As the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster approaches next week, the prevailing question is “Why?” Why does this story touch us so deeply a century later? Why did the Titanic sink? The story is best told by one who survived the tragedy. If you asked Colorado’s Margaret Brown, known in modern culture as “Molly Brown”, she would describe the Titanic as a great equalizer. In the Denver Post on April 27, 1912, Mrs. Brown…
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.…
This past week, we took advantage of a rare opportunity to visit “Titanic: Treasures from the Deep”, a traveling exhibit of artifacts presented by Country Financial. The weather was suitably chilly, which put us in the proper frame of mind to visit treasures from the shipwreck in the Atlantic where the steamship Titanic hit an iceberg and sank during her maiden voyage in 1912. Part of the exhibit allowed us to be photographed in front…
A book launch is a most exciting time for an author, and the reason for all we do. My new book, “General William Palmer: Railroad Pioneer,” was delivered to me by my publisher, Filter Press, on Thursday, just before a Colorado spring blizzard socked Denver. Although an author open house I was scheduled to attend at a rural library was canceled on Saturday, the sun popped out and events carried on for Sunday and Tuesday.…