This letter, dated August 17th, 1912, is written and signed by Senator William Alden Smith of Michigan. It is a response to a gentleman requesting copies of any evidence that was introduced during the Titanic disaster hearings.
After the sinking of the Titanic on April 15th, 1912, Smith chaired the United States Senate hearings into the disaster from the conference room of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, beginning the day after the Carpathia arrived carrying her survivors. Senators and spectators heard dramatic testimony from the surviving passengers and crew. Smith's subcommittee ultimately issued a report on May 28th that led to significant reforms in international maritime safety. Senator Smith achieved some notoriety for being more colorful than knowledgeable, at one point being called "Watertight Smith" in the British press for asking whether watertight compartments, actually meant to keep the ship afloat, were meant to shelter passengers.
