Molly Brown, the heroine of the 1960s hit Broadway musical and film “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” earned her title near Halifax, the Canadian “City of the Titanic,” 85 years ago.
What is virtually unknown is that eight years later she proved to be “unsinkable” again when, on another voyage to England, her ship — this time the Quinneseco — was involved in an accident that forced it to be detained in the Halifax harbor for two weeks.
While in Halifax, the Titanic heroine took advantage of the delay to honor the memory of her fellow passengers and crew members who lost their lives on the Titanic. According to an Aug. 7, 1920, article in the Halifax Herald, she fashioned and laid wreaths on 150 graves of the ill-fated luxury liner’s victims during special ceremonies. After the sinking, rescuers had recovered more than 300 bodies from the Titanic and brought them into Halifax, where many of them were buried in the city’s Catholic, Protestant and Jewish cemeteries.
The story of this ship’s tragedy will be told in a $120 million blockbuster movie called “Titanic,” scheduled for release Dec. 19. Many of the scenes in the new movie were filmed in Halifax, where some of the remains of the “unsinkable” Titanic have ended up in the city’s Maritime Museum of the Atlantic on its revitalized downtown waterfront.
Richard MacMichael, an interpreter at the Maritime Museum, says a Titanic deck chair made for leisurely sunning in the cool North Atlantic sunlight is the most popular artifact in the museum. This simple folding wooden deck chair recovered from the sunken ship continues to evoke memories of that tragic time.
“More people come in asking to see that than anything else,” says MacMichael. Some visitors come in looking for the chair so they can make a copy for themselves; others visit to contemplate what life was like on the luxurious liner before it went down.
The sinking of the Titanic on April 14, 1912, and the events that tie the catastrophe to Halifax are explored in a new exhibit that opened this summer. Titanic fans now are able to view items that were long kept in storage and seldom seen, such as wooden decorative pieces, documents and photos recovered from some of the victims, and never-published historic photos. These displays joined artifacts already on display that included a piece of oak paneling from the First Class lounge covered with carved scrolls, musical instruments and an oak post with elaborate carvings of fruit, vegetables and flowers.
In 1912, the Titanic was the largest luxury liner of its time. Setting out on a maiden voyage, she struck an iceberg 400 miles off Newfoundland and began to sink almost immediately. The Titanic was ill equipped for such a disaster, and 1,503 people (about 70 percent of those on board) died.
The museum is dedicated to preserving the seafaring history of Atlantic Canada.
Besides the popular Titanic artifacts, exhibits tell of violent storms, icebergs, shipwrecks — and a giant explosion. In 1917, the largest man-made, non-nuclear explosion occurred in Halifax harbor when a French ship loaded with explosives for the World War I effort collided with another ship. The blast killed more than 2,000 people, injured 9,000 more and leveled the north end of the city.
Also part of the museum is the 80-year-old CSS Acadia, which sailed along the Canadian Atlantic coast for 56 years. Visitors can board the ship, which is docked outside the museum’s back door.
Elsewhere in town, the Halifax Citadel, Canada’s most-visited national historic site, overlooks the harbor from its strategic hilltop position. Built on the foundations of earlier forts dating back to 1749, the star-shaped Citadel was constructed between 1826 and 1856, and was one of Britain’s key strategic placements in North America.
The Citadel is open year-round, but from May 15 to Oct. 15 visitors also get to see re-enactors dressed in 19th Century British garb march inside the massive stone walls of the fort. The high point of the day is at noon, when crowds gather to await the firing of the cannon.
Citadel visitors can stroll through the restored barracks, military exhibits and a maze of vaulted stone corridors that led to hidden defensive positions. “Tides of History,” a 50-minute audio-visual show, tells more about the important role that this fort played in North American and world history. As our guide pointed out, if Halifax hadn’t been so strongly fortified by the British during the American Revolution, Nova Scotia might well have become America’s 14th state.
GET THE DETAILS ON THE HALIFAX AREA
Getting there: From Chicago, Air Canada provides connecting flights to Halifax for as low as $350 round trip (with restrictions; price subject to change). Rental cars are at the airport.
If you are driving, you can reach Nova Scotia by driving through New Brunswick or by ferry services from Bar Harbor or Portland, Maine.
Where to stay: For hotels, motels, inns, hostels and bed-and-breakfasts call 800-565-0000.
The museum: Halifax Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is at 1675 Lower Water St., Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 1S3; 902-424-7490. From Oct. 16 to May 31, the museum is open daily except Mondays and admission is free. The museum is open daily June 1-Oct.15, when admission is $4.50 adults, $1 children 6-17 (under 6, free). Interpretive staff are located in the museum and are happy to share their knowledge about it. Exhibits on sailing, shipwrecks and lifesaving, the Canadian Navy, small craft, and the age of steam also are featured.
Information: For a 350-page guide on Nova Scotia, write Nova Scotia Marketing Agency, P.O. Box 130, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 2M7. To receive Canada’s Atlantic Coast Adventure Guide/Touring Planner and Map, call 800-565-2627, Operator 500. For a visitors guide on Halifax, write Tourism Halifax, P.O. Box 1749, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 3A5; or call 800-565-0000.
