Drawing Room:
Survivor Memory
We all think we know the story of the “unsinkable” ship that sank to the ocean floor on April 15, 1912. But we may never know exactly what happened that night. Survivor statements are one of the most important resources for understanding the Titanic sinking, but these sources have to be considered against others, and with the understanding that memory changes and fades over time. Conflicting and varying survival stories make Titanic research complicated and ongoing, and like all history, new research leads to a new understanding.
The Drawing Room c. 1910. Courtesy Stephan Hart Library, History Colorado
The same is true for this house’s history. In an account given by daughter Helen in 1957, she wrote that this Drawing Room was only used for special occasions to welcome visitors. She remembered putting her best dolls in this room to keep them safe, and how she and her brother Larry once snuck in and accidentally broke their mother’s marble table from Italy—they pretended they had no idea how it happened! You’ll also see Helen’s memories in the form of a drawing of the home’s rooms hanging over the fireplace in J.J.’s study, all remembered 50 years later.
Titanic Survivors on the Carpathia. Library of Congress.
After the Titanic sank, each passenger who lived to tell their tale saw something unique as the ship went down, depending on their mindset and location on the ship and lifeboats. For each survivor, recalling these memories was not as simple as re-playing a video. It was a process that depended on how they remembered events and what purpose those memories served.
Interviews with Margaret 1912.
Margaret’s Titanic story is just one example of how we change our memory over time. She was interviewed many times: first on board the rescue ship, then in a New York hotel, on the train home, and again back in Denver. She then wrote her story, which was published in the Newport Herald at the end of May. After having time to reflect, hear others’ stories, and connect the dots of her own experience, she later added a few new stories, like falling out of bed when the ship hit the iceberg, and an Egyptian fortune teller who warned her of the coming events.
Mrs. Brown was known for her wonderful storytelling, which certainly played a part when she later put pen to paper, but reporters also took liberties with her account, sensationalizing the story of a woman who remained calm and selfless in the face of tragedy, and who put the needs of others before her own.
Archibald Gracie and cover of "The Truth about the Titanic" 1913. Molly Brown House Museum Collection
Fellow survivor Archibald Gracie tried to make sense of contradictory stories in his book, “The Truth about the Titanic.” In it, he offered his own account which many felt was one of the most accurate considering he had sunk with the ship but survived on an overturned lifeboat. He also included other survivor stories like Margaret Brown’s. His goal was to set the record straight about conflicting reports, such as whether the ship split in half as it sank, or whether the Captain or First Officer shot himself.
Letter from Archibald Gracie to Margaret Brown. November 1912.
In these never-before-seen letters on display, Gracie wrote to Margaret a few months after the sinking, asking her to clarify something for his book. Had the newspapers misreported, or had Margaret embellished, but exactly which lifeboat did she survive in? Was it Lifeboat 4 containing Madeline Astor, whom one article said Margaret helped into her boat and took up the oars alongside her, or was it Lifeboat 6, whose quartermaster Margaret had criticized? Based on Gracie’s final lists, she responded that she was in Lifeboat 6.
At any given moment, we choose and pick what to remember. Memories can change over time, as a product of how, when, and why we recall them. In this way, one survivor’s account can never tell us all that happened on Titanic. We can learn a bit about Titanic through the eyes of Margaret Brown, but we learn even more about her and what she felt was important through her memories.