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Margaret Brown

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For other people named Margaret Brown, see Margaret Brown (disambiguation).
Molly Brown
Mrs. James J. "Molly" Brown, survivor of the Titanic, Date: between 1890 and 1920
Born
Margaret Tobin

(1867-07-18)July 18, 1867
Hannibal, Missouri
DiedOctober 26, 1932(1932-10-26) (aged 65)
New York City
Cause of deathBrain tumour
Other namesMolly Brown, Maggie Brown, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Known forTitanic Survivor
SpouseJames Joseph Brown
ChildrenLawrence Palmer Brown (1887-1949)
Catherine Ellen Brown (1889-1969)
Parent(s)John Tobin (1820-1899)
Johanna Collins (1825-1905)

Margaret Brown (née Tobin) (July 18, 1867 – October 26, 1932) was an American socialite, philanthropist, and activist who became famous due to her involvement with the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic, after exhorting the crew of lifeboat 6 to return to look for survivors. It is unclear whether any survivors were found after life boat 6 returned to search.[1] She became known after her death as "The Unsinkable Molly Brown", although she was not called Molly during her life. Her friends called her Maggie.

Molly Brown survived the Titanic sinkning on April 15th, 1912.

Aboard the Titanic

Margaret Brown (right) giving Captain Arthur Henry Rostron an award for his service in the rescue of Titanic's surviving passengers.

Margaret was conveyed to the passenger liner RMS Titanic as a first class passenger aboard the tender SS Nomadic at Cherbourg, France. The Titanic sank on April 15, 1912 after striking an iceberg. Margaret helped others board the lifeboats but was finally convinced to leave the ship in Lifeboat No. 6.[1] She would later be regarded as a heroine for her efforts to get Lifeboat 6 to go back to search for survivors.[1] Molly Brown was dubbed "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" by historians because she helped in the ship's evacuation, taking an oar herself in her lifeboat and protesting for the lifeboat to go back to try and save more people.

This was met with strong opposition from Quartermaster Robert Hichens, the crewman in charge of Lifeboat 6, who believed that nobody would be saved by going back, as the boat would be pulled down by the ship's suction or by the force of everyone scrambling to get aboard.[1] Sources vary as to whether the boat did go back and if they found anyone alive when they did. Some reports say that survivors were found.

Later life

At the time of J.J.'s death on September 5, 1922, Margaret told newspapers, "I've never met a finer, bigger, more worthwhile man than J.J. Brown." J.J. died without a will and it required five years of disputation between Maggie and her two children finally to settle the estate. Due to their lavish spending J.J. left an estate valued at only $238,000. Maggie was to receive $20,000 in cash and securities, and the interest on a $100,000 trust fund in her name. Her children, Lawrence and Helen, received the rest. From that time through her death during 1932, Maggie did not communicate with her children.

Margaret Brown

Her fame as a well-known Titanic survivor helped her promote the issues she felt strongly about — the rights of workers, feminism, education and literacy for children, and historic preservation. During World War I in France, she worked with the American Committee for Devastated France to rebuild areas behind the front line and helped wounded French and American soldiers. She was awarded the French Legion of Honour for her good citizenship including her activism and philanthropy in America. During the last years of her life, she was an actress.

Margaret Tobin Brown died in her room at the Barbizon Hotel for Women in New York City on October 26, 1932, at age 65. The death certificate gave the cause of death as cerebral hemorrhage, but an autopsy found a significant brain tumor.[2][3] After she died (during the Great Depression), her two children sold her estate for $6,000. She is buried in the Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury, New York.

Legacy

Margaret was commemorated as a famous Missourian on the Missouri Walk of Fame during 2006 in Marshfield, Missouri. Her great granddaughter, Helen Benziger McKinney, accepted the star on her behalf. Helen continues to travel the country speaking about her great grandmother.

Margaret's residence, now the Molly Brown House Museum, is a tourist attraction in Denver, Colorado.

Portrayals

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d "Titanic: a night remembered", Stephanie L. Barczewski, 2004, page 30, webpage: Books-Google-EC.
  2. ^ Death certificate at titanic.com.
  3. ^ Kristen Iversen. Molly Brown: Unraveling the Myth. Foreword by Muffet Brown. Johnson Books, 1999 ISBN 1-55566-237-4, pp. 234-35.


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