molly brown’s house
Remember “the Unsinkable Molly Brown” of the Titanic? She was a Denver citizen, and today Caleb and I visited her house.
Margaret Tobin Brown was a wealthy philanthropist who survived the 1912 wreck of the RMS Titanic. She was never actually called Molly in her lifetime, but Maggie; Molly was a nickname given to her after her death. She was a first-class passenger on the Titanic, and so was one of the first to be dropped into a lifeboat, Lifeboat #6. (Later, sitting in Catholic church, she would always sit in the 6th pew.)
Her house is one of those big old Victorian city houses, poshly furnished and completely restored. So posh, in fact, that I think the servants’ kitchen was the only place I would have found comfortable and cozy!
The photo below is one I snapped of the Formal Room (before the tour guide informed us quite forcefully that no cameras were allowed!) where they would entertain important guests. There was a sweet bear rug on the floor, complete with the head, after the then-popular style of Teddy Roosevelt.
Listening to the tour guide, I really found Molly Brown to be an interesting lady. She seemed to care deeply about others, which I suppose most philanthropists do, but then, you always wonder how much of that is real and how much is for their social reputation.
But Molly was out there in the lifeboat, peeling off layers of socks from her own feet to help the lower class women, and distributing blankets to the freezing survivors. She took down the women’s names and tried to help find their missing husbands and children, all while she, too, was cold and wet and half frozen.
To me, that speaks volumes. I hope I can care for people like that when I’m in distress, and frankly, even when I’m not!
Molly also did quite a bit for the city of Denver, it seems. She worked for the juvenile courts and helped found the Denver Women’s Club, and she also ran for Congress. She started soup kitchens in the mining community even before her husband (a miner) struck it rich in a gold mine.
I’d like to learn a little more about the Unsinkable Molly, and maybe watch Titanic one more time…this time knowing just a little more about that bustling lady in the big flowery hat.
That’s amazing. I didn’t know all of that about her. What a great and caring life she lead. The house looks amazing and totally posh. I am really interested in reading more about her though. So cool you got to take Caleb there.