EJ Smith school project

[Kjetil Bang]

I have an upcoming project in history class where we can choose a historical person to write about. I intend to choose Smith as my guy, so I was wondering if any of you guys have any usable information on him? Especially stuff that discusses how he behaved with regards to the time of 1912 when he passed orders etc. would be most useful!

Thank you in advance.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

You'll probably hate me for this but the best possible source which is immidiately available on line are the transcripts of both the U.S. Senate and the British Wreck Commission inquiries which may be accessed at http://www.titanicinquiry.org/

Reading them is about as exciting as watching paint dry, but if you want what was actually said by the witnesses themselves, in context, and without media sensationalism or spin control, this is where you need to start.

Encyclopedia Titanica's biography on the man may be accessed at https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-biography/edward-john-smith.html

 

[Aly Jones]

WOW Far out Michael. I found that site ages ago and it never had all of the extra information on the side.I have seen some of those photo's, but a-lot of them i never seen before.The photo with Smith with his summer uniform on i have seen, but that one in you're link ,it is on a different angle and he's looking a different way and i can see his whole body, which i never even seen before. That last link you provided, it's very exciting to read.

Kjotil Bang.The photo's of Captain Smith with his white summer uniform on,Smith is actually on board the Olympic and not Titanic!

 

[Stanley C Jenkins]

Hello Kjetil,

If you are using Captain Smith as the subject of a historical study I think it would be useful to put his career into its context as an example of how, in Victorian society, a self-made man could "reach the top". I say this because it seems to me that E.J.Smith was from a surprisingly humble background, with few, if any advantages in terms of birth or connections. He was, for example, from a Primitive Methodist background - the Primitives being regarded as a working class sect and about as far from the establishment as you could get.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>I found that site ages ago and it never had all of the extra information on the side.<<

If you're talking about the ET biographies section, I think you'll find that quite a bit of information has been added over the years, mostly be researchers who just won't give up. Their dedication has made it possible to shed a little light on the lives of even some fairly obscure figures.

Still, there's a lot of work to be done if only because some of these people were all too happy to just fade away into the woodwork. They were content to get on with their lives and thankful that they still had them.

 

[Aly Jones]

>>I think you'll find that quite a bit of information has been added over the years, mostly be researchers who just won't give up. Their dedication has made it possible to shed a little light on the lives of even some fairly obscure figures<<

Yes, and i thank them for it. I learnt more from these Titanic forums then the then the normal net.
It's a great site to learn.





>>They were content to get on with their lives and thankful that they still had them.<<

I know how they feel,i just can't step away from my computer,i'm addicted to it lol.


Kjetil Bang. I just watch a real Titanic crew member's survivor video, and he was with Captain Smith at the time of Smith's first order's. This is Smith's exact words that night- Load the Women and Children first then stand by.
Hope this helps!

 

[Kjetil Bang]

Thank you for your good answers.

Do you have anything related to how the time of 1912 affected him and this thinking?