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Margaret Brown

Article Discussion

Template:Short description Template:Other people5 Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Margaret Brown (née Tobin; July 18, 1867 – October 26, 1932), posthumously known as the "Unsinkable Molly Brown", was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was a survivor of the RMS Titanic, which sank in 1912, and she unsuccessfully urged the crew in Lifeboat No. 6 to return to the debris field to look for survivors.<ref name="SLB">Template:Cite book</ref>

During her lifetime, her friends called her "Maggie", but by her death, obituaries referred to her as the "Unsinkable Mrs. Brown".<ref name="United Press 1932, Page 2">Template:Cite news</ref> Gene Fowler referred to her as "Molly Brown" in his 1933 book Timberline.<ref name="Molly Brown 1">Template:Cite news</ref> The following year, she was referred to as the "Unsinkable Mrs. Brown" and "Molly Brown" in newspapers.<ref name="Molly Brown 2">Template:Cite news</ref>

Early lifeEdit

Margaret Tobin was born on July 18, 1867,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Hannibal mag" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> near the Mississippi River in Hannibal, Missouri, on Denkler's Alley.<ref name="Hannibal mag">Template:Cite magazine</ref>Template:Efn The three-room cottage where she was born is now the Molly Brown Birthplace and Museum; it is on 600 Butler Street in Hannibal.<ref name="Hannibal mag" /><ref name="auto1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Her parents were Irish Catholic immigrants John Tobin and Johanna (Collins) Tobin.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Efn Her siblings were Daniel Tobin, Michael Tobin, William Tobin, and Helen Tobin. Both of Margaret's parents had previously been married to other spouses who had died. Brown had two half-sisters: Catherine Bridget Tobin, by her father's first marriage, and Mary Ann Collins, by her mother's first marriage.<ref name="MO" /> Called Maggie by her family, she attended her maternal aunt Mary O'Leary's grammar school, which was across the street from her home. Nearby was also the Hannibal Gas Works where her father worked as a laborer. Their neighborhood was a tight-knit Irish Catholic community, where people traveled westward through the town for the gold fields.<ref name="Iversen" />Template:Rp

At age 18, Margaret relocated to Leadville, Colorado, with her siblings Daniel Tobin, Mary Ann Collins Landrigan, and Mary Ann's husband John Landrigan. Margaret and her brother Daniel shared a two-room log cabin, and she found work sewing carpets and draperies at a dry goods store,<ref name="MO">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Daniels, Fisher and Smith. Daniel was a miner.<ref name="DPL - MBrown papers">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Marriage and childrenEdit

File:Brown Family Photo.jpg
James Joseph (J.J.), Margaret (Maggie), and their children Lawrence Palmer (Larry) and Catherine Ellen (Helen) Brown, in Leadville, Colorado

In Leadville, she met and married James Joseph Brown (1854–1922), nicknamed "J.J.", an imaginative, self-educated man. He was not a rich man, and she married J.J. for love. After his death she said,

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Margaret and J.J. married in Leadville Annunciation Church on September 1, 1886.<ref name="MO"/> They had two children: Lawrence Palmer Brown (1887–1949), known as Larry, and Catherine Ellen Brown (1889–1969), known as Helen.<ref name="Heroine" />Template:Rp They also raised three of their nieces: Grace, Florence, and Helen Tobin.<ref name="Iversen" />Template:Rp

Mining successEdit

In 1893, the Brown family acquired great wealth when J.J.'s mining engineering efforts proved instrumental in the exploration of a substantial ore seam at the Little Jonny Mine.<ref name="Heroine" />Template:Rp His employer, Ibex Mining Company, awarded him 12,500 shares of stock and a seat on the board.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In Leadville, Margaret helped by working in soup kitchens to assist miners' families.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Template:Stack In 1894, the Browns bought a Victorian mansion, now known as the Molly Brown House, in Denver for US$30,000 (Template:Inflation). In 1897, they built a summer house, Avoca Lodge, in Southwest Denver near Bear Creek, which gave the family more social opportunities. Margaret became a charter member of the Denver Woman's Club,<ref name="britannica.com">Template:Cite news</ref> whose mission was the improvement of women's lives by continuing education and philanthropy. Adjusting to the trappings of a society lady, Brown became immersed in the arts and fluent in French, German, Italian, and Russian. Brown co-founded a branch in Denver of the Alliance Française to promote her love of French culture.<ref name="Iversen">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp She lobbied for women's right to vote.<ref name="CO Hall of Fame" />Template:Efn

J.J. was not interested in the social life that Brown enjoyed and the couple began to drift apart.<ref name="CO Hall of Fame" /> After 23 years of marriage, Margaret and J.J. privately signed a separation agreement in 1909. She received a US$700 monthly allowance (Template:Inflation) to continue her travels and political work.<ref name="Iversen" />Template:Rp

Brown assisted in fundraising for Denver's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, which was completed in 1911. She also worked with Judge Ben Lindsey to help destitute children and establish one of the United States' first juvenile courts.<ref name="britannica.com"/>

Passenger on the TitanicEdit

Brown spent the first months of 1912 in Paris, visiting her daughter and as part of the John Jacob Astor IV party, until she received word from Denver that her eldest grandchild, Lawrence Palmer Brown Jr., was ill. She immediately booked passage on the first available liner leaving for New York, the RMS Titanic.<ref name="Iversen" />Template:Rp Originally, her daughter Helen was supposed to accompany her, but Helen, who had studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, decided to take a side trip to London with friends.<ref name="Iversen" />Template:Rp Brown boarded the Titanic as a first-class passenger on the evening of April 10, conveyed aboard the tender SS Nomadic at Cherbourg, France,<ref name="Iversen" />Template:Rp and sailed for New York City that night.<ref name="Biography">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

File:Stöwer Titanic.jpg
Sinking of the RMS Titanic, by Willy Stöwer, 1912
File:Molly brown rescue award titanic.jpg
Brown presenting Carpathia Captain Arthur Henry Rostron with an award for his service in the rescue of survivors of the Titanic

The Titanic sank early on April 15, 1912, at around 2:20 a.m., after striking an iceberg at around 11:40 p.m. the previous night.<ref name=SLB/><ref name="Biography" /> Brown helped other people board the lifeboats but was finally persuaded to abandon ship in lifeboat no. 6.<ref name=SLB/> More than 1,500 aboard RMS Titanic perished; there were a total of 2,224 people on the ship.<ref name="Biography" />

After her death in 1932, Brown was called "Molly Brown" and "The Unsinkable Mrs. Brown" by authors<ref name="Molly Brown 1" /><ref name="Molly Brown 2" /> because she helped in the ship's evacuation, taking an oar herself in her lifeboat and urging the lifeboat crew to go back and save more passengers.<ref name="SLB" /><ref name="Biography" /> Her urgings were met with opposition from Quartermaster Robert Hichens, the crewman in charge of lifeboat 6. Hichens was fearful that if they were to go back, the lifeboat would either be pulled down due to suction, or those in the water would swamp the boat in an effort to get in. After several attempts to urge Hichens to turn back, Brown threatened to throw him overboard.<ref name="SLB" />

Upon being rescued by the ship RMS Carpathia, Brown proceeded to organize a committee with other first-class survivors. The committee worked to secure basic necessities for the second- and third-class survivors, and even provided informal counseling.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Later life and deathEdit

In 1914, six years before the Nineteenth Amendment granted women the right to vote, Brown ran for Colorado's U.S. Senate seat, but she ended her campaign to serve abroad as the director of the American Committee for Devastated France during World War I. Also in 1914, she contributed to miners and their families after the 1914 Ludlow Massacre<ref name="CO Hall of Fame" /> and she helped organize the International Women's Rights conference that year, which was held in Newport, Rhode Island.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

During and after World War I, she worked in France with the Red Cross and later with the American Committee for Devastated France to help wounded French and American soldiers and rebuild areas behind the front line. For her work organizing female ambulance drivers, nurses, and food distributors, Brown was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 1932.<ref name=":0" />

J.J. Brown died on September 5, 1922.<ref name="Iversen" />Template:Rp Margaret told newspapers, that although she had met royalty and other great people around the world, "I've never met a finer, bigger, more worthwhile man than J.J. Brown."<ref name="Iversen" />Template:Rp J.J. Brown left vast, yet complicated, real estate, mining, and stock holdings. It was unknown to the Browns and their lawyers how much was left in the estate. Prior to J.J.'s death, he had transferred a large amount of money to his children. Their children were also unaware of how much money Margaret had, but were displeased at the large amounts she spent on charity. Margaret Brown and her children fought in court for six years to settle the estate.<ref name="Iversen" />Template:Rp

In the 1920s, Margaret Brown focused her energy on personal passions, especially the theater. She died in her sleep at 10:55 p.m. on October 26, 1932, at age 65, in New York City's Barbizon Hotel. Subsequent autopsy revealed a brain tumor. She was buried next to J.J. at St. Brigid's cemetery, now known as Cemetery of the Holy Rood, in Westbury, New York,<ref name="United Press 1932, Page 2"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> following a small ceremony on October 31, 1932, attended by close friends and family. There was singing, but no eulogy.<ref name="United Press 1932, Page 2"/>

LegacyEdit

Brown’s fame as a Titanic survivor helped her promote the philanthropic and activism issues she felt strongly about.<ref name="CO Hall of Fame" /> She was concerned about the rights of workers and women, education and literacy for children, historic preservation, and commemoration of the bravery and chivalry displayed by the men aboard the Titanic.<ref name="Iversen" />

File:Avoca Lodge Denver CO.jpg
The Molly Brown Summer House.

Avoca Lodge, known as The Molly Brown Summer House, is in southwest Denver, Colorado near Bear Creek; the home served as a summer retreat for Brown and her husband James Joseph Brown. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The three-room cottage where Brown was born is now the Molly Brown Birthplace and Museum; it sat at 600 Butler Street in Hannibal, Missouri until 2024.<ref name="Hannibal mag" /><ref name="auto1"/>After dealing with issues of black mold for years, on December 17, 2024 the Molly Brown Birthplace was moved to Main Street in Hannibal, across the street from the Mark Twain boyhood home.<ref>https://khqa.com/news/local/molly-brown-house-relocated-to-main-street-boosting-accessibility-and-preservation</ref>

The theme park Disneyland Paris features a 19th-century riverboat attraction, the Molly Brown Riverboat, named after her.<ref name="Disneyland Paris">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1965, astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young named their Gemini spacecraft Molly Brown in her honor.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

File:Mollybrownhouse.JPG
The Molly Brown House Museum.
File:Trail 1632.jpg
National Votes for Women Trail marker outside the Molly Brown House Museum in Denver, Colorado

Brown’s Denver, Colorado home has been a museum since 1971.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is called the Molly Brown House Museum.<ref name="auto">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> There is a trail marker outside it as part of the National Votes for Women Trail;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the marker was stolen in November 2023, but was found later that month.<ref name="auto"/>

In 1985, Brown was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame.<ref name="CO Hall of Fame">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

PortrayalsEdit

NotesEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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Further readingEdit

External linksEdit

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