Brown, Margaret (1867-1932), was an American socialite, philanthropist, and women’s rights activist . A socialite is a socially important person. A philanthropist is someone who works for the welfare of others. Brown became famous as a survivor of the Titanic, a British passenger ship that struck an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912. More than 1,500 people died in the disaster . Brown was known for her efforts in assisting the ship’s poorer survivors. She is sometimes referred to as Molly Brown, after a fictional stage and motion-picture character based on her that became popular in the mid-1900’s. The character was known as the “unsinkable Molly Brown” in reference to Brown’s optimistic spirit, as well as to people’s belief that the Titanic was unsinkable. However, Brown was not known by the name Molly during her lifetime.
Brown was born Margaret Tobin on July 18, 1867, in Hannibal, Missouri, to Irish immigrant parents. At the age of 18, she moved to Leadville , Colorado , where her half-sister and her half-sister’s husband had established a blacksmith shop. In 1886, Margaret married James Joseph (J. J.) Brown, a mine employee. The Browns had two children, Lawrence Palmer, born in 1887, and Catherine Ellen, born in 1889. In 1893, J. J. devised a simple method to create a mine shaft through sandy rock. The mine he designed struck gold. J. J. was rewarded by the owners with shares in their company, making the Browns wealthy.
Margaret immediately used her wealth to campaign for the rights of women, children, and the poor. In 1894, she became a founding member of the Denver Woman’s Club. The club was part of a network that advocated for education , human rights , literacy , and woman suffrage (the right to vote) in Colorado and throughout the United States. Brown also worked with Benjamin Barr Lindsey, a Denver judge, to assist poor children and to establish the first juvenile court in the country. The court eventually became the basis for the U.S. juvenile court system. Margaret separated from J. J. in 1909, though the couple never divorced.
Margaret’s activism eventually led her into politics. She became one of the first women in the United States to run for political office when she ran for the U.S. Senate in 1909 and 1911. However, she withdrew from both races before the elections.
In 1912, Margaret Brown was returning from a European vacation aboard the Titanic when the ship sank. Once aboard the British rescue ship Carpathia, Brown—who could speak French, German, Italian, and Russian, as well as English—consoled other survivors and helped distribute supplies. While still onboard, she formed the Titanic Survivors’ Committee. Brown sought donations from other wealthy passengers to aid poorer survivors who were financially ruined by the disaster. She raised about $10,000 before the ship reached New York. Brown served as chairwoman of the committee, which continued to assist the ship’s needy survivors, for the rest of her life.
In 1914, with the American socialite and women’s suffragist Alva Vanderbilt Belmont, Brown organized the Conference of Great Women, an international women’s rights conference in Newport , Rhode Island. The meeting was attended by human rights activists from around the world. Later in 1914, Brown again ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate, but again dropped out of the race before the election. During the last years of her life, she acted on the stage. Brown died on Oct. 26, 1932, in New York City.
In 1960, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, a fictionalized account of Margaret Brown’s life, became a popular Broadway musical . A popular motion-picture musical based on the play was released in 1964. Versions of the Molly Brown character have also appeared in other movies about the Titanic disaster, including the 1958 British film A Night to Remember and the 1997 Hollywood blockbuster, Titanic.
See also Titanic .
