MSOL, MAOL, MBA, and Bachelor’s Degrees in Organizational Leadership in Colorado

The Unsinkable Molly Brown and How Her Lifelong Commitment to Human Rights Employed Important Aspects of Organizational Leadership

Not all leaders are found within the four walls of a conference room. Those who have the ability to achieve success by leading and inspiring others are valued in nearly all walks of life. They’re politicians, social reformers and, like Molly Brown, human rights advocates. Brown used her influence and reputation to lead the fight for women’s, children’s, and workers’ rights.

Molly Brown, born Margaret Tobin in 1867, was primed for leadership from an early age, as she came from a progressive family who believed that women should have the same educational opportunities as men. During her young adult years, she and her brother moved to a Leadville, a mountain town in Colorado, where she witnessed first-hand the dangerous conditions and low pay of the prospectors who worked there.

She began helping the community by opening a soup kitchen for the miners and their families, working to improve the town’s schools, and establishing a western branch of the woman suffrage movement.

She married JJ Brown, a mining engineer there, and soon after experienced the Silver Crash of 1893, largely considered one of the worst economic crises in Colorado history. The Browns, however, escaped the economic downturn when JJ discovered gold, and they moved to Denver. However, Molly was still committed to her philanthropic and human rights efforts and became a founding member of the Denver Woman’s Club, which was established to provide women and children with better rights. She worked alongside a local judge to establish one of the first juvenile courts in the nation.

She gained immediate fame for surviving the Titanic disaster of 1912 and was dubbed “the Unsinkable Molly Brown” as a result. But it was her charitable works following the disaster that garnered her national fame. She established the Survivors’ Committee and helped raise more than $10,000 from first-class passengers to help other survivors of the tragedy.

A few years later, she used her national influence to help the miners in Ludlow, Colorado, who were striking for better working conditions. She was largely credited for helping improve the brutal business practices of John D. Rockefeller, who owned the mine.

She didn’t stop there, either. In the years that followed, Brown advocated for minimum wage, an eight-hour workday, and equal rights for women workers. She spoke out about workers’ rights at the 1914 Conference of Great Women and worked alongside Alice Paul, who famously dedicated her life’s work to the women’s suffrage movement and was a key figure in the passage of the 19^th Amendment.

In 1932, Brown received the French Legion of Honor for her work on behalf of women, children, for miners’ rights, and for her volunteer efforts during WWI.