13 MIN READ
Titanic the Exhibition
Fairview Lawn Cemetery — Halifax, Nova Scotia
Awe and Life and Death
Carol and I went through Titanic the Exhibition on 1 December 2025.
Earlier this year, 9 August to be exact, we had visited Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia where 121 victims of the Titanic tragedy are interred.
This post is an invitation to join me for that museum experience in Sandy, Utah and for the cemetery visit in Halifax.
Titanic the Exhibition was put together by a company called “fever.” The company describes itself as “the leading live-entertainment discovery platform, and we have a clear mission: to democratize access to culture and entertainment worldwide.”.
fever put together a wonderful museum show spread over several large halls.
Because I have sailed on several cruises (six at last count), I was able to meld my own shipboard memories with the exhibits to feel like I had been on the Titanic. Of course, my imagination is limited to the time before the tragedy of 14/15 April 19121Titanic collided with the iceberg at 11:40 PM on 14 April 1912 ship’s time. Two hours and forty minutes later, the ship had completely sunk. I have never experienced a shipwreck or similar disaster.2One of my brothers, CDR Don B. DeCaria USN (ret.), has survived a shipwreck. An account of that life altering accident can be found in this book.
Titanic the Exhibition
Below are 19 photographs presented in order and taken while going through the exhibition.
Nineteen is admittedly a large number, but the feeling of an oceanic voyage emerges from the entire set of photos.
I am very grateful to fever for allowing the taking of photos and sharing them.3From the FAQs on the website: “Feel free to take photos and share them.”
Here are my photos:
Scale Model of Titanic
The actual ship was more than a quarter of a kilometer or nearly one-fifth of a mile long. That equals one-and-one-third city blocks where I live.
Reconstruction of a sitting room on the Titanic
The name of J. Bruce Ismay will come up later during our visit to the Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax.
Mr. Ismay was chairman of the White Star Line and survived the sinking.
The Titanic under Construction at the Harland and Wolff Shipyard
The shipyard in Belfast, Ireland (now Northern Ireland) remains in operation today.
Plaque commemorating Captain Edward James Smith
Captain Smith went down with his ship and his body was never recovered.
The captain had planned on retiring after the return voyage.
Cutaway of The Titanic’s Bow
Some third class cabins were located in the bow along with storage for the ship’s anchors and other gear.
Steward’s Cap from the White Star Lines
None of the objects including the cap is from the Titanic itself.
These items are from sibling White Star liners.
Baggage, barrel, and Rope of the Titanic Era
I found this arrangement, undoubtedly the work of some production assistant, worthy of its own photo.
Replica of First Class Corridor
On the Titanic, each door opened to a suite consisting of four rooms.
Replica of the Sitting Room of a First Class Suite
The other three rooms of a suite were a living room, a bedroom, and a bathroom.
The fireplace was electric.
Reading/Writing Room
All cruise ships on which I have sailed have had several common spaces similar to this one…
…with expansive views either over the bow or the afterdeck.
Tableware
I find the reasonably sized dinner plate elegant…
…in contrast to our modern American dinner plates.
The Grand Staircase
The author
Detail of the Grand Staircase
Even this replica mesmerizes.
Promenade Deck
On our last cruise our cabin opened to the promenade deck, and we had our own
chairs.
Tea Service
Carol and I always enjoy ending each day at sea with tea on the Lido Deck.
Words That Marked the Beginning of the Tragedy
Uttered seconds before 11:40 PM 14 April 1912
Replica of Titanic Bell
As far as I could ascertain, none of the objects in this museum experience was from the Titanic itself.
The objects were from other White Star Line ships or, like this bell, a replica. (This is my own inference.)
This knowledge did not diminish the awe I felt.
The actual objects from the Titanic are sacred and belong to the people who died in the tragedy.
IMO The grave site 3500 meters (12,500 feet) under the North Atlantic should not be disturbed, only honored.
“Lifeboat”
The outline on the floor represents the footprint of a typical Titanic lifeboat.
Carol quietly contemplates an animation of the great ship sinking.
The Sinking of the Titanic
Freeze frame from the animation that marked the final exhibit of Titanic: The Exhibition
Fairview Lawn Cemetery: Titanic Section — Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax was a port of call on a Holland America Cruise from Boston to Montreal in August 2025. Carol and I had signed up for a daylong guided excursion of the Halifax area that ended with a visit to Fairview Lawn Cemetery.
I was not prepared for the awe that struck me as our group alit from the tour bus:
The 121 graves of Titanic victims gracefully arranged in three rows was tangible proof of the Titanic and its sinking.
During the tour our guide recommended a book, Titanic Victims in Halifax Graveyards by Blair Beed. Fortunately, the book was available at a small book store at the pier where our ship had docked.
Mr. Beed has done a truly remarkable job: The book is epic and an essential part of the Titanic story.
Below I present all my cemetery photos. Like the exhibition photos above, the totality of the thirteen pictures is necessary to convey the awe.
Our Tour Guide
Our very informative guide that day was a retired school teacher.
I am a junkie for guided tours and grateful to local guides willing to share their knowledge with us strangers.
The Rows of Graves
One-hundred and twenty one remains are interred in Fairview Lawn Cemetery.
Ten more graves rest in nearby Baron de Hirsch Cemetery (Jewish) and nineteen more in Mount Olivet Cemetery (Catholic) also nearby.
Looking across the Rows of Monuments
The smaller monuments were paid for by the White Star Line.
The slightly larger monuments were paid for by family and friends.
Please note that in this and some following photos, you will see tall monuments in the background; they are not Titanic graves.
Standard Monument
Blair Beed reported that Mr. Arthur William Maytum was the chief butcher and about 50 years old.4Titanic Victims in Halifax Graveyards, page 91
Halifax was the nearest developed port with modern support facilities to the spot where the Titanic went down.
Five ships from Halifax went to the site of the sunken Titanic to recover the bodies of deceased passengers and crew floating on the water.
As each body was recovered it was assigned a number (here 141).
The remains in the cemetery are not arranged by the number of recovery.
The recovery crews wrote descriptions included clothing, personal items, and identification if any.
More about the remarkable recovery of the deceased can be found in Blair Beed’s book and also here.
Example of a Larger Monument
George H. Dean was an assistant second class steward.
Graves to the Left of George H. Dean
Alfred J. Fellowes (#138). Assistant boot polisher; 30 years old.
Sidney Holloway ((#273). Assistant clothes presser; 20 years old.
William McQuillan (#183). Fireman (stoker); 26 years old.
More Graves
Notice that the four monuments (#279, #228, #139, #219) to the left of Mr. McQuillan’s monument are unidentified.
Blair Beed notes their ages, gender (all male), clothing, personal effects, and likely occupations aboard the ship.
A Wider Angle View
As mentioned earlier, I included all photos without regard for some duplication.
Ernest Edward Samuel Freeman
Mr. Freeman was the chief deck steward and was 43 years old.
We had previously seen a reference to J. Bruce Ismay during the visit to Titanic the Exhibition.
He was president of the White Star Lines and survived the sinking. You can find more information about Mr. Ismay here.
Additional View of Fairview Lawn Titanic Graves
Again, please note the Titanic monuments are only two sizes and not the pillars in the background.
Joseph Dawson
Mr. Dawson was 23 years old and worked as a coal trimmer.
The connection between this actual Joseph Dawson, once a living person, and the movie character Jack Dawson is a coincidence.
Jack Dawson, of course, was the name of the fictional character played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the 1997 movie Titanic.
Nevertheless, fans of Jack Dawson often leave momentos at Joseph’s monument.
I took this photo because the momentos intrigued me; I did not know the backstory at the time.
Three Rows of Titanic Graves
The one hundred and twenty-one graves in Fairview Lawn in three rows trend roughly north and south.
The east row is straight and the west row curves to resemble the left (port) side a ship.
A tree marks the bow of the ship, seen here where the people are standing.
Overview of Titanic Section of Fairlawn Haven Cemetery
Here the curvature of the left two rows and the straightness of the right row to resemble the left half of the ship’s bow are obvious.
Awe and Life and Death
In The cosmos.blog I have posted on topics that excite joy.
But this post is different: I write about a topic that I found disturbing at first but ultimately serene. I hope you also experience that serenity.
Awe is a path from disturbing to serene.
If you are curious about the burgeoning scientific study of awe, I recommend this seminal book by the psychologist Dacher Keltner.
In the book Dr. Keltner and Jonathan Haidt (his research colleague) define awe as “…the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your current understanding of the world.”
Dr. Keltner then goes on to discuss the various “wonders of life” that inspire awe. “Stories of life and death” constitute the particular wonder pertinent to the Titanic tragedy.
Reading Keltner coincidental to visiting Fairview Lawn Cemetery and the Titanic exhibition allowed me feel the awe stemming from the two-sided coin of death and life5Of the roughly 2200 passengers and crew, about 1500 died.
Very best regards,
Michael DeCaria
“Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen.” -Robert Bresson
- 1Titanic collided with the iceberg at 11:40 PM on 14 April 1912 ship’s time. Two hours and forty minutes later, the ship had completely sunk
- 2One of my brothers, CDR Don B. DeCaria USN (ret.), has survived a shipwreck. An account of that life altering accident can be found in this book.
- 3From the FAQs on the website: “Feel free to take photos and share them.”
- 4Titanic Victims in Halifax Graveyards, page 91
- 5Of the roughly 2200 passengers and crew, about 1500 died