Earlier this holiday season, the Noble Maritime Collection hosted schoolchildren from PS 59, The Harborview School, to unveil a seven-foot model of the RMS Titanic in the museum’s Navigation Classroom.

The large-scale, handmade model was recently donated to the museum by the family of Peter P. Blanchard III (1951-2022), the great-grandson of Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919), whose home and art collection comprise The Frick Collection art museum in Manhattan.

Blanchard was a noted supporter of environmental conservation and the arts, serving on the board of the Frick Collection for over two decades. His wife Sofia and son Theo chose to give the Titanic model to the Noble Maritime Collection in his memory.

His great-grandfather Henry Clay Frick also had a connection to the Titanic. He and his wife Adelaide had tickets for the ocean liners’ maiden voyage across the Atlantic in April 1912, but cancelled their trip after Adelaide sprained her ankle in Italy, thus missing the ill-fated voyage.

Third and fourth graders from PS 59 officially unveiled the model on Friday, November 22, making them the first schoolchildren to observe the model in its new home.

The Noble Maritime Collection’s Executive Director Ciro Galeno, Jr. and Director of Programs Dawn Daniels speak to third and fourth grade students from PS 59, The Harborview School, before the children unveiled the model; photography by CJ Nye.

The staff of the Noble Maritime Collection and members of the board of trustees also participated in the unveiling.

The museum’s Director of Programs Dawn Daniels read an excerpt from Rescuing Titanic by Flora Delargy, a children’s book about the ship. Mrs. Daniels also asked the students to share their own thoughts about the Titanic, all of whom had heard about the ship and were excited to see the enormous model.

“The story of the Titanic is one of the most widely known in maritime history, and while it has no strong connection to artist John A. Noble and Sailors’ Snug Harbor, which are the museum’s focus, had she not met with disaster, she would have sailed through the Narrows past Staten Island many times during a transatlantic career, as did her nearly identical sister ship, the RMS Olympic,” commented the museum’s Executive Director Ciro Galeno, Jr.

He continued, “Visiting schoolchildren almost always ask what we have on display related to the Titanic, and that is why we were so excited and grateful to be approached by the Blanchard family for this special gift, which will be appreciated by museumgoers of all ages, for many years to come.”

The model is a fitting addition to the Noble Maritime Collection’s Maurice K. Shaw Navigation Classroom, which displays a variety of antique navigational equipment and includes a tugboat wheelhouse replica. The room serves to teach visitors and schoolchildren alike about how sailors navigated the sea before modern GPS.

The *Titanic* model installed in the Noble Maritime Collection’s Navigation Classroom; photograph courtesy of the Noble Maritime Collection.

The RMS Titanic is one of the most famous ships of all time. Launched in 1911, she was considered to be the largest, most luxurious ship in the world and was thought to be unsinkable. Yet, on her maiden voyage from England to New York in April 1912, she struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Over 1,500 people died when the ship sank because there were not enough lifeboats for all of the passengers on board.

The model will be a permanent feature in the Navigation Classroom, and can be seen during public hours.

The Noble Maritime Collection, located in Building D, a former mariners’ dormitory at Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, New York, is open from 12 until 5 PM, Thursdays through Sundays. Admission is by donation.

For more information, call (718) 447-6490 or visit noblemaritime.org.