A rainbow filter over a black and white photo of a ship.

Ship of Secrets: The Titanic’s LGBTQ+ History

The Titanic is arguably the most famous ship in history. It seems that just about everyone knows the tragic story of the ship and her ill-fated maiden voyage. Books like Walter Lord’s A Night to Remember and the blockbuster film Titanic (1997) have certainly helped with this. But as Bill Paxton’s Brock Lovett said in James Cameron’s movie: “Of course everyone knows the familiar stories of Titanic: you know, the nobility of the band playing to the very end and all that. But what I’m interested in are the untold stories.” I tend to agree with this statement (even if I’m not looking for a 56-carat blue diamond on the bottom of the ocean).

There’s something in the Titanic mythos that applies to nearly every sort of interest or fascination out there. It’s a great way to explore many aspects of not only the Edwardian era, but the human condition as well. I personally think that that’s why the ship and her sinking still resonates with people 112 years later. With June being Pride Month, I wanted to look into some of the possible LGBTQ+ stories associated with the Titanic disaster. I say “possible” because we don’t know for sure: most LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and more) people throughout history have been unable to live and love openly for many reasons. But it’s worth noting that, according to the LGBTQ+ magazine OutSmart, “The Titanic Historical Society, the preeminent source for all information relating to the Titanic, upheld that there was an LGBT presence aboard the ship, but did not desire to divulge details.”

We can only speculate in the absence of specific information. Below, however, are five Titanic passengers who may very well have been LGBTQ+ in a time when it wasn’t widely celebrated or embraced.

Together in Death as in Life

Two American men stand at the center of the Titanic’s possible LGBTQ+ history. Major Archibald “Archie” Butt was a US Army officer who served first in the Spanish-American War, and then later as a military aide to both Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. Francis “Frank” Millet was a painter, sculptor, and writer who was a member of the Fine Arts Commission in Washington, DC. Both men were active and highly regarded in DC’s cultural, social, and political circles. They lived together at Butt’s home in Foggy Bottom (a neighborhood in Washington, DC) where they threw large parties attended by President Taft, senators, congressmen, and Supreme Court justices. Major Butt never married, and Millet was estranged from his wife Elizabeth (with whom he had four children). They were later described as having “a sympathy of mind which is most unusual.”

Decades before living with Major Butt, Millet had an affair with writer Charles Warren Stoddard. Surviving letters reveal a loving, sexual relationship between the two. Major Butt was more discreet. As noted by historian James Gifford:

Of course there is no conclusive evidence that Archibald Butt was gay, and I find it highly unlikely, given Archie’s careful self-image control, that he ever committed to paper any overt thoughts of such a nature. He was too canny an individual for that, too conscious of the risk in military and political ranks, where such an idea would have put a quick end to any hopes of advancement.

So I can only suggest that my research results in an “impression” that he was homosexual… Of course men can like antiques, be mother-obsessed, remain an inveterate bachelor, notice the colors of ladies’ dresses, live constantly in a home full of men, without being gay. We all know that, yes.

Major Archibald Butt and Francis Davis Millet. Public domain.

Major Butt was caught up in the middle of a bitter political fight between Roosevelt and Taft, and it took a toll on his health. He lost 20 pounds due to chronic stress, anxiety, and exhaustion. According to an article in The Washington Post on April 18, 1912:

Millet noticed that Major Butt was looking paler than usual and generally run down. He announced to us his determination that Major Butt should return with him to Rome for a little rest…Major Butt was requested to ask for leave so that he might make the trip, but he would not do so. Millet then went to the President and made the request that he urge Major Butt to go along. There was a good deal of chaffing about it in Washington, but they finally put off together.

The pair took a six-week vacation in Europe, visiting Rome (officially to deliver presidential letters to Pope Pius X and King Victor Emmanuel), Berlin, and Paris. Major Butt and Millet booked separate First Class staterooms (B-38 and E-38 respectively) on the brand-new RMS Titanic and set sail for New York. Major Butt boarded the ship at Southampton, England on April 10, and Millet at Cherbourg, France on April 12. Neither man survived the sinking.

In recent decades, historians have asserted that both men were in a romantic relationship. According to historian Richard Davenport Hines, “the enduring partnership of Butt and Millet was an early case of ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell.’ Washington insiders tried not to focus too closely on the men’s relationship, but they recognized their mutual affection. And they were together in death as in life.”

Shortly after the disaster, Congress authorized the construction of a memorial to Major Butt and Millet. It’s believed that they were the only United States officials to have died on the Titanic. An area of the Ellipse was chosen, located a stone’s throw away from the White House. Sculptor Daniel Chester French (later of Lincoln Memorial fame) created a fountain out of Tennessee marble to honor the two men. Today, it is part of President’s Park and cared for by the National Park Service.

The Butt-Millet Memorial Fountain near the White House in Washington, DC. It was dedicated in 1913. Courtesy of the National Park Service.

Attuned to Life

Two American women also likely figure into Titanic’s LGBTQ+ history. Ella Holmes White and Marie Grice Young both boarded the ship in Cherbourg and shared First Class stateroom C-32 with the former’s maid and manservant. Like Major Butt and Millet, White and Young lived together. Unlike the two men, however, both women survived the sinking in lifeboat 8. They continued to live and travel together until Ella Holmes White died on January 31, 1942. She left most of her estate to Marie Grice Young.

Marie Grice Young and Ella Holmes White, c. 1920. Courtesy of Encyclopedia Titanica.

White was “brash” and “outspoken” while Young was quiet and “calm-natured.” The pair met in Atlantic City in 1910 and immediately hit it off. White was widowed, her husband John having died in 1897. Young was a piano teacher, whose pupils included President Theodore Roosevelt’s children. Both of them bonded over a mutual desire to raise chickens. In fact, they even brought some exotic French-bred chickens with them on Titanic intended for Briarcliffe Manor, their New York country estate.

Historian Jonathan Ned Katz suggested that the two were romantically involved. This wasn’t a surprise to Young’s niece, Rita Potter. “I don’t know when I knew, but it seems I always did,” Rita once said. “My mother knew. We all did. It was just accepted. Of course, when I met Auntie Mary, she was an older woman, and Mrs. White had died. I never met Mrs. White, but we all knew who she was and what she had meant.” This kind of understanding was atypical for the time period, however. White’s great-grandnephew, John Hoving, explained, “I don’t think my father understood that Ella and Marie Grice Young had a relationship that was more than just friends. I didn’t put two and two together about their relationship until later in my life.” 

After being rescued by RMS Carpathia and returning home to New York, both women did their best to resume their lives. When US Senator William Alden Smith began his investigation into the Titanic disaster, Ella Holmes White was called to testify. Marie Grice Young began working on her account of the Titanic disaster. The five-page story that followed was entitled “Lest We Forget” and appeared in the October 1912 issue of The National Magazine.

Both women continued living and traveling together. The Titanic disaster didn’t put them off sailing: they crossed the Atlantic another 14 times. After White died in 1942, Young lived a quiet life. She died on July 27, 1959.

Blithe & Unselfconscious

A young Canadian woman, Mabel Helen Fortune, may also be a part of this larger history. At the time of the Titanic disaster, she was very much in love with a man: a jazz musician named Harrison Driscoll. Her parents disapproved of the match and took the family on a trip abroad to cool passions. Fortune boarded the ship at Southampton with her parents, brother, and two sisters; the family occupied First Class staterooms C23, C25, and C27. Mabel Helen Fortune boarded lifeboat 10 and survived along with her mother and sisters. Unfortunately, however, her father and brother both died in the disaster. She married Driscoll a year after the Titanic disaster, and they had a son named Robert. However, the marriage fell apart shortly thereafter.

Mabel Helen Fortune. Courtesy of Encyclopedia Titanica.

Mabel Helen Driscoll (née Fortune) was described as being “blithe,” “unselfconscious,” “highly strung,” “attractive,” and “spoiled.” After her marriage ended, she met a young widow named Charlotte Fraser Armstrong in Ottawa and the two started living together (with Armstrong’s young son). They bought a mansion together in Victoria and greatly expanded it over the years. Renovations included another wing, two additional bathrooms, a large terrace with stone walls, a greenhouse, and an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Later work also extended the dining room, and saw the construction of a garage to hold two matching Cadillacs and a room for the chauffeur. The two women became prominent members of local society and lived together until Armstrong’s death.

Driscoll apparently only spoke of her experiences on the Titanic once in the 1960s. Her grandson, Mark, recalled that, “She started crying and just said that it was a horrible experience, that she remembered the last time she saw her father, and when she was out in the boat she was crying and calling for her father and for her brother. She suffered from pretty severe depression, especially as she got older and she never wanted to talk about it.”

Mabel Helen Driscoll passed away on February 19, 1968.

The Unknown Stories

We’ve looked at five possibly LGBTQ+ people who were aboard the Titanic, but we can really only speculate about Butts, Millet, White, Young, and Fortune. However, the Titanic Historical Society’s affirmation that there was a LGBTQ+ presence aboard seems pretty clear. It’s also not at all surprising. LGBTQ+ people have been around forever (even before the term LGBTQ+ was coined). Some of Titanic’s passengers were probably attracted to members of the same sex. There were likely several LGBTQ+ people among the Titanic’s heroic crew.

Many gay men took refuge in the Merchant Navy, often working as stewards, waiters, or entertainers. The same is very likely true for lesbians as well. Working aboard ships like Titanic gave LGBTQ+ people a kind of freedom that they couldn’t have on land. It also provided a convincing explanation to society at large as to why they didn’t have spouses or families. Some merchant mariners were married and had families ashore while maintaining long-term same-sex relationships at sea. It’s complicated and complex.

Cheering stewards aboard RMS Olympic. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

The simple fact of the matter is that we’ll never know the full extent of the LGBTQ+ stories aboard Titanic. But author, historian, and social activist Jack Fritscher notes that, “If, according to [Dr. Alfred] Kinsey, one out of six ordinary men is gay, 225 gay men died. If two out of six in the travel industry are gay, 450 gay men died, making Titanic an overlooked but essential chapter in gay history.”

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