Margaret Brown: Encyclopedia II - Margaret Brown - Humble beginnings

Margaret Brown - Humble beginnings

Margaret was born in Hannibal, Missouri, one of six children of Irish immigrants. At 18, she moved to Leadville, Colorado, with her sister, obtaining a job in a department store. It was here she met and married James Joseph Brown (J.J.) in 1886. It was also in Leadville that she first became involved in women's rights, helping to establish the Colorado chapter of the National American Women's Suffrage Association, and worked in soup kitchens to assist miners' families. The family came into great wealth when J.J's engineering efforts proved instrumental in the production of a substantial gold and copper seam at the Little Jonny mine of his employers, Ibex, and he was awarded 12,500 shares of stock and a seat on the board.

In 1894, they moved to Denver, Colorado, which gave the family more social opportunities and Margaret became a charter member of the Denver Woman's Club, whose mission was the improvement of women's lives through continuing education and philanthropy. In 1901, she was one of the first students to enroll at the Carnegie Institute in New York. Adjusting to the trappings of a society lady, she became well-immersed in the arts and fluent in French, German and Russian. In 1909 and 1914, she ran for Congress, and she also assisted in the fundraising for Denver's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception that was completed in 1912. Margaret also worked with Judge Ben Lindsey to help destitute children and establish the United States' first juvenile court which helped form the basis of the modern U.S. juvenile courts system. Her lifelong career as a human and labor rights advocate earned her prominence in the aftermath of the Ludlow Massacre in Trinidad, Colorado in 1914.

In 1909, Margaret and J.J. privately separated, but remained close until his death in 1922.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Humble beginnings", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki