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American Morning

Interview with Mark Lach

Aired June 27, 2002 - 09:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry is offering a look at one of the most famous sea tragedies in history. The huge passenger liner the Titanic was found by Dr. Robert Ballard of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in 1985, 73 years after it sank in the North Atlantic. The exhibit in Chicago in 2000 initially drew more than 850,000 visitors.

It is back for a return visit, with even more stuff to show us. It doesn't open until next week, but we are going to give you a preview, and joining us in Chicago for our own tour of the exhibit is Mark Lach -- wearing his gloves, oh, so careful -- as he is...

MARK LACH, CURATOR, TITANIC EXHIBIT: I have my gloves on.

KAGAN: Very good. You are the exhibit's curator.

First, let's start with where you are standing. You can't help but recognize the Grand Staircase where you are standing.

LACH: No, it's true. This is a very theatrical exhibit. The focus, of course, is always on the artifacts, but this is a recreation of the Grand Staircase, kind of the social hub of the Titanic.

KAGAN: That is a recreation, but you have a really big piece, the biggest piece that has been from the Titanic so far that people will be able to see as well.

LACH: That's right, Daryn. This is the largest collection of Titanic artifacts ever put together, and we are returning to Chicago with a spectacular new exhibit. New artifacts, some never before seen anywhere, and like you said, the largest piece of the Titanic, a 15- ton section of the hull that was recovered, so it is really...

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: I think we have pictures of that. Can we put those pictures up? Do we have them?

What will people get by seeing this -- will get like a perspective of the scale and the size of the Titanic?

LACH: Yes. You know, when you look at this huge piece of the Titanic in one of the galleries, you walk in and people are really overwhelmed. And then you look at the diagram of the ship, and it really represents a very tiny portion of the ship. It is really incredible. The largest moving object ever built by man, yet we have these big pieces and yet very small, personal pieces in the exhibit also.

KAGAN: You know, we are getting a little out of order here. I know you don't have a monitor where you are, Mark, so -- OK, now we're back in order. Here -- now they're seeing the hull.

LACH: OK.

KAGAN: I see a large -- I will tell you what I see. I see some portholes, and I see a large chunk of steel.

LACH: What is great about that large chunk of steel, our experts have determined where that chunk of steel came from. This is from cabin C-79 and C-81, first-class cabins. They were unoccupied at time of the sailing, but still pretty amazing to know, and put that human touch on the exhibit, that people were looking out portholes very much like that with every expectation of seeing the Statute of Liberty, arriving safely in New York, and for so many, it didn't happen, of course.

KAGAN: And now to the next picture, which is veranda area, the dining area. Does this give you a good feeling of what it was like to dine on board the Titanic?

LACH: Yes. Some people say, if you weren't seasick before you were on board Titanic, a room like this would do it. But this is the veranda cafe, a very beautiful room representing a Parisian sidewalk cafe. But we display some of the china and silverware and dinnerware in there. The company that we work with, RMS Titanic, that has the salvage rights to the wreck site takes very great care of these pieces, and they recover them and conserve them, and then, finally, we put them on display.

KAGAN: Now, I would imagine was a type of diningware (ph) and this was a type of place where the higher-paying passengers dined.

LACH: That's right.

KAGAN: What if you were a third class, or below board?

LACH: Well, every class had their own dining hall. And, in fact, even if you were a third-class passenger, a simple immigrant coming to the United States, more immigrants were on board, more third-class passengers than any class. You had your own separate dining hall, even though it was a little less -- less beautiful and luxurious than the first-class passengers. Certainly, many said that it was like traveling second class on most of the other liners at the time. So, for everyone, it was a brand-new ship. It was the ship the whole world was talking about.

KAGAN: And Mark, you put those gloves on for a reason, because you have some items that folks will be able to see, so show us those.

LACH: We do. Right here. We're in the grand staircase, as we talked about. The item here in the middle is a light fixture from some of the surrounding landings of the grand staircase. And if you look closely, you can still see a bit of a light bulb still in its socket. Remember this spent...

KAGAN: No.

LACH: Yes, there it is. This piece spent close to 90 years on the bottom of the ocean. Delicately recovered, conserved, and now it is finally on display here. And this next piece, Daryn, I think you will find interesting. So much of the ship is about ship's parts and equipment, but if anything is important in this exhibit, it is the personal stories. And this inspection card belonged to a woman named Marianne Meanwell (ph), and she was originally was scheduled to travel on a ship called the Majestic, as you can see. But because of the coal strike at the time, she was transferred to the Titanic without her really knowing. And, unfortunately, as fate would have it...

KAGAN: Did she survive?

LACH: She did not. You know, you can imagine she was talking about traveling on the ship the world was talking about, and then a tragic ending.

KAGAN: Do you think it is the story -- the personal stories that, all the years later, that we are still fascinated with the Titanic, Mark?

LACH: No doubt about it. I think because this story had so much hope and so much belief in the future, as many dreams do, but to end so tragically for so many people, I think that's why we remember the ship. We're over 90 years now, but I still think, when guests come through this experience like they have all over the world, they find the exhibit very compelling and this story very, very touching.

KAGAN: And quickly for folks who will be traveling through the Midwest, give us the details on the exhibit and how they can see it.

LACH: Yes. You're here a little early, and we are glad to have you in before we open. We open on Monday morning, and we're open through October 31 at the Museum of Science and Industry. We are returning here to this wonderful, world-class facility, and we're just excited about our return.

KAGAN: And as we mentioned, last time, 850,000 people went through, showing interest in that exhibit. Mark Lach, thank you so much for giving us a sneak preview. Really appreciate it.

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