The Titanic Story
Narrated by Volunteer Museum Tour Guide Chris Schutzenberger
] In 1912 Margaret and Helen were traveling in Egypt with her friends the Astors. While Helen stayed behind in Paris, Margaret and the Astors boarded the new luxury ocean liner, the RMS Titanic. Due to its watertight compartments and bulkheads, it was remarked at the time that the White Star Line’s Titanic was “practically unsinkable.”
A few days into the journey, the ship struck an iceberg on its starboard side. In her written account published the following month, Margaret said she was in her room reading when she felt the bump. After dressing warmly and grabbing around $500, she headed up to the deck and began to help women and children into the lifeboats. To a Denver reporter, Margaret recounted that,
“I went on the deck [as] the boats were being lowered, I found many opportunities to be useful and I was glad to be. The less you think of yourself at such times, the better off you are.”
Lifeboat No. 6 of the Titanic with Margaret Brown aboard, courtesy Library of Congress.
While assisting others, she herself was picked up and dropped into lifeboat number 6 which would be picked up by the Carpathia hours later. Margaret helped others once on Carpathia by using her language skills to translate and comfort survivors. And, she co-chaired the Titanic Survivors Committee which raised money for the many destitute women and children.
RMS Carpathia, courtesy of Library of Congress
In later lectures and interviews, Margaret spoke passionately against the unwritten law of the sea, which says “women and children first.” During the sinking this meant that only women and children were put onto the lifeboats while the men stayed behind. She exclaimed, “Women demand equal rights on land – why not on sea?” As a member of the Denver Women’s Club, Margaret appealed to the Club to initiate a cause to erase this unwritten law.
Margaret Brown presenting a loving cup to Capt. Arthur Rostron of the Carpathia, courtesy Library of Congress
When they docked in New York, the world was devastated by the news that 1,500 crew and passengers had been lost, including Margaret’s friend John Jacob Astor. As Chair of the Survivor’s Committee, Margaret returned to New York City in May to present a trophy and award medals to the captain and crew of the Carpathia. Margaret also made it her life’s work to ensure that all crew and passengers lost were remembered. You can also read her full account of the disaster which was published by newspapers in 1912.
For all of her efforts to assist and support survivors, Margaret Brown was dubbed the Heroine of the Titanic by press and fellow passengers. Speaking to a Denver Post reporter about how poorly prepared the Titanic was for an emergency, Margaret said,
"The Titanic disaster was a tragedy that was as unnecessary as running the Brown Palace Hotel into Pikes Peak."
Woven throughout the Titanic’s final hours are stories of courage, heroism, and self-sacrifice. These stories remind us of life’s preciousness, and how such disasters can unite people into a common cause in order to help one another.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP OTHERS IN A TROUBLING TIME?