Alma Cornelia Pålsson was a Third Class passenger of the Titanic. She was traveling with her four children. None of the family members survived the sinking.
She was born to Maria Berglund (neé Nilsson) and Anders Berglund on 3 August in 1882, in Velinge, Sweden.
Alma was married to Nils Pålsson on 12 September 1902, in Bjuv, Malmöhus (Skåne), Sweden. They had 4 children together: Torborg Danira, Paul Folke, Stina Viola and Gösta Leonard. Nils lived in Bjuv with wife and children, and was a miner. In the early 1910s, a major strike occured and Nils withdrew from his profession. Seeing no other job opportunities other than brickworker and farm hand, he wanted to try his luck in America.
As a Swedish emigrant, Alma and her children wanted to join their husband and father Nils, who had immigrated to America in 1910 to find a job along with Alma's two brothers. With money raised after two years of hard work, Nils sent tickets to Alma and the children to join him in Chicago. They sailed on Titanic and all of them died. Their loss, like that of Franz Pulbaum and so many others, was a loss for America as well as a deeply felt family tragedy.
The family boarded the Titanic on Southampton (Ticket No. 349909, £21 1s 6d). While on board, Alma got to know August Wennerström, and the other Swedish emigrants such as: Elin Gerda and Edvard Lindell, Carl Olof Jansson.
When the ship was sinking it took a long time to prepare the four children and Alma came too late for the lifeboats. She met Wennerström and the Lindells on the Boat Deck near Collapsible A. Wennerström tried to hold on to two of the children as she had asked him to but when water came up on them, Wennerström lost his grip and both disappeared. Wennerström survived, but the Lindells and Alma and her children didn't.
Alma's body was recovered by the Mackay-Bennett:
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NO. 206. - FEMALE. - ESTIMATED AGE, 30. FAIR - HAIR. CLOTHING - Brown coat; green cardigan; dark skirt; brown skirt under; boots; no stockings. EFFECTS - Wedding ring; brass keeper; mouth organ; purse and two coins; a letter; 65 kronor; had four children with her; letter from husband, Neil Paulsson, 94 Townsned St., Chicago. THIRD CLASS, TICKET No. 349909 (5 tickets). NAME - ALMA PAULSSON. |
She received a burial in Halifax along with various other Titanic victims that had been recovered.
In Popular Culture[]
1997 Film Titanic[]
A possible appearance of Alma and Paul Palsson in Titanic (1997 film)
Another possible appearance of Alma and Paul Palsson in Titanic (1997 film)
Alma and her son, Paul made a possible appearance in the 1997 film Titanic, which they appeared during the loading of Collapsible A. She is seen hugging her son, while waiting to board the boat. However, it seems that the two of them did not make it into the boat when the water started to reach the Boat Deck, causing the chaos, and they drowned.