"Heroine of
the Titanic"
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Welcome to Historic Denver’s Molly Brown House Museum. We’ve spent over 50 years saving the places that matter. Our first save was this 1889 house made of Colorado stone, which sits on the ancestral lands of the Ute, Arapaho, and Cheyenne Nations. We hope you agree that historic places and the stories they tell are important to us all today, and as we build the future together.
Margaret Brown. 1912. Library of Congress.
You may have heard of the “Unsinkable Molly Brown,” but she was never called that during her lifetime. This nickname was made up by the newspaper reporter who wrote her obituary. Instead, she was Mrs. J. J. Brown, or Margaret to family. And after the Titanic, she was not called “Unsinkable,” but rather the “Heroine” of the Titanic.
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110 years later we still remember the tragic sinking of the RMS Titanic. As you explore the exhibit, “Heroine of the Titanic,” you’ll follow the experience of Margaret Brown, a survivor who helped row a lifeboat through the night to safety. On the rescue ship Carpathia, she made it her mission to comfort and raise money for Titanic’s immigrant passengers who lost everything on their journey to a new world.​
The Brown Family. Margaret, J.J., Larry and Helen.
Daughter of hard-working Irish immigrants, Margaret Tobin had a humble start in Hannibal, Missouri, where she was educated at her aunt’s school house. At age 18, she moved to Leadville, Colorado to marry James Joseph Brown, a mine-owner and mine supervisor. They lived comfortably in Leadville and had two children, Larry and Helen. J.J. was hired to help with the Little Johnny Mine, which soon brought in the most gold of any mine in North America. The Browns used their fortune to buy this house.
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We now invite you into Margaret and J.J. Brown’s Capitol Hill home to explore the exhibit, the “Heroine of the Titanic.” You’ll find objects on display related to the Titanic and Margaret’s own experience surviving the tragedy of a ship that was said to be unsinkable.
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As you learn what made Margaret Brown the heroine of the Titanic, think about what you can do in your lifetime, big or small, to help those around you.