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| Margaret "Molly" Brown |
She was a well-known American philanthropist, but is best remembered as
the most famous survivor from the sinking of the Titanic.
Margaret “Maggie” Brown, better known as “The Unsinkable
Molly Brown,” was a passenger on the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic when it
struck an iceberg on the evening of April 14th 1912. Within three
hours, the ship had sank, but Maggie did all she could to assist people into
the lifeboats.
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| Titanic Survivors |
Once she was forced aboard Lifeboat No. 6, Maggie took an oar and
helped row the boat away from the dangerous debris. And then she heard the crys for help behind her. After multiple
urgings to Quartermaster Robert Hichens, the crewmember in charge of the
lifeboat, that he return to save those people, Maggie lost her temper. She
threatened to throw Hichens overboard if he didn’t turn the lifeboat around and
go back for more survivors. No one ever determined if he did, but the story
garnered Maggie a place in history.
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| RMS Carpathia |
But it was onboard the Carpathia, as it took survivors back to America, that her most significant work occurred. By the time the ship docked,
Brown had established the Survivor’s Committee and had raised nearly $10,000
for the destitute Titanic survivors.
Once ashore in America, Maggie
wanted to escape from the
fame that had followed her onto land. Searching for some much needed rest, she
traveled to a small hotel in Southern Indiana to recuperate from the tragic
ordeal. Maggie Brown “took the waters” and rested at West Baden Springs Hotel
until she felt up to facing her public life again.
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| West Baden Springs Hotel |
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| Margaret Brown |
Thanks to mid-century writers, and Hollywood, working to
capture the harrowing sinking of the Titanic, and the can-do spirit of this
American socialite, Maggie became known as “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.”
Margaret Brown utilized her Titanic fame to promote the
rights of workers, and early feminist issues, along with literacy and education
for children, and historic preservation. Brown was one of the first women to
run for public office. She ran for the Senate in 1914, but stopped her campaign
in order to travel to France. It was during this trip, during World War 1 that
she worked behind the scenes with the American Committee for Devastated France,
tending to wounded French and American soldiers. Brown was awarded the French
Legion of Honor for her activism and assistance.
Brown became an actress in later life, and helped erect the
Titanic Memorial in Washington D.C. Margaret “Maggie” Brown died at the age of
65 of a brain tumor - well respected for her role in advocating for the poor.
Written by Joy Neighbors