Molly Brown House Museum
The home of Margaret “Molly” Brown.
Site Details
Pin location is approximate.
1340 Pennsylvania St
Denver, CO 80203
Family Friendly?
Somewhat
Visitors Per Year
45,000
The Molly Brown House is a three-story Victorian home located in the heart of Denver. Entering the home feels like stepping back in time. The rooms, filled with artifacts from her life, have been restored to replicate what the home would have looked like when Margaret Brown lived there.
The main house tour lasts about an hour and explores the life of Margaret Tobin Brown, from her Irish immigrant upbringing in Missouri to her move to Leadville, Colorado. The tour covers her marriage to Irish miner J.J. Brown and her commitment to various causes, particularly her support of victims of the Titanic after she survived the sinking in 1912.
Tour guides discuss the impact of the gold rush on immigrant families coming to the United States, with particular emphasis on how women traveled to gold rush centers in the West to find a well-to-do miner as a potential suitor. Guides also detail Brown’s extraordinary philanthropic and suffragette efforts, focusing on how those efforts bettered the Denver community. Special attention is given to the treatment of Irish immigrants, the fight for women’s rights, and Colorado’s history of discrimination against minorities.
One room in the house is dedicated to events surrounding the Titanic. This includes a broad sketch of the Titanic’s construction, sailing, sinking, and Brown’s relief efforts following the disaster. It emphasizes how Brown supported third-class passengers, who lost everything in the wreck, and the ship’s crew, whose pay was withheld by the White Star Line.
Another room of the house is dedicated to “Acquirement of Culture.” Margaret Brown was a frequent international traveler and collected a variety of cultural artifacts on her travels. This exhibit maintains a heavy focus on the discriminatory immigration policies of late 19th and early 20th century America, despite the fact that these policies had little impact on the life of a second-generation Irish immigrant like Brown.
Overall, the Molly Brown House portrays an accurate and comprehensive view of the life of Margaret Brown and her impact as the “Heroine of the Titanic.”
Aspects of the house tour emphasize discriminatory immigrant policies and the unequal treatment of women in Colorado at the time. While these themes are relevant to the era in which Margaret Brown lived, the fact that Brown lived an extraordinary life of success and influence is glossed over in favor of criticizing the era.
Overall, the Molly Brown House portrays the life and legacy of Margaret Brown objectively. Tours emphasize the difficulties her Irish Catholic immigrant family endured upon their arrival in the United States, while also examining the success Margaret found upon moving to Colorado and marrying J.J. Brown, a fellow second-generation Irish immigrant. While the majority of the tour is objective, the “Acquirement of Culture” exhibit emphasizes a critical, modern-day view of 20th century immigration policies and stretches the historical narrative of Brown’s life to make a point about immigration issues that were not necessarily relevant to Brown’s legacy.
There are no specific exhibits dedicated to younger visitors, so the tour may not hold the interest of young children; however, this is a good option for families with upper-elementary age children, particularly if they are interested in the Titanic disaster.
Margaret “Molly” Brown has famously been dubbed the “Heroine of the Titanic” and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” Her national reputation can be traced back to her survival of the RMS Titanic disaster in April 1912, her philanthropic efforts following the tragedy to assist third-class passengers and the ship’s crew, and her work to honor the heroic rescue efforts of the RMS Carpathia’s captain and crew.
Margaret Brown’s life is also the embodiment of the American Dream. The daughter of Irish immigrants, she married Colorado mining engineer J.J. Brown, who struck gold, making them millionaires. After moving to Denver, Brown became an active philanthropist and reformer, working to improve public services for the working class. Later in life, she became active in the suffragette movement, relief efforts in Europe during World War I, and the arts, before her death in 1932.
Owned By: Historic Denver, Inc.
Operated By: Molly Brown House Museum
Government Funded: Yes
Did you know?
Margaret Brown is considered the “Heroine of the Titanic” for her fundraising relief efforts to support the less fortunate victims of the Titanic disaster.
Recommended Reading
- Molly Brown: Unraveling the Myth by Kristen Iversen
- Titanic Voices: 63 Survivors Tell Their Extraordinary Stories by Hannah Holman
- Heroine of the Titanic: The Real Unsinkable Molly Brown by Elaine Landau
- Unsinkable: The Molly Brown Story by Joyce Lohse
Reviewed By
Gregory Schaller
Director of the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University
The opinions expressed above are those of the Reviewer who is providing a good-faith historical assessment to educate the public. Reasonable opinions can vary, and the Reviewer’s opinion is not necessarily the opinion of The Heritage Foundation or its affiliates.