I was working at a manufacturing company in Lancaster Co, PA some years back and the basement of our building, parts of which was over 150 years old, was flooded during tropical storm Lee. After the flood and the initial clean up, I and others were charged with going through the basement and determining what PR an HR files that weren’t flood damaged and tossed earlier, needed to be shredded as renovations were about to start. I came across a very old file cabinet and started going through it. In the very back of the top drawer, was a very faded yellowed envelope and I carefully opened it.
Inside was a letter from the White Star Line to the original manufacturing company regarding an insurance claim for lost invoices and other documents and other items that had been shipped on the Titanic. IIRC the letter was dated cica July 1914.
I immediately took it upstairs and showed it to our CFO and suggested they do something to preserve the letter, even offered to put them in touch with my niece who was doing a history internship at a local historical museum for advice on preservation. But the last I heard, the president of the company took it home with him. I’m just glad it wasn’t lost in the flood.
