Honoring Those Who Gave So Others Might Be Saved

The inscriptions at the base of the Women's Titanic Memorial are very telling, especially the back inscription.

On the front of the memorial, the inscription reads:

TO THE BRAVE MEN
WHO PERISHED
IN THE WRECK
OF THE TITANIC
APRIL 15 1912
THEY GAVE THEIR
LIVES THAT WOMEN
AND CHILDREN
MIGHT BE SAVED

ERECTED BY THE
WOMEN OF AMERICA

 However, the back inscription provides a very honest assessment of the disaster in 1912:

TO THE YOUNG AND THE OLD
THE RICH AND THE POOR
THE IGNORANT AND THE LEARNED
ALL
WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES NOBLY
TO SAVE WOMEN AND CHILDREN

While the majority of the passengers who perished in the disaster were low-income, male passengers, socioeconomic status became irrelevant very quickly as the ship began breaking apart.

From the very wealthy, such as millionaire John Astor, to the poorer passengers, such as the immigrant travelers who names were never recorded, the ocean enveloped RMS Titanic and took their lives with it. The cold sea did not discriminate based on fame and fortune; all were vulnerable.

The fact that this memorial was paid for by women of different means from around the nation is truly a fitting tribute to the victims of that tragedy a hundred years ago. Like the North Sea, these women donors did not discriminate and chose to honor the men regardless of life station who selflessly gave their lives to save others.