Nicknamed “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”, Margareth Brown is an American-Irish woman famous for her life of activism and social commitment. A strong, bold little woman, she is one of the icons of the nouveau riche of her time, and has always stood out for her generosity and her ability to keep in touch with reality.
But his greatest claim to fame was undoubtedly as one of the survivors of the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912. Ultra-popular, she remains one of the most memorable characters ever to set foot on the ocean liner… And James Cameron himself didn’t hesitate to pay tribute to him in his film!
Want to find out more about this woman of character? Here we go!
Margaret Tobin was born in 1867 in Hannibal, Missouri, USA. She is the daughter of 2 Irish immigrants: John Tobin and Johanna Collins.
Molly has 3 brothers and sisters. Financial means were modest, but the young girl grew up in a caring environment, where she was instilled with the values of hard work, determination and perseverance, principles that were to guide her throughout her life.
His parents are members of a progressive Irish Catholic community. A commitment that will directly shape Molly’s ideals and vision of life.
At the same time, Molly grew up in an environment where her parents instilled in her a love of their native Ireland. The family is keen to remember where it comes from, and Molly is growing up in a setting where Irish tradition and culture remain omnipresent. Home is a bit like Ireland… even thousands of miles from the Emerald Isle, an island she has never visited before.
Molly has always claimed this Irish upbringing, even many years later. The young woman has often spoken proudly of her Irish origins, stressing the importance of her cultural heritage and the strength her roots gave her.
Margaret Tobin continued her education until she was thirteen at a school run by her aunt, Marie O’Leary, before starting work in a tobacco factory owned by Tobacco Company Garth. This experience soon exposed him to the harsh reality of grueling days, minimal pay and the struggles of the working class.
In 1885, at the age of 18, she set off for Leadville, a mining town in Colorado, with her brother Daniel and their half-sister, Mary Ann Collins, recently married to a blacksmith. While Daniel found a job in the mines, Margaret landed a position at Daniels & Fisher Co, where she was in charge of the carpets and curtains department.
Molly Brown, her husband and children – Public domain
In the summer of 1886, Margaret crossed paths with James Joseph Brown, nicknamed J.J., who was thirteen years older than her.
The son of Irish immigrants and from just as modest a background as the Tobins, James worked in the mines as a contractor. Despite her initial wish to marry a wealthy man, Margaret chose James for love.
They said yes to each other at Annunciation Church in Leadville on September 1, 1886. Their union produced two children: Lawrence Palmer Brown, on August 30, 1887 in Hannibal, and Catherine Ellen Brown, on July 1, 1889 in Leadville.
At first, the young couple settled in Stumptown, a mining town founded in 1876 and home to a small Irish community. This community, close to the mines, offers rudimentary living conditions, especially in winter when heavy Colorado snowfall isolates Stumptown from Leadville.
In 1891, James Brown began working with the newly founded Ibex Company. He was superintendent of the mines, including the Number 1 Shaft, nicknamed Little Johnny, renowned for its silver extraction.
But working conditions are particularly dangerous: the galleries regularly collapse, and deaths are frequent.
To remedy this, James Brown innovated by creating a support system made of wood and hay bales to reinforce the tunnels. This invention proved to be a success: it made the miners’ work safer and enabled deeper exploration of the mines, where they eventually discovered important gold deposits. $
In recognition of his ingenuity, the directors of the Ibex Company awarded him 12.5% of the company’s shares and a seat on the board of directors. It’s the beginning of James Brown and Margaret’s fortune.
But this golden age came to an abrupt end in 1893, with the revocation of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, which led to a dramatic fall in the price of silver. A situation that precipitated the closure of Leadville’s mines, including Little Johnny.
Stumptown is gradually being emptied of its inhabitants, and is becoming one of America’s many ghost towns.
Despite her still intact fortune (the couple recorded less than $5 million that year), Margaret refuses to forget where she came from. She is also involved in charity work. She volunteers at soup kitchens and tries to put her life at the service of minors in difficulty. A commitment hailed by the community at the time!
In 1894, they settled in Denver, in a sumptuous mansion in the heart of the Capitol Hill district.
In 1902, the Browns embarked on a round-the-world voyage that began in Ireland, with plans to settle there in retirement. Their journey also takes them to France, Russia, Japan and other exotic destinations, with Margaret’s particular interest in India’s caste system.
However, travel is not enough to save their marriage. After twenty-three years together, Margaret discovered James’s infidelity, and they separated by mutual consent in 1909.
Margaret receives financial compensation and keeps their Denver home, while James agrees to pay her a monthly pension of $700. Although they never officially divorced, Margaret remained in contact with James until his death from a heart attack in 1922.
The Titanic – Public domain
Gaining independence after her separation from James Brown, Margaret Brown seized the opportunity to travel further.
On January 24, 1912, she boarded the Olympic, Titanic’s sister ship, bound for Europe to join her daughter, who was studying at the Sorbonne in Paris.
In February, they decided to explore Egypt, where, in Cairo, they met John Jacob Astor and his young wife Madeleine, on their honeymoon.
The couple tells them about the Titanic, on which they are about to travel on her maiden voyage to America.
While there, a fortune-teller warns Margaret of danger at sea, a warning she takes lightly.
Back in France with the Astors, Margaret settled into a luxury Parisian hotel on the Place Vendôme. However, there was a change of plans on April 9, when she learned that her grandson, Lawrence Palmer Junior, had fallen ill.
Determined to get home as quickly as possible, she bought a ticket to America on the Titanic for £27 and 14 shillings.
On April 10, she boards the train bound for Cherbourg. Delayed by an incident in Southampton, the Titanic arrived in Cherbourg just over an hour late, at 6:35 pm.
Mrs. Brown boards via the Nomadic, the ferry for first- and second-class passengers, while her luggage, including three crates of Egyptian antiquities destined for the Denver Art Museum, is loaded onto the Traffic with third-class passengers.
Aboard the Titanic, a friend, Emma Bucknell, expresses her apprehensions about the liner, but Margaret reassures her, downplaying her fears. The Titanic sets sail at 8.10pm, bound for Queenstown.
Molly lived a life of luxury in the first-class quarters, using the liner’s equipment to enjoy an idyllic start to her crossing.
But everything changed on the night of April 15, 1912.
When the Titanic struck an iceberg at 11:40 pm, Margaret Brown was absorbed in her reading, paying little attention to the faint sound of the impact. Alerted by chatter in the corridor, she goes out to check, but seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she considers returning to her reading.
That’s when James Robert McGough, a passenger on the other side, warns her of the incident and suggests she get ready. Unconvinced by the absence of any obvious signs of danger, she eventually prepared herself for the possibility of a hasty departure.
Dressing quickly, she took 500 dollars and her life jacket with her, leaving behind books, clothes and precious jewelry. On deck, she took an active part in the evacuation of the women and boarded the No. 6 lifeboat.
On the water, she defies the unpleasant attitude of Petty Officer Robert Hichens, the canoe’s commander, who refuses to rescue other castaways. Despite her objections and those of other passengers, Hichens persisted in her refusal, fearing that the canoe would capsize. Tension mounts, especially when Hichens threatens to throw Margaret Brown overboard for challenging his decisions.
Molly eventually gave up… but her attempt to save more shipwrecked crew became one of the greatest acts of heroism to come out of the sinking of the Titanic.
At dawn on April 15, despite the skepticism of Petty Officer Hichens, the passengers in Dinghy No. 6 saw lights in the distance, a sign of hope quickly confirmed by Frederick Fleet as the Carpathia.
Recovery by the Carpathia takes time, due to sea conditions and the dispersal of canoes. By 6 a.m., the rescue of the occupants of No. 6 was complete.
Once aboard the Carpathia, Margaret Brown quickly took initiatives to help, first sending a reassuring telegram to her daughter, then mobilizing her energy to support the survivors. She even managed to raise $10,000 for the most destitute!
Back on terra firma, she was hailed as a heroine, and her story, marked by the “luck of the Browns”, was widely reported.
In New York, hearing of her grandson’s recovery, Margaret decides to extend her stay to continue her commitment to the survivors. Frustrated by her inability to testify before the U.S. Commission of Inquiry because of her gender, she had her story published in the Newport Herald.
In it, she openly criticizes the priority given to women for evacuation, arguing that equal rights should also extend to the sea, and stresses the importance of not separating families in such circumstances.
In recognition of the heroism of Captain Rostron and the crew of the Carpathia, she initiated the creation of a survivors’ committee and presented them with awards. Later, she attends the inauguration of a memorial dedicated to the victims of the Titanic in Washington.
With all these implications, Molly Brown became a worldwide celebrity. Everyone loves to talk about the heroism of this little woman, deeply rich, but always looking out for others.
But her commitment to the miners, and then to the Titanic, were not the only ways in which the young woman made her mark. Later, she also took part in other social causes that made her a veritable icon of activism.
In 1914, the women of the striking Ludlow miners sought his help, an echo of his post-Titanic fame. The coal strike, waged against the Rockefeller family’s powerful mining companies, was marked by the demand for better working conditions and safety, which the companies refused.
The situation worsened as strikers were evicted from their homes, tried to survive in tents, and violence escalated, culminating in the Ludlow massacre on April 20, 1914, when strikers, women and children were killed by the National Guard.
Margaret Brown, alerted by the tragedy, intervened in Ludlow, advocating moderation while denouncing Rockefeller’s actions and vigorously defending miners’ rights. His efforts, combined with those of other activists, helped push Rockefeller to negotiate, eventually leading to an agreement between strikers and companies.
In 1914, with the announcement of war in Europe, Margaret Brown interrupted her political commitments in the United States and went to Picardy to help care for soldiers wounded at the front. Later, in 1924, she collaborated with her friend Anne Morgan, an American philanthropist and founder of the American Committee for Devastated Areas, to establish the Franco-American Historical Museum at Château de Blérancourt.
The museum was officially recognized in 1931 as the National Museum of Franco-American Cooperation. Shortly before her death in 1932, Margaret Brown was awarded the Légion d’honneur for her commitment to the war.
Margaret Brown died peacefully in her sleep at the Barbizon Hotel in New York on October 26, 1932, the victim of a stroke. Post-mortem examination reveals a large brain tumour. She now rests at The Holly Rood Cemetery in Nassau County, New York, alongside her husband James Joseph Brown.
Kathy Bates as Molly Brown
Even after her death, Molly Brown remains a celebrated figure in the Irish-American diaspora. Her social struggles and bravery during the sinking of the Titanic made her a popular icon.
But the phenomenon gained momentum thanks to James Cameron, who released the film “Titanic” in 1998. It features many of the historical figures who faced the shipwreck… including Margaret Brown.
Embodied by a Kathy Bates as sympathetic as she is thunderous, viewers enjoy discovering this figure of courage, who managed to remain humble despite her fortune. A performance that rekindles people’s interest in this strong-willed American-Irishwoman!
