Jean Louise Finch
September 30, 2013
Social Studies
Period V
Current Events #1
Title: “At Shore, recalling ‘New Jersey’s Titanic’”
Date: August 26, 2013
Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer (www.philly.com)
Location: Beach Haven, New Jersey
Surrounding states, countries, or physical features: New York, Delaware, Atlantic Ocean
Continent: North America
Paragraph #1 (Summary):
This article is about the personal recollection of the last living survivor of the Morro Castle
disaster, which occurred off the coast of New Jersey in 1934. One hundred and thirty-seven people died
when the cruise ship caught fire during a nor’easter. Jerry Edgerton, who at the time was a 19-year-old
radioman on the ship, managed to jump safely into the sea. He and many other passengers were
rescued by local fishermen, who bravely dared to sail out into the storm to offer help. Mr. Edgerton,
who is now 99 years old, has his story recorded in a 2012 book entitled Inferno At Sea, written by two
local authors, Gretchen Coyle and Deborah Whitcraft. Many questions about the sinking of the Morro
Castle remain unanswered, but this disaster did result in many changes and improvements in cruise ship
safety.
Paragraph #2 (My reaction):
This story fascinated me. I’ve lived in New Jersey my whole life (just about) and have spent
many happy days at the shore, but I had never heard about this terrible tragedy before. In addition, I’ve
been on a number of cruises with my family and have never felt unsafe while on board a cruise ship.
That might be because of all the obvious safety precautions that are evident on modern cruise ships,
some of which were mentioned in this story. I also thought Mr. Edgerton’s story was really gripping,
like a scene from a movie. It’s remarkable that he went on to serve in World War Two and trained with
the famous Tuskegee Airmen. I need to get this book!
***
Notes:
- The heading. This is the standard heading for all social studies assignments. Please use this heading,
and avoid using headers.
- Everything is DOUBLE-SPACED. (Ctrl+2) Submissions that are not double-spaced will NOT be
accepted for grading and will have to be re-submitted and counted as LATE.
- Use a size 11 or 12 plain font.
- Required elements are listed. Please follow this example.
- Required paragraphs are clearly labeled and indented. Each paragraph is at least five sentences long.
- All the required criteria for this assignment, as shown in this sample, must be included in order for
you to receive full credit for each Current Events assignment.
- If you have questions, ASK.