The Titanic Disaster: One Survivor’s Story

Learning Objectives
Students will analyze textual documents and photographs. They will identify contextual and specific dates for documents and put them in the correct sequence. This activity can be used during a unit on urbanization and immigration in the early 20th century to study class differences.

For grades 6-8. Approximate time needed is 20 minutes.

Instructions
As an opener to the activity, involve students with a K-W-L graphic organizer (“What we Know,” “What we Want to know,” and “What we Learned”) concerning Titanic. Ask students to describe the different types of people on board the Titanic (e.g. classes, countries of origin, etc). Inform students they will be following the path of one Titanic survivor from her home in London to arriving in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Students can work individually or in pairs. Ask them to begin the activity by reading the introduction. Instruct them to analyze each document before placing them in the correct order. Tell students that, if needed, there are hints provided.

When students have finished sequencing, conduct a class discussion based on the follow-up questions:

• What type of items did Lucy have with her? What does this tell about her journey to the United States?
• How did Lucy describe her possessions?

Then, ask students to write a first hand narrative account using primary source documents and other sources about Lucy Ridsdale’s journey.

For more information about Lucy Ridsdale’s journey, visit Lucy Ridsdale and the Titanic Tragedy from our Pieces of History blog. For additional primary source documents related to the Titanic Disaster.