It wasn’t the woman in the white Victorian gown and satin gloves who drew the most looks at Molly Brown’s 145th-birthday celebration Sunday but the woman in a red shirt and jeans — Brown’s great-granddaughter.
Helen Benziger, 61, joined the crowd celebrating her great-grandmother’s birthday at the Molly Brown House Museum in Denver.
“This is the most amazing thing that she could have dreamed of,” Benziger said. “She would love it if she knew that this many people, a hundred years later, still came here and held her in such great esteem.”
The event included children’s activities, tours of the home — saved from demolition in 1970 — historic presentations and cake.
Brown was born Margaret Tobin in Missouri in 1867 and was a Colorado resident most of her life, living in Leadville and Denver. She is perhaps most famous for surviving the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912.
Benziger said she enjoys being a part of events such as the birthday jubilee because they widen the community’s understanding that Brown was more than just “unsinkable.”
“What it really did was give her the platform she needed to promote the causes she was really adamant about,” Benziger said, which included raising money to build a nearby church and running for a state Senate seat in 1902.
Including informational but fun activities was something that she and the rest of the staff worked hard on, said Channah Rotenberg, 22, the museum’s events intern.
“We really want people to know how incredible Margaret was and what her role in the Denver community and on the Titanic was,” Rotenberg said.
Elizabeth Lyon, 13, of Tucson said she and her younger sister and mother made a point to come to the event, even though they were visiting Denver for a relative’s baseball game.
“We were at a hotel, and they had a picture or painting of the house,” Elizabeth said. “I said we had to come along to see.”
Elizabeth said her favorite part of the event was a presentation given by two museum volunteers — dressed in traditional Victorian clothing — who portrayed Brown and the captain of the Titanic, Edward John Smith.
Sarah Simmons: 303-954-1210, ssimmons@denverpost.com
