The Unsinkable Molly Brown: Denver’s Heroine of the Titanic
Exhibit Open February 15 – December 31, 2012
100 hundred years ago the fateful sinking of the famous luxury liner Titanic propelled Margaret “Molly” Brown to international fame. Join the Molly Brown House Museum in commemorating this important anniversary as we explore Mrs. Brown’s role in the events surrounding this tragedy as well as Titanic’s lasting legacy on maritime history. While first-hand accounts from survivors help unravel the ship’s sinking, they can never fully explain the magnitude of tragedy. Explore the Titanic with us and experience why this compelling human story is still so fascinating to us even today.
Titanic and Molly Brown: Two names in history which are now virtually synonymous. The fateful sinking of the famous luxury liner propelled Margaret “Molly” Brown to international fame. As we honor the 100th Anniversary of the Titanic’s April 1912 launch and sinking, the Molly Brown House Museum will be hosting many Titanic-related events which coincide with national and international Titanic happenings.
Margaret “Molly” Brown, born only two years after the end of the Civil War and succumbing to a brain tumor in 1932, witnessed the profound changes caused by industrialization, technological innovations, social reform movements and the shifting role of women during the first decades of the 20th century. However, Margaret was not a mere witness, she was an active participant carrying with her a passion for action and strong convictions which helped progress countless social issues. The fame she gained after surviving the Titanic disaster led her into society’s most powerful circles. She struggled against J.D. Rockefeller over the rights of coal miners in the aftermath of the Ludlow Massacre, joined forces with suffrage leaders Alva Belmont and Alice Paul and ran for the U.S. Senate in 1914, six years before women could vote at the federal level.
In 1912 Margaret Brown departed on a trip to Egypt, Rome and Paris with her daughter Helen and friends John Jacob and Madeleine Astor. However, news of her ill grandson hastened Margaret’s return to Denver and she booked passage on the first available ship, the Titanic. The Titanic was the epitome of luxury for the upper classes and stories of its elegance were part of the ship’s advertising campaign. When Titanic set sail on April 10, 1912 it was the largest moveable object made by mankind at the time. It carried approximately 2,228 passengers and crew and had 10% more lifeboats than were required by maritime law.
100 years after the sinking of the Titanic, the compelling human story continues to engage people of all ages. Perhaps it is the sheer size and grandeur of the vessel or the many questions regarding the choices made in the ship’s last hours that continue to intrigue us years later. While first-hand accounts from survivors help unravel the evening, neither they nor the eerie footage of the ship’s wreckage lying on the ocean floor can ever fully explain the magnitude of tragedy.
