Eleanor Ileen Johnson
Eleanor Shuman | |
---|---|
Born | Eleanor Ileen Johnson August 23, 1910 |
Died | March 7, 1998 | (aged 87)
Spouse | Delbert Shuman |
Parent(s) | Oskar Johnson and Alina Backberg |
Relatives | Harold Johnson (brother) |
Eleanor Ileen Shuman (née Johnson; August 23, 1910 – March 7, 1998) was an American telephone operator and one of the last remaining survivors of the sinking of RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912.
Early life
Eleanor Ileen Johnson was born in St. Charles, Illinois to newspaper editor Oscar Walter Johnson and his wife, Alina Vilhelmina Backberg (1885–1968). She had an older brother, Harold Theodore (1908–1968).
In early 1912, Alina and her two children had been in Finland visiting her dying father. When they arrived back in England, they were informed that due to a coal strike, the ship they were supposed to sail on had cancelled its trip. It was only at the last minute that they were informed that Titanic had space available. They bought third class tickets to go to New York to get jobs and visit relatives.
Aboard the Titanic
Eighteen-month-old Eleanor boarded Titanic along with her mother and brother as third class passengers on April 10, 1912, at
Eleanor admitted that she remembered very little about the night the ship sank, but she insisted that she recalled the screams of passengers and the sight of hands reaching up to her from a lifeboat below.[2]
In 1958, Eleanor and Harold attended the New York City premiere of A Night to Remember.
Marriage and career
In 1934, Johnson married Delbert Shuman, an
Later life and death
In 1994, Shuman visited her son in Florida, and it was the first time she had seen the Atlantic Ocean since 1912.[citation needed]
Into her 80s, Shuman remained active in Titanic-related activities. In August 1996, she joined fellow Titanic survivors Michel Navratil and Edith Brown on an expedition cruise to the site of Titanic's wreck. She was the only survivor that director James Cameron met while filming Titanic, and as such, received royal treatment. She saw the movie three times, including at a special screening with movie critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. She became an instant celebrity after the movie's release, and she had to change her telephone number to an unlisted one after receiving several phone calls every day from people hoping to speak with her.
Shuman died in Elgin, Illinois, at the age of 87. Her death left five remaining Titanic survivors. She was the penultimate remaining American-born survivor, as well as the penultimate remaining survivor who did not lose any relatives in the sinking.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Miss Helmina Nilsson
- ^ Thomas Jr, Robert McG. (March 11, 1998). "Eleanor Shuman, 87, Passenger on the Titanic". The New York Times. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
- Geller, Judith B. Titanic: Women and Children First. 1st ed. W. W. Norton & Company, 1998.