Millvina Dean and the Titanic memory

01 Jun 2009

Obituaries of Millvina Dean are everywhere today. Even though she was just 3 months old when the Titanic sank - and therefore had no actual memories of the disaster - she was nevertheless its last surviving passenger, and in her later life became an active participant in Titanic societies and memorial events. There's some lovely video of her talking about her experiences, and more personal stories from survivors in the BBC Archive collection.

Millvina's story reminds me how powerful personal accounts are, and how quickly they engage our imagination of historical events. This is something that Walter Lord knew and captured in his book A Night to Remember, and something that William Macquitty saw clearly when he read Lord's book and realised it would make a compelling film. Their collection of letters, transcripts, and memorabilia is held in our archive collection and is a fascinating study on oral history and story.

You can hear more about some specific items from the Lord Macquitty collection in our first Archive Journey podcast (which we hope to follow with another in the very near future!), and if you would like to pay your respects to Millvina Dean, Encyclopedia Titanica is running a thread on its message board for her.

Renee (Digital Resources Librarian)