Jacques Futrelle: The Titanic Writer Who Chose His Wife’s Survival Over His Own

Jacques Futrelle: The Titanic Writer Who Chose His Wife’s Survival Over His Own

I have been learning about some of the people on board Titanic. So let me tell you about Jacques Futrelle

He was born on the 9th of April 1875 in Georgia. He found his way into newspapers, working in cities like Atlanta, New York, and Boston. It was here that he invented his creation of Professor Van Dusen, “The Thinking Machine,” a character built on logic and reason. 

In 1895, he married Lily May Futrelle, and he had children. By 1906, he left journalism to focus fully on writing, settling by the sea.

In April 1912, he was returning home aboard the RMS Titanic. When as we know disaster struck. He refused a place in a lifeboat, but he ensured his wife’s safety instead. 

When faced with the unimaginable, would we act with the same clarity and selflessness?

Scipio Africanus: Part 2: Gamble in Hispania and the Fall of Carthaginian Power.

Scipio Africanus: Part 2: Gamble in Hispania and the Fall of Carthaginian Power.

We have been finding out about Scipio Africanus, so today I want to find out about his connection to the Second Punic War.

By 211 BC, Rome’s position in Spain had collapsed. Publius Cornelius Scipio, his father and Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus, his uncle, had both been killed after dividing their forces, this had left Roman control in chaos.

Commanders like Hasdrubal Barca and his allies had regained the advantage.

In 210 BC, Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, had never held high office, he was still young. But he was given command. 

In 209 BC, he made an unexpected move. Instead of chasing armies, he struck them directly at Qart-Hadast, the heart of Carthaginian power in Hispania. Making a daring assault across a lagoon at low tide, he managed to capture the city. The aftermath was brutal, him and his troops showed very little mercy at first, perhaps this was meant to shock others into submission. But Scipio quickly changed his approach, he offered protection and was even generous to local hostages. This change from brutality to clemency, seems rather calculated, he may well have been trying to win loyalty as well as gain a victory.

The following year, he faced Hasdrubal, a key Carthaginian commander, near Baecula. Though he was won, he could not capture Hasdrubal, he had escaped to Italy. But momentum had clearly shifted in his favour. By 206 BC, at the Battle of Ilipa, Scipio completely destroyed the remaining Carthaginian resistance. Many towns fell, some put up fierce resistance. While others simply surrendered, but some choose tragic ends rather than being capture. 

Alliances were everything. Scipio had support from people like Massinissa, who was a Numidian king. This alliance would prove crucial. Gradually though, Carthaginian power in Spain had begun to crumble, and even Gades, the city that had served as a major port, trade hub, and naval stronghold, surrendered.

Do you think Scipio was motivated by ambition, by duty, or by the pressure of living up to the family that had fallen before him?

Image info:

Date: 1666 – 1671

Josephine Beatrice Bowman: The Navy Nurse Who Helped Lead Women Into Military Service

Josephine Beatrice Bowman: The Navy Nurse Who Helped Lead Women Into Military Service

I have been learning about the people who served in the wars. I came across Josephine Beatrice Bowman.

She was born on the 19th of December 1881 in Des Moines in Iowa. At a time when professional opportunities for women were still very limited, she trained as a nurse at the Medico-Chirurgical Hospital in Philadelphia and graduated in 1904. She joined the American Red Cross Nursing Service, and assisted victims of a devastating tornado in Mississippi in 1908.

Later that year, on the 3rd of October 1908, she became one of the first twenty women to join the newly formed United States Navy Nurse Corps, often remembered as part of the “Sacred Twenty.” She was promoted to Chief Nurse by 1911. In 1914, she temporarily left the Navy to serve with the Red Cross in Great Britain during the beginning of the First World War. She cared for wounded soldiers at the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar. She returned to the naval service in 1915.

By 1916, she was stationed in Guam, where she helped to train local Chamorro women in nursing and midwifery. When the United States entered the First World War, she served as Chief Nurse at the Naval Hospital in Great Lakes, Illinois, overseeing the staff during both the war and the influenza pandemic of 1918–1919. She later worked at a naval tuberculosis sanitarium in Colorado, continuing to care for those affected by long-term illness.

In 1919, she led the first group of Navy nurses to serve at sea aboard the hospital ship USS Relief, this was a huge moment for women in naval service. In 1922, she became superintendent of the Navy Nurse Corps, a role that she held for over twelve years. During this time, she worked to improve pay, conditions, and professional opportunities for nurses, while also pushing for recognition.

Although she did not receive specific named medals for her service, her contributions were formally recognised when she was granted the rank of lieutenant commander when she retired in 1935. She spent her later years in Pennsylvania, remaining active in nursing circles until her death on the 3rd of January 1971 at the age of 89. 

Lucile Carter: The Society Woman Who Took an Oar and Rowed for Survival

Lucile Carter: The Society Woman Who Took an Oar and Rowed for Survival

I have been learning about some of the people who were aboard the Titanic. I want to tell you about Lucile Carter.

She was born on the 8th of October 1875 in Baltimore, into a well-connected and comfortable family. By her teenage years she was already appearing in society pages. 

In 1896, she married William Ernest Carter, who was the heir to a large coal fortune. She became known for her bold fashion and her adventurous spirit, she took part in activities that were unusual for women of the time.  She rode astride a horse and drove a carriage through busy streets. 

By the early 1900s, the family were dividing their time between Europe and America. In April 1912, they boarded the RMS Titanic with their children and servants.

When the ship hit an iceberg on the 14th of April 1912, Lucile was luck to be able to get herself in a lifeboat with her children. There was not enough crew to manage the boat, so she took an oar and began to row. What an  image, a woman from high society, forced into action, not out of expectation but necessity. Later, she was recognised as one of the women who helped row the lifeboats to safety.

In 1914, she divorced her husband, and later accounts suggested that their marriage was not happy. It makes me wonder how the events of that night may have changed her perspective.

That same year, she remarried George Brooke Jr., and although the years that followed brought house fires and the disruptions of war. But they seemed happy and they had a daughter together.

She died on the 26th of October 1934 at the age of 59. 

What do you think defines courage, the actions we take in crisis, or the choices we make afterwards?

Scipio Africanus: Part One - The Roman General

Scipio Africanus: Part One - The Roman General

I have been learning about the Roman Republic and I wanted to find out more about some of the people that were there. Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus was one of those people.

Today I am learning a bit about his early life. 

He was born around 236 BC, his family were the Cornelii Scipiones, a family where success was expected. He was surrounded by relatives who had held high office.  

When the Second Punic War broke started in 218 BC, everything changed. He followed his father into the army. During a clash near the river Ticinus, his father was surrounded by enemy cavalry led by Hannibal Barca. Scipio is said to have rode forward to help save him. 

In 216 BC, he served as a military tribune and witnessed the Roman defeat at the Battle of Cannae. Tens of thousands of soldiers were killed, and panic soon spread. But he helped rally those that were left. There is even a story that he forced fleeing nobles to swear they would not abandon Rome. Whether this is  embellished or not, it shows how he was remembered.

He continued to rise. In 213 BC, while he was still younger than most candidates, he was elected aedile, a public official. Some tried to block him because of his age, but the people really supported him. 

Do you think a crisis can reveal who someone really is, or do they create the person they become?

Image info:

Artist: Andrea Schiavone

Date: 1558

Collection: Kunsthistorisches Museum

Ursula Tibbels Auer: The Nurse Who Served Across Two World Wars

Ursula Tibbels Auer: The Nurse Who Served Across Two World Wars

I have been learning about the people who served in the wars. And I discovered Ursula Tibbels Auer.

She was born on the 23rd of April 1883 in Missouri in the United States, a time when women didn’t have many opportunities. She trained as a nurse in Kansas and then studied food science at the University of Washington. 

She worked as a teacher before becoming involved in nursing organisations. By the 1910s, she was already active in the Washington State Nurses Association.

When the First World War started, she served with the American Red Cross, she worked across Europe, including in France, Belgium, Turkey, Greece, Italy, and Serbia. In 1919, she took charge of an infant welfare work, which helped vulnerable families and also displaced children.

For this, she was awarded the Cross of Mercy. When she returned home, she got married to Carl Ludwig Auer in 1920 and together they started a family. During the 1920s, she co-founded a baby food company in Seattle, which helped to improve nutrition for children. She continued her work as a school nurse and social worker.

During the Second World War, she again served, teaching first aid, home nursing, and even gas mask use. She remained active in veterans’ and service organisations.

She lived a long life of service, passing away in 1981 at the age of 98.

She Survived the Titanic… Then Played Herself on Screen

She Survived the Titanic… Then Played Herself on Screen

I have been learning about the people who were on board Titanic, so today I want find out more about Dorothy Gibson.

She was born on the 17th of May 1889 in Hoboken in New Jersey, sadly her father died while she was still very young. Growing up at a time when opportunities for women were very limited, she found a way to by performing. By her late teens, she was working as a singer and a dancer and she appeared in theatre productions.

Around 1909, she became a model for the well-known illustrator Harrison Fisher. Her image was widely used, and she became known as one of his most recognisable “girls.” Her personal life was complicated, she married but sadly it did not last, like many women of her era, her private life did not always match the glamorous image that was presented to the public.

By 1911, she had moved into the world of film. She became one of the early actresses to be promoted as a star. Her natural acting style made her popular, and she seemed to be at the start of a long and successful career.

She married George Henry Battier Jr. in 1910, but the relationship did not last, and they separated not long after, and eventually divorced in 1913.

In April 1912, after spending a holiday in Italy, Dorothy and her mother boarded the RMS Titanic to return home to America. On the night of the 14th of April, she was relaxing with friends, then everything changed. When the ship hit the iceberg, the shock and confusion must have been immense. She and her mother managed to escape in Lifeboat 7, the first to boat be lowered into the sea. 

Within weeks of arriving back in New York, she wrote and starred in a film based on her experience, Saved from the Titanic. She even wore the same clothes she had worn that night. It must have been difficult to relive her trauma so soon, maybe she felt torn between a professional opportunity and her trauma. She was hugely successful but not long after filming she stepped away from movies, turning instead to music and she later moved to Europe. She went on to have a highly publicised relationship with film producer Jules Brulatour, which brought her both support and unfortunately scandal, because he was already married. She was also in a fatal car accident, where she tragically killed a pedestrian. Looking to distance herself from the gossip, she eventually settled in Paris, trying to reinvent her life away from the spotlight.

During the Second World War, she was living in Italy for a time. Unfortunately she became entangled in political tensions. She was arrested, and even imprisoned for anti-fascism. She did however manage to escape along with two other prisoners, with the help of the Italian resistance.

She spent her final years in France, where she died on the 17th of February 1946 at the age of 56. 

Do you think she ever found peace-or did the weight of those moments stayed with her for the rest of her life?