art Gallery in Chester, Pennsylvania, will run through May 12. Admission is free. Link -via Time