With less than a month left before the 100th anniversary of the steamship Titanic’s maiden voyage, I was invited to participate in an event at the Molly Brown House Museum in Denver. “Women of the Titanic” told their stories to those who toured the house museum, while I conversed with interested visitors in the gift shop, formerly the carriage house, behind the Browns’ House of Lions. It was a delightful evening. As usual, the folks…
One of the most remarkable facts about Molly Brown is that her name was not Molly Brown. How did it come about that such an iconic western heroine became known by a name that was not her own? On July 16, 1867, Margaret Tobin was born into a large Irish immigrant family in Hannibal, Missouri, near the banks of the Mississippi River. The 1870 U.S. Census lists her as Maggy Tobin, age 3, with her…
As the one hundredth anniversary approaches of the Titanic steamship’s tragic encounter with an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean during its maiden voyage, I will provide some details about our heroine, Margaret Brown, who consequently became known to us as the Unsinkable Molly Brown. After all, she is the inspiration for this Unsinkable blog, which celebrates her story and Western history. If you believe in fate, you will appreciate the circumstances that placed Mrs. J.J.…
January has always been a time for me to clean out my desk and my brain as I turn the calendar and make plans for a new year. How timely that the Denver Woman’s Press Club invited Cynthia Morris to coach a group of us through the process of focusing on plans and writing notes to hold ourselves accountable for ideas which will make 2012 Our Best Writing Year Ever. The regrouping, re-evaluating, and re-purposing…
Not so long ago, every August 1st, Colorado celebrated “Colorado Day” in a big way. In the late 70s and early 80s, we closed our typography and graphics business mid-morning to watch a long parade full of horses and pioneers along Nevada Avenue in Colorado Springs. Crowds and decorations abounded for the celebration. Why? This excerpt from “First Governor, First Lady” offers an explanation. “Undaunted by heavy criticism from the East, people of Colorado voted…
A History Presentation by Author Joyce B. Lohse: “Mining for the Real Baby Doe Tabor” at Historic Tattered Cover LoDo Bookstore 1628 16th St. at Wynkoop in Denver Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. A legendary pioneer woman, Baby Doe Tabor, provided us with one of the greatest rags-to-riches-to-rags stories in America’s western history. Award-winning biographer Joyce B. Lohse has written her biography set in Colorado’s days of boom and bust. The story appeals…
As a self-employed freelance writer, my prospects for a holiday office party are fairly bleak. Writing by nature is a solitary undertaking. For that reason, writers often join associations and organizations in order to pool resources, exchange ideas, and yes, party, with associates. Recently, I attended a holiday gathering at the Denver Woman’s Press Club. Coincidentally, it is the 100th anniversary of the DWPC clubhouse, a charming little Victorian building surround by tall office buildings…
Sometimes it is easy to become complacent and forget about the rich history in our own backyards. A walk on a sunny Saturday morning in Denver led us to Civic Center Park, where we stepped into the recently restored Greek Theater in the South Pavilion to enjoy a historic scene called “The Trapper”, a 1920 Allen True mural. Allen True was a local artist and illustrator who provided the city with public art, which we…
I love fall. When the morning air gets crispy, it is time to take a drive along Federal Blvd. in Denver, with the car windows open, to smell the aroma of roasting chiles. As if by magic, stands spring up along this busy city thoroughfare. A tent in a parking lot marks the spot where one can stop and buy produce from New Mexico. Before your eyes, Hatch chiles are thrown into a cylindrical cage,…
While attending a Denver Open Doors event, I found a bronze plaque commemorating General William J. Palmer in Union Station. In 1929, five of these plaques were installed in various key locations: Mexico City, Salt Lake City, Hampton Institute in Virginia, Colorado College in Colorado Springs, and Union Station in Denver. I looked high; I looked low. I never could find the Palmer plaque in the historic old Denver train station. The bronze memorial must…