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MEDIA CONTACT: Helene Snihur (585) 275-7800
September 19, 2003
TIME, DATE, AND PLACE: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24, in the Gamble Room on the third floor of Rush Rhees Library on the River Campus
ADMISSION: Free
Sixty years before the sinking of the Titanic, another ocean tragedy
made headlines in the United States. The American transatlantic steamship Arctic
set out on its last voyage in September 1854 and collided with a French ship
in dense fog. The disaster--in which crewmen abandoned passengers, with many
escaping in nearly empty lifeboats while every woman and child on board perished--took
the lives of 400 people.
An upcoming talk on the River Campus will examine a local connection to the
tragedy. "Death at Sea: The McCraken Family and Their Losses Aboard the
Steamship Arctic" will be presented at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24,
in the Gamble Room on the third floor of Rush Rhees Library by Albert Robinson,
a senior majoring in computer science and in religion.
Robinson will discuss the stories of two members of the McCraken family of Rochester
who died aboard the Arctic. Robinson conducted the research for a course
in the religion and classics department on gravestones and funerary architecture
in historic Mt. Hope Cemetery. His essay for the course was published in the
Spring 2003 edition of Epitaph, a publication of the Friends of Mt. Hope
Cemetery.
The program is being sponsored by the Iota chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at the
University and is open to all members of the University community and local
members of Phi Beta Kappa and their families. For more information, refer to
the University's Phi Beta Kappa website at: www.rochester.edu/College/pbk/.
The University of Rochester (www.rochester.edu) is one of the nation's leading private universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives students exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering is complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Schools of Medicine and Nursing, and the Memorial Art Gallery.
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