RESEARCH ARTICLES

During the 1890s, Denver was known as the Queen City of the Plains. In hopes of becoming comparable to the likes of Chicago or San Francisco, Denver began to establish itself as both an important thoroughfare and place to live. There was a population boom, and a building boom as well. Thousands were moving to…

While Margaret Brown has become legendary for her progressive ideas regarding a multitude of issues and causes, she had numerous contemporaries who also pushed for change and social progress during their time. In fact, one such prominent social critic, and early feminist, was also a passenger onboard the Titanic in 1912, and as faith would…

Located approximately one hundred miles west of the city of Denver, the town of Leadville is nestled in the Rocky Mountains and sits at 10, 152 feet above sea level. After gold was discovered in 1859 on the banks of Cherry Creek near what is now known as Denver, thousands came to Colorado in hopes…

Courtesy of the Denver Public Library Margaret Brown is well known for her progressive and liberal ideologies regarding a wide array of topics common to her day. Topics ranging from education, women’s suffrage, labor rights, judicial reform, and marriage equality. While serving as a champion for these causes throughout Denver, Colorado, and the world Margaret…

Margaret Tobin was born to John and Johanna Tobin in Hannibal, Missouri, on July 18th, 1867. She was born in the family’s modest cottage where she would live until she was eighteen years old. The four-room cottage was situated on the side of a hill not far from the Mississippi River, and it still stands…

The multifaceted approach to a history education using museum programs help enrich historical diversity in the classroom, an often dull and flat subject matter. By keeping children and community in mind, museum programs can be fun to develop－especially considering how many resources do not require high-level access and are open for public use. Going to libraries and historical archives around Denver has taught me more about how easy it is to access history by simply walking around the neighborhood. One of my favorite ways to experience history is through historical houses and in Denver, many of those houses belonged to women, like the Molly Brown House. I learned about Colorado history from the houses of women like Margaret Brown and I noticed how much of Colorado’s history fails to acknowledge these women as important figures who shaped the state. I…

We’re all generally familiar with the Thanksgiving story. It’s 1621; the Pilgrims and Native Americans are coming around a large table in Plymouth colony after a year of harsh winters and bountiful harvests. Everyone’s holding hands, singing Kumbaya, and saying a collective prayer. Ok, maybe that’s not exactly how it happened (even though that’s how…

There are pictures of me in Los Angeles at the Paul Getty Museum when I was not even a year old and I can tell that trip was the start of my passion for history and museums. I grew up going to museums in NYC, where my mom would fatigue from seeing my favorite exhibits over and over again, a trend that I would set until I went to college when I decided to study history with the intention of working in museums. Studying history in high school felt like an expectation to accept textbooks as fact, but after taking my first college level history class I felt like I was finally learning how to analyze history, using different narratives to challenge widely-accepted perspectives. At CU Boulder, I volunteered with different museums and got to visit several of Denver’s museums…

I grew up watching a lot of classic movies. Especially classic American musicals like Oklahoma!, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, and, of course, The Unsinkable Molly Brown—one of my personal favorites. When I decided to attend college in Denver, the first place I had to visit was the Molly Brown House. I still remember my first tour here. My mind was blown away at the life of the real Molly…excuse me… Margaret Brown. Even decades after her death, she inspired me. From her social to religious to political work I was blown away at what she accomplished in only 65 years of life. Surely, someone who was so full of life, compassion, courage and who could do so much for Denver, America, and even the world had to be preserved in some way. A heroine of social activism, strong willed…

Between the Lions has been quiet for a little while, but now the interns are taking over!  They will be writing on their experiences here at the Molly Brown House Museum, sharing research on various projects, cool things they find in collections, or an awesome history piece from Margaret’s life! Check back often for an insight into our intern’s minds and lives here at the Molly Brown House Museum!

Ringing in the New Year is a time generally celebrated with laughter and togetherness, dancing, and the generous application of strong liquid refreshment. One may wonder, therefore, if the Prohibition era of 1920-1933 had a negative effect on this tradition of enthusiastic merriment. Luckily, the party-loving youth of the roaring 20’s, known for their excess…