Episode 1: Jerry O. Potter Lecture for The Sultana Disaster 150th Anniversary Commemoration

Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company Podcast

Welcome to the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company podcast. As Hartford Steam Boiler approaches it’s 150 anniversary in 2016 we’re commemorating The Sultana steamboat disaster that occurred 150 years ago on April 27, 1865. The explosion of 3 of the ship’s 4 boilers and the tragedy that ensued is one of the pivotal events that motivated our founders to start HSB, with the mission of preventing accidents like this in the future. The 376 person capacity vessel was carrying 2,400 passengers - the majority were Union soldiers released from Confederate prisoner of war camps in Andersonville and Cahaba who were finally going home. More than 1,700 men, women and children died. The Sultana remains America's largest maritime disaster, greater than the legendary sinking of The Titanic. But, because of the timing and circumstances at the end of the Civil War - a week after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, a day after the shooting of his assassin John Wilkes Booth - The Sultana Disaster went largely unreported in the media and unrecognized by a country weary of war and numbed by the incomprehensibly large loss of life during the war. Through the years the rallying cry of “Remember the Sultana” was honored by first the National Sultana Survivors' Association, then carried on by the Sultana Descendants' Association, scholars and authors Jerry O. Potter and Gene Salecker, and the Town of Marion, AR - the home of the Sultana Museum. Now, the production team of Mark and Mike Marshall, Sean Astin and Jim Michaels are in the final stages of completing their documentary “Remember the Sultana,” in hopes that the film will help to establish The Sultana Disaster’s rightful place in US history. Hartford Steam Boiler is proud to be a corporate sponsor of the documentary, since the event plays an integral part in our heritage and company’s founding mission. “Remember the Sultana” is an important message for HSB, because we never, ever forgot. April 23rd through the 27th, 2015 in Marion, Arkansas and Memphis, Tennessee the 150th anniversary of The Sultana sinking was commemorated. Hartford Steam Boiler was present to document the events, and the inaugural episode of our podcast features a lecture given by Memphis lawyer Jerry O. Potter, the author of the seminal book “The Sultana Tragedy: America's Greatest Maritime Disaster,” published by Pelican Publishing in 1992. Jerry continues to be one of the primary advocates and authorities on The Sultana. This talk, titled “The Search for the Sultana” was given at the Marion United Methodist Church on Friday April 24th, 2015, and is a fascinating and heartfelt account of how Jerry came to learn about The Sultana, his research, and a vivid recounting of the events that took place 150 years ago. We hope you enjoy the first episode in this series, and subscribe to and share this podcast. Please follow our blog and youtube channel for more coverage of The Sultana. This podcast was made possible by the support of Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company, 2015.