August Wennerström

August Wennerström was a Swedish-American publicist, newspaperman, gardener and survivor of the sinking of the RMS *Titanic*. He was born as August Edvard Andersson on April 24, 1884 in Sankta Maria, Ystad, Sweden. His parents were Knut Andersson and Elna Månsdotter. He grew up in Malmö.

August Andersson became involved in politics early in life. He was a member of the Social Democratic Youth Club, and in 1905 published the anarchist pamphlet Gula Faran. The pamphlet contained attacks on King Oscar II, as well as a number of traders, and a general ridicule of Christianity. Several nonsocialist newspaper editors hit back, and the whole thing resulted in a press freedom prosecution to which Andersson was summoned. After another person assumed responsibility for the release, he was separated from the case. Andersson moved to Karlstad where he was elected to the board of Värmlands Folkblad. He briefly served as editor of the magazine from 1907 to 1908 before being replaced by Ivar T. Vennerström. He left his position in 1909 and then came to work at printing houses and newspapers in Skåne.

After the controversies surrounding Gula Faran and the financial troubles he had been put into during his various employments, Andersson decided to leave Sweden. He traveled to Copenhagen where he took the surname Wennerström from his successor and friend at Värmlands Folkblad.

## Onboard the *Titanic*

Wennerstrom boarded the *Titanic* as a Third Class passenger in Southampton. He shared a cabin with Gunnar Tenglin, one of two Swedish men he had gotten to know during the trip over to England from Denmark. The other was Carl Olof Jansson.

During the night of April 14, *Titanic* had hit an iceberg and came to a standstill. It became clear that she took on too much water to be able to stay afloat.

When the *Titanic* was sinking on April 15, 1912, Wennerström, like many others, didn't board any of the usual lifeboats. He remained on board, and described in letters how he had seen several Third Class passengers simply give up and remain in their section of the *Titanic*'s stern. He himself had managed to get to Collapsible A when the end was near.

A woman named Alma Pålsson was standing nearby, and Wennerström allegedly helped her with her children and tried to hold them when the Boat Deck began to be flooded with water, during which he lost them. No one from the Pålsson family survived the sinking.

He somehow managed to get onto the now half-water-filled and damaged lifeboat along with several others, including travel companion Jansson. He witnessed the Swedish married couple Edvard and Elin Lindell freezing to death as they clung to the boat. He had tried to hold Elin in his hand but the forces of the wave forced him to let go.

Lifeboat 14, under command of Fifth Officer Harold Lowe, came towards the morning past Collapsible A and picked up the 12 people still alive. He was taken aboard the rescue ship RMS *Carpathia* and later arrived in New York. He was interviewed for an article published April 19, 1912 in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper, in which he described how he managed to survive.

In New York he was quartered at Salvation Army's cadet school and he created a minor scandal when he accused the Lutheran immigrant home of embezzlement.

He received $25 and a train ticket from the Salvation Army committee and $100 from the Red Cross.

Wennerström then traveled to Chicago where he gave talks about his experiences on the *Titanic*. He also met his future wife in the city. They moved to the town of Culver in Indiana where he took employment as a gardener. He left his old life as a publicist behind and had seven children with his wife.

On November 1950, August Wennerström passed away. A burial was held at the Masonic Cemetery of Culver, Indiana.