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For this month’s blog post, part 2, we have decided to highlight two more of our docents who truly bring the story of Margaret Brown to life. These docents have been with us for over 20 years combined. Meet Annie: 1.How long have you been a docent? I can’t remember!!  Think it has been about…

For this month’s blog post, we have decided to highlight a few of our docents who truly bring the story of Margaret Brown to life.  These docents have been with us for over 20 years combined. Meet Phill: Phill and his wife Sue 1. How long have you been a docent? Sometime in February 2003, my wife Sue noticed an ad in the paper that said, “Molly Needs a Hand.”  The Molly Brown House Museum (MBHM) was going to have two “information sessions” on how to become a volunteer on February 25th at 2 and 7 pm.  Sue said that I should give them a call and check it out.  The ad also stated that they were going to “serve refreshments,” so of course I had to call and schedule the 7 pm session.  While I was there I met Mary…

When the Brown family discovered their fortune from the Little Johnny gold mine in Leadville, Colorado, they celebrated their newfound wealth by taking a trip around the United States. On their vacation, they stopped in Chicago to enjoy the Columbian Exposition of 1893.[1] The Exposition, also known as the World’s Fair, celebrated the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Christopher Columbus. The Fair highlighted American progress and cultural diversity. Booths represented Celtic, Arabian, Asian, African cultures, and several others. Margaret was captivated by this display of culture, and it inspired her to set up her Carnival of Nations fundraiser in a similar fashion.[2] The Exposition also featured an expansive building specifically created and designed to display accomplishments of women from across the world. A Board of Lady Managers was organized to determine how women would be represented at the fair….

This summer, the Molly Brown House Museum will be presenting a much awaited for exhibit that takes an in-depth look at how the myth of Molly Brown was created. So much of what we think we know about Margaret Brown comes from the larger-than-life stories that were created after her death. Those stories in turn…

Irish immigrants came to the United States in droves during the Irish Potato Famine (1845-1852) seeking a better life. Once they reached America however, they were met with discrimination and back breaking labor. Faced with the challenges of discrimination, the Irish fought hard to work their way up the socioeconomic ladder in America. The first-generation of immigrants did their utmost to pave a path to a better future for their children. Their efforts made it possible for second and third generation Irish to obtain positions that once had often been out of reach. Many Irishman helped lay down tracks for the growing railroad industry and built roads and ditches for the growing infrastructure of the United States. Margaret Tobin Brown’s own father, an Irish immigrant, was a ditch digger. The booming mining business brought many Irish to Colorado in the…

Denver is a storied place. Beginning with the Native Americans to the Gold Rush to modern times, Denver’s history is explored in the newly published third and fourth grade book, Discovering Denver: Brick by Brick. The idea for Discovering Denver: Brick by Brick was first brought to Historic Denver Inc. and the Molly Brown House Museum’s attention by our local school teachers. There was a need for a school aged history on Denver. Historic Denver Inc. was then granted money from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Peter Grant Preservation Fund for Colorado and by a State Historical Fund grant from Colorado Historical Society. The publication, found online at https://mollybrown.org/teacher-resources/, is a 52 page book telling Denver’s history using our historic fabric. Whether you are young or old, Denverite or newcomer, you can enjoy the tale of Denver with Natty…

Do you every wonder why there is a coffeehouse on every corner in America and not a teahouse? America’s love/hate relationship with tea dates back to before America was even America. In the 1700s, tea was the preferred hot beverage. Even though it was the Dutch that first introduced the beverage to the New World, it was Britain that created teahouses all throughout the 13 colonies. During the 1700s tea was drunk by everyone: from soldiers to fur trappers to settlers. In 1760, after George III had become King of England, Parliament began passing laws that both restricted the freedom of the American colonists and heavily taxed them. The colonists bitterly opposed the new British policies and taxes. They claimed that Britain had no right to restrict their settlement or deny their freedom in any way. In 1770, Parliament repealed…

For 100 years, the Titanic has been 12,000 feet deep on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, near the shores of Newfoundland. It wasn’t until 1985 when a joint expedition between a French expedition team and the United States Navy, led by Dr. Robert Ballard, found the Titanic.  Since then, the debate has raged about visiting the site and the removal of objects. In 1985, Dr. Ballard’s team did not take or remove any artifacts from the site. Instead, they photographed and documented the ship and its condition and left a commemorative plaque paying homage to those that perished on the Titanic. By not taking anything from the site, this left the Titanic open for claim by the first salvager to bring up an artifact. In 1987, salvage company RMS Titanic Inc. was formed and they retrieved jewelry, china, and…

The following information was taken from Titanic Survivor: The Newly Discovered Memoirs of Violet Jessop Who Survived both the Titanic and Britannic Disasters, by Violet Jessop. Sheridan House Inc., New York 1997) Travel was a huge part of the lives of most wealthy Victorian families. While at sea, they expected a high level of service. Life for ship stewards and stewardesses was not much easier than their counterparts on land. One stewardess who served on Titanic wrote in her memoirs about life serving at sea. Violet Jessop decided on a life at sea when her mother became ill. Violet was around 20 at the time and at least one shipping executive was concerned that she was too young and pretty for the job. Despite those concerns, Violet began her career that year, 1908, on a Royal Mail Line ship sailing to the…

The following is an excerpt from the Chicago Tribune, February 20, 2000: Did you know that the Titanic included black passengers? Joseph Laroche, a Haitian-born, French-educated engineer left France with his family in 1912. Like Margaret Brown, they did not intend to travel on the Titanic. Joseph Laroche was born in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, and traveled to France to study engineering when he was 15. His wife, Juliette, who grew up in a prominent privileged family, met her husband when she was 15. However, they were not allowed to marry until Joseph finished his degree. They were wed in March of 1908. Laroche was unable to find “fair wages” in France as an engineer due to his race. He was bringing his family to Haiti where his family prospered. He had worked on the building of one of the early Metro…