SFCentric History is a new column, by SF writer V. Alexandra de F. Szoenyi, that digs in the vaults of local history and shares the sensational people, places, and things that rocked San Francisco.
Photo: April 16, 1912 Sacramento Union, via CDNC
The sinking of the RMS Titanic is one of the biggest disasters in history. Many San Franciscans know the story of what happened, but did you know there were people from SF on that ship? One person in particular, Dr. Henry Washington Dodge, along with his wife Ruth Vidaver Dodge, and son Washington Dodge Jr., stepped aboard the ill-fated luxury liner and lived to tell the tale.
Photo showing the size of the Titanic in comparison to the Flood Building: The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco
Photo: February 24, 1912 San Francisco Call, via CDNC
Photo: April 19 San Francisco Call, via CDNC
The Carpathia saved 868 (later believed to be 705) passengers from the Titanic. Mrs. Wallace Bradford of San Francisco, was on the ship when the rescuers were brought on board, and ended up giving her room to the Dodges. In her account of the rescue, she said that “in one of the boats came Mrs. Washington Dodge and her little 4 year old son. Dr. Dodge got aboard later, having come in one of the last boats that left the ship and it was a good deal of satisfaction to me to turn over my stateroom to them.”
The Dodge family returned to San Francisco on April 29, to lead whatever life of normalcy they could craft. Washington resigned as Tax Assessor in July 23, 1912, and took his post as Vice President of Anglo & London Paris National Bank. Dodge explained several times to newspapers his theories about what went wrong aboard the Titanic. He said there were women who went to get their valuables at the purser’s office instead of vacating, as well as women on the lower decks who weren’t awakened from sleep. He also pointed out the lifeboats launched that could have fit way more people, claiming he entered lifeboat #13 only after calls to women to get in the boat went unanswered.
Photo: My Mouse is Broken
To some, it could appear he was trying to assuage what is now known as survivor’s guilt, and/or the feeling he was looked down upon for leaving the ship while women and children were still on board (which was mostly likely paired with PTSD). In May of 1912, he spoke to the Commonwealth Club, breaking down in tears, and breaking down in detail once again his theories and beliefs about the tragedy. He prefaced his story about the women in the purser’s office by saying,
By 1919, Washington Dodge was 60, and had resigned as President of the Federal Telegraph Company (a role he left his bank career to pursue). He was facing a lawsuit by shareholders, who accused him of wrongdoing. Dodge’s once impeccable reputation and honor was tarnished. On June 21, he appeared to seek death in the same way that some on the Titanic, and some who survived the disaster did— “suicide while mentally unbalanced.” Henry Washington Dodge died nine days later on June 30, 1919, perhaps never truly having escaped the misery of the Titanic.
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