Mrs. Margaret Sieben House

Transcription

Introducing Molly Brown, one of Titanic's most famous survivors. After her heroic survival, a Broadway musical was written based on her life, followed by a movie. But did this character ever really exist? Was there ever really a Molly Brown? For starters, my real name is Margaret Brown. I was long dead by the time Molly was invented by the media. Do I look like a Molly? What will they say about me next? Folks always said I planned to marry a rich man. Joseph Brown, or JJ as I knew him, was rich. Super rich! The thing is, he was poor like me when we met and married. Well, it's been told that my husband and I were so rich that I actually burnt his money. I did! What really happened was that my husband came home with an envelope busting with money. It was his first big pay packet and he wanted to surprise me. So he hid it in the stove thinking it'd be safe. So I just fell into high society! I didn't belong there. Nouveau riche. Common, even. But I didn't let that stop me. You see, I was the kind of girl you couldn't put down. I learned three languages and I ran for the US Senate in 1909, the first woman ever. Tell the press that one! Do you know that when it crashed, I was thrown out of my bed and landed on the floor. I just got myself back up into bed and continued reading. OK, that may have been a bit of an exaggeration. Well, I did take the oars of my lifeboat and row us all to safety. I even went back looking for survivors. Rowed for a whole seven hours. That's why they call me unsinkable. The officer lost control, so I rallied the women together. I rowed. We rowed. OK. So I wrote dozens of colourful articles for magazines and newspapers about the Titanic. Yes, I enjoyed the attention. Well, I am quotable and witty. What's wrong with that? Is it because I'm a woman? They allowed few women to tell their story at the Titanic inquiry, but they couldn't silence me. After the tragedy, I used my limitless wealth to speak out on all kinds of matters. Labour rights, women's suffrage and children's literacy. I can sing and dance! And I was even found floating down the river as a baby in a basket by none other than Mark Twain. Well, so says the 1964 musical "The Unsinkable Molly Brown". I think they may have embellished the truth a little bit on that one. I'm not complaining. The film was up for an Oscar nomination. Beaten by Mary Poppins! Mary Poppins didn't go into space. I did. In 1965, NASA launched Gemini 3 the seventh manned American space flight, and its commander, Gus Grissom, did in fact name it Molly Brown. Told you so!