The Molly Brown House Museum
1340 Pennsylvania Street
Denver, Colorado 80203
303.832.4092
Fax: 303.832.2340

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Mrs. Brown's most prestigious award, the French Legion of Honor, was bestowed to her in April 1932. Those who nominated her included Captain Rostron of the RMS Carpathia. She was given the award primarily for her work during World War I in France, but was commended for her "overall good citizenship." Margaret's life of humanitarian and philanthropic service and her never-ending spirit were well recognized.

On October 26th, 1932, at the age of sixty-five, Margaret Tobin Brown died in her sleep at the Barbizon hotel. She had been complaining of severe migraine headaches forcing her to stay in her room for days. The autopsy revealed a large tumor on her brain, and the hospital listed her official cause of death as a cerebral hemorrhage with contributory arteriosclerosis.

Her will named Lawrence and Helen as her primary beneficiaries; her grandchildren and nieces secondary. Her relationship with Helen and Larry had improved since their battle ten years earlier, and she had added them back into her will a year before her death. Her death came at the height of the Great Depression and the overall worth of her estate was considerably reduced. Her heirs were able to sell the Pennsylvania Street property for only $5,000 and used the rest to reconcile her estate.

Margaret always viewed money as a tool for helping others, and it continued to help even after her death. Margaret's annual Christmas shipment for the miner's families arrived right on time in Leadville. She had arranged for candy, clothing, and hundreds of pairs of socks to be sent. Her nephew, Ted Brown, distributed the gifts in her honor.

Margaret had once stated to the Denver Post, "I am a daughter of adventure. This means I never experience a dull moment and must be prepared for any eventuality. I never know when I may go up in an airplane and come down with a crash, or go motoring and climb a pole, or go off for a walk in the twilight and return all mussed up in an ambulance. That's my arc, as the astrologers would say. It's a good one, too, for a person who had rather make a snap-out than a fade-out of life."

Content from Kristen Iversen's book, Molly Brown, Unraveling the Myth, published by Johnson Books in 1999.