NEW YORK, NY.- The South Street Seaport Museum has brought back the popular, now newly reconfigured exhibition “Millions: Migrants and Millionaires aboard the Great Liners, 1900–1914” which was last on view prior to the pandemic. The exhibition is now open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from 11am to 5pm, starting at 12 Fulton Street. Admission is free, and advanced timed tickets can be reserved at seaportmuseum.org/exhibitions.

“Millions: Migrants and Millionaires aboard the Great Liners, 1900–1914” is one of the first exhibitions to examine, side-by-side, the dichotomy between First Class and Third Class passengers aboard ocean liners in the early 20th century. This exhibition features both original and reproduced artifacts from the Seaport Museum’s permanent collection including ocean liner memorabilia and ephemera, ceramics, and luggage trunks from both immigrants and First Class passengers.

“Ships like Titanic, Olympic, Lusitania, Mauretania, Aquitania, and Imperator dominated transatlantic travel. On each voyage, they transported thousands of people: First Class passengers sailed across the Atlantic in the lap of luxury while Third Class passengers made the voyage in the stuffy lower decks. From 1900 to 1914, nearly 13 million immigrants traveling in Third Class arrived in the United States. During this same period, America’s wealthiest citizens, totaling no more than a hundred thousand passengers each year, traveled to Europe in First Class, spending over $11.5 billion (2017) on luxury vacations. Even though First Class and Third Class sailed on the same ships, their journeys were worlds apart,” noted William Roka, formerly Historian at the Seaport Museum.

The exhibition familiarizes viewers with passenger life aboard ocean liners, the defining differences between travel for wealthy Americans in First Class and future Americans immigrating to the United States in Third Class, and the continuing importance that immigration plays in American history.

“Millions: Migrants and Millionaires aboard the Great Liners, 1900–1914” was curated by William Roka, Seaport Museum’s former Historian, and Michelle Kennedy, Collections and Curatorial Assistant,at the Seaport Museum. Exhibition design and art direction by Rob Wilson and Christine Picone of Bowne & Co., the Museum’s historic letterpress shop.