2012 Boulder Titanic Centennial Ragtime Dance Weekend

Historical note: More than half of the total 1,324 passengers on the Titanic - 710 in all - were traveling steerage (third class.) This truly international collection of people came from all over Europe and were on their way to start a new life in America. More than 100 of the third-class passengers were Irish and had left their troubled island from the emigrants' traditional departure point of Queenstown. Many had never been to sea before, few had any belongings, and all were leaving Europe with mixed feelings -- regret for the homes and loved ones they were leaving behind, and nervous anticipation for the new world that awaited them. On board, 220 cabins housed families, while single people were separated: women in cabins at the rear, men in a large dormitory in the bow.