We Need More Molly Browns!

Margaret “Molly” Brown was born Margaret Tobin in 1867 to Irish immigrants in Missouri, never referredto herself as “Molly Brown.” Her story is one full of incredible true stories from surviving the Titanicand striking it rich in Leadville, Coloradoto participating in various progressive passions, especially women’s rights. The mythology surrounding the character “Molly Brown” is credited to her theatrical nature and the American imagination, especially regarding the women of the West.

“She is a magnificent example of when you seesomething and have the ability to fix it, that’s whatyou do,” saidBeth Malone, playing MargaretBrown in the musical, The Unsinkable MollyBrown (http://transportgroup.org/project/the-unsinkable-molly-brown/)

As a child of immigrants, Margaret Brown believed in sharing her wealth after she and her husband, James Joseph “J.J.” Brown, became multimillionaires. She invested her time and newly acquired affluence in causes like homes for pregnant girls, immigration rights, labor rights, juvenile defenders, and women’s suffrage. According to the Molly Brown House Museum in Denver, Colorado:

“Margaret had been a staunch supporter of thewomen’s rights movement from the verybeginning in Leadville, and made no qualmsabout the fact that she believed in her right to beheard on varying subjects, whether her opinionwas solicited or not, because simply enough,she was a grown woman, living in America.”

The National American Woman Suffrage Organization was formed in 1890 and Margaret Brown had been active in the National Women’s Suffrage Association even in her days in Leadville, Colorado (she moved there in 1885). Margaret’s work continued when she moved to Denver. She was notorious for holding fundraisers benefiting humanitarian causes and was credited as a woman who could “show the iron hand beneath the glove of glistening silk.”

One of the survivors of the Titanic in 1912, Margaret was famous for using her language and leadership skills to help lifeboat #6 to safety. Margaret Brown used her moment in the limelight to continue to propel social justice in America. Despite the nation’s lack of progression for women’s rights, she remained an instrumental suffragist for over 30 years. According to Women’s Public Leadership, “Brown made several runs for Congress years before all women were guaranteed the right to vote, and in 1914, she ran for Colorado’s U.S. Senate seat and organized the International Women’s Rights Conference that same year.”

At the end of her life, Margaret Brown was awarded the French Legion of Honor for her courageous actions aboard the Titanic and other internationally acclaimed work. David Aron Damane, who played Brown’s husband JJ in The Unsinkable Molly Brown, said it best,

“She was strong, opinionated and would fight furiously to right any wrong. The world needs more Molly Browns.”

Please continue to reach out to me personally or professionally as we continue our work to make NFBPWC a better organization, because together we are stronger.

Best Personal Wishes,

Megan Shellman-Rickard

Immediate Past National President

immpastpresident@nfbpwc.org

Sources for reference:

https://mollybrown.org/about-us/about-molly-brown/

https://womenspublicleadership.net/blog/womenshistorymonth-the-unsinkable-molly-brown

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Molly-Brown

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jerylbrunner/2020/02/28/decades-before-women-had-the-right-to-vote-margaret-molly-brown-was-a-fierce-bandit-for-human-rights/