Special and ongoing exhibits enhance your museum experience throughout the home of Denver’s own Unsinkable Margaret Brown and mining magnate James Joseph Brown.
James Joseph Brown & the Peoples’ Quest for Gold
Visit our Natural Resources Center in the museum’s lower level to learn more about the man of the house, James Joseph Brown. Explore the mining endeavors that made the Browns millionaires and changed the course of history in Leadville. Discover how the quest for mineral wealth impacted the people of Colorado and transformed Denver into a growing cultural metropolis.
Image credit: Denver Public Library
Titanic
Learn about Margaret Brown’s role in the Titanic disaster, and the ways immigration and the classes impacted the infamous story of the sinking ship.
Objects and archives are rotated frequently so be sure to visit again to see more!
Currently on Display: Margaret Brown’s Titanic souvenir, a letter from Archibald Gracie, and a journal from third-class passenger Ernest Tomlin.
Thanks to our partners, Jason Schleisman and Evgueni Mlodik.
Image credit: Library of Congress
Acquirement of Culture
Explore Margaret Brown’s souvenirs and travel articles through a current lens. What kinds of souvenirs do you bring back from your travels? And how do we view Mrs. Brown’s souvenirs today?
Additionally, learn about the history of immigration in the United States, and how Margaret’s life was affected by being the daughter of Irish immigrants.
Objects and archives are rotated frequently so be sure to visit again to see more.
Families on the Move
Learn about kids from three different families and how their lives were affected by different moments in U.S. history.
First, Larry and Helen Brown, as they prepare to move to Denver and an exciting trip overseas. Then, learn about Tulio and Lena Verna as a coal mining strike forced them out of their home and into a tent. Finally, follow Ilyās and Jamīlah Nīqūla Yārid as they traveled from Lebanon to join their family in the United States on board the R.M.S. Titanic.
Image Credit: History Colorado, the Mother Jones Museum, Encyclopedia Titanica
Unearthed: Voices of Leadville's Shanty Irish
The Irish were the largest ethnic community in 19th-century Leadville, reaching close to 3,000 Irish-born residents during the 1880s. By 1880, nine percent were born in Ireland and nearly twenty percent of Leadville had Irish roots. Irish immigrants came from other mining communities across Ireland, the British Isles, and North America. Leadville emerged as one of the most important centers in the American West for Irish culture and nationalist causes.
The story of the Leadville Irish community is not a triumphant story. It’s a story of a working class, immigrant community struggling for survival and respect at 10,200 feet. This Irish community occupied the lowest rung on the city’s social ladder and many died very young. Facing poverty and few doors into the middle class, the Irish formed some of the most important labor unions in early Colorado
We hold this history up to the light to demonstrate the human toll of industrial labor and how first and second-generation immigrant laborers struggle for a dignified existence. As labor leader Michael Mooney said, “We may not have the whole American flag, but we have earned a corner of it.”
Please reflect on how this story opens doors into conversations today about immigration, labor, and systemic poverty, and what it means in North America to call oneself Irish.
Let Them See What We Can Do
When asked if a woman could hold her own in the Senate, Margaret “Molly” Brown answered without hesitation: “Let them see what we can do!” Suffrage leaders had pushed Margaret to be the first woman senator in 1914, before women could vote.
As Colorado celebrates 150 years of statehood – and the United States marks 250 years of independence – we look back at those who helped shape our democracy. Women like Margaret Brown played an important role.
In the late 1800s, Americans moved west to places like Colorado for mining and other opportunities. As the state grew, leaders supported women’s right to vote to attract settlers and help build a strong community. In 1893, Colorado men voted for women’s suffrage, making it one of the first places where women could cast a ballot.
Colorado women like Margaret were suddenly part of the political conversation. She joined a growing movement for equality, supporting national suffrage and even running for U.S. Senate. Alongside many others, she helped build momentum that led to the 19th Amendment in 1920.
Margaret Brown’s story reminds us that democracy grows stronger when people come together, and that each generation has a role to play.
Colorado flag on loan from History Colorado