Eva Hart

Infobox_Person | name = Eva Miriam Hart
birth_date = birth date|1905|1|31|df=y
birth_place = Ilford, London, England
death_date = death date and age|1996|2|14|1905|1|31|df=yes
death_place = Chadwell Heath, London, England
death_cause =
parents = Benjamin Hart and Esther Bloomfield

Eva Miriam Hart MBE (January 31, 1905-February 14, 1996) was one of the last remaining survivors of the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912.

Biography

Early life

Eva Miriam Hart was born on January 31, 1905 in Ilford, London, England to Benjamin Hart and Esther Bloomfield. In early 1912, Benjamin decided to take his family and emigrate to Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he planned to open a tobacco store.

Aboard Titanic

Eva was seven years old when she and her parents boarded the RMS Titanic as second-class passengers on April 10, 1912 at Southampton, England. Almost instantly, Eva's mother felt uneasy about the ship and feared that some catastrophe would befall them. Her mother said to call a ship 'unsinkable' was 'flying in the face of God.' [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE1D81239F935A25751C0A960958260] With such fear, Esther slept only during the day and stayed awake in her cabin at night fully dressed. [http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/biography/441/]

Eva was sleeping when the Titanic struck the iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14th. Eva's father rushed into her cabin to alert his wife and daughter, and after wrapping Eva in a blanket, carried her to the boat's deck. He placed his wife and daughter in Lifeboat No. 14 and told Eva to 'hold Mummy's hand and be a good girl.' [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE1D81239F935A25751C0A960958260] It was the last thing her father ever said to her, and the last time she ever saw him.

Eva and her mother were picked up by the rescue ship RMS Carpathia and arrived in New York, New York on April 18th. Eva's father perished and his body, if recovered, was never identified.

Soon after arriving in New York, Eva and her mother returned to England and her mother remarried. Eva was plagued with nightmares and upon the death of her mother when Eva was 23, Eva confronted her fears head on by returning to the sea and locking herself in a cabin for four straight days until the nightmares went away. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE1D81239F935A25751C0A960958260]

Memories of Titanic

Being seven years old at the time of the sinking, Eva maintained several vivid memories of that night.

"I saw that ship sink," she said in a 1993 interview. "I never closed my eyes. I didn't sleep at all. I saw it, I heard it, and nobody could possibly forget it."

"I can remember the colors, the sounds, everything," she said. "The worst thing I can remember are the screams." And then the silence that followed.

"It seemed as if once everybody had gone, drowned, finished, the whole world was standing still. There was nothing, just this deathly, terrible silence in the dark night with the stars overhead." [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE1D81239F935A25751C0A960958260]

Career

Throughout Eva's life, she worked several jobs. She was a professional singer in Australia, a Conservative Party organizer, and also served as a magistrate in England. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE1D81239F935A25751C0A960958260]

Outspoken criticism

Eva was one of the most outspoken survivors concerning the Titanic's lack of sufficient lifeboats and of any salvage attempts of the Titanic after its discovery in 1985.

She commonly criticised the White Star Line for failing to provide enough lifeboats for all aboard Titanic. "If a ship is torpedoed, that's war," she once said. "If it strikes a rock in a storm, that's nature. But just to die because there weren't enough lifeboats, that's ridiculous." [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE1D81239F935A25751C0A960958260]

When salvaging efforts began in 1987, Eva was quick to note that the Titanic is a gravesite and should be treated as such. She often decried the "insensitivity and greed" and labeled the salvors "fortune hunters, vultures, pirates, and grave robbers." [http://www.archaeology.org/0101/etc/titanic2.html]

Later life

Eva maintained active in Titanic-related activities well into her 80s. In 1982, Eva returned to the United States and joined several other survivors at a Titanic Historical Society convention commemorating the 70th anniversary of Titanic's sinking. She participated in three more conventions in 1987, 1988, and in 1992. In 1994, Eva wrote an autobiography, 'Shadow of the Titanic - A Survivor's Story', in which she described her experiences aboard the ship and the lasting implications of its sinking. On April 15, 1995, the 83rd anniversary of the disaster, Eva and fellow second-class Titanic survivor Edith Brown, dedicated a memorial garden plaque on the grounds of the National Maritime Museum in London. [http://www.euronet.nl/users/keesree/night.htm]

Death

Eva died on February 14, 1996 at her home in Chadwell Heath at the age of 91. Her death left eight remaining survivors.

A Wetherspoon's Pub in Chadwell Heath is fittingly named 'The Eva Hart'.

External links

* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE1D81239F935A25751C0A960958260 Eva Hart, 91, a Last Survivor With Memory of Titanic, Dies]
*Encyclopedia Titanica|Encyclopedia Titanica Biography