The Planting Fields Foundation opens its new exhibition, Great Ocean Liners 1900-1940 on Saturday, April 2 at Coe Hall.
The exhibition will run through Oct. 2 and is open every day from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
William R. Coe made his career in the marine insurance business. He was chairman of the board of one of the largest insurance brokerage firms in the world, Johnson and Higgins.
The firm brokered the hull insurance on the Titanic which sank in 1912 — the claim was settled in only 30 days.
The exhibition examines the history of the White Star Line, owners of the Titanic and of Cunard, who owned the ill-fated Lusitania.
Competition between the two lines for the highest speed and profits on their trans-Atlantic crossing is a focus of the show.
As a teenager Coe immigrated to the U.S. in 1883; the show examines how ocean liners were built to accommodate steerage passengers in great numbers.
In 1899, Coe travelled to London on Johnson and Higgins business on the City of New York.
On board, he met Mai Rogers, daughter of Standard Oil partner and millionaire, H.H. Rogers.
William and Mai’s marriage the following year brought significant and influential business contacts to Coe’s work at Johnson and Higgins.
In the exhibition three vessels from each line are prominently featured; for the White Star is the Titanic, the Olympic and the Britannic, and for the Cunard, the Aquitania, the Lusitania and the Mauretania.
Posters, archival documents, ship models and memorabilia are included in the exhibition.
The installation includes large-scale color photos of first class ocean liner public rooms to demonstrate the luxuriousness of first class quarters, and their design relationship with interiors at Coe Hall.
Admission to Coe Hall $5 with an $8 parking fee.
