Letter Referring to Titanic Surfaces in St. Cloud [AUDIO]

By Jim Maurice April 11, 2012 1:25 PM

A.G. and Alice Whitney Family (Stearns History Museum)

ST. CLOUD – This Sunday the world will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

The Titanic rammed an iceberg and sank on April 15th, 1912 killing 1,523 of the ship’s 2,228 passengers.

At the time of the tragedy, St. Cloud’s first family had more than just a passing interest. St. Cloud State University grad student Alex Ames says a letter at the Stearns History Museum was written by a then 18-year-old Wheelock Whitney Senior while attending school on the east coast. He wrote the letter to his parents, Alice and A.G. Whitney, here in St. Cloud and he referenced the sinking of the Titanic.

Jim Maurice’s interview with Alex Ames:

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Copy of the letter from the Wheelock Whitney Junior Collection at the Stearns History Museum.

WheelockTitanicLetter2[1] — Stearns History Museum

The John Snyder that Whitney refers to in the letter was a member of the famous Pillsbury family in Minneapolis. Because he and his wife Nelle were on their honeymoon they were two of the first to get into the life boats and did survive the tragedy.

A letter written by John Snyder while he was on the Titanic still exists today. Read more about that letter and the controversy surrounding it in a recent Star Tribune article.

Ames says the letter proves the sinking of the Titanic was impacting lives here in the Midwest, not just the people on the east coast.