Omaha Children's Museum

Fun Times

August & September 2004 issue

Contents:

Letter From Lindy - Blurring the Lines

Uncovering the Truth of the
Unsinkable Molly Brown

Speaking of Molly Brown (a conversation with her great-granddaughter)

Discovery Ports Arriving:
Titanic Outreach Docking at a School Near You

Sue Renninger:
Dir. of Finance and Human Resources

Letter From Lindy - Blurring The Lines
I am often asked, "What's the age limit for children at Omaha Children's Museum?" My stock answer is to smile and say, "We don't put an age limit on children at the children's museum." The truth is that anyone who wants to come be a child is welcome and invited to play and explore.

This summer we have seen a marked increase in the number of adults attending the museum without a child in tow. We know this is because of our special showing of Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit. It has been delightful to watch the faces of the many adults who came to see a piece of history and left having refreshed themselves on the art of play. When, exactly, is that magical moment of transformation when we leave childhood and become an adult? Perhaps it never really happens; we just think it does. That's the beauty of the children's museum—we can deliberately blur the lines between childhood and the adult world.

For the next visit to the children's museum with your family, let yourself be a child again. Give yourself permission to jump in and play with your child and you may be in for a big discovery: you never really grew up, and in the eyes of the children's museum that's okay. Try painting your face, milking the cow, picking some corn, letting the balls of the Super Gravitron fall on your head. Whatever it takes to transform you back to yesteryear, do it! You'll come away refreshed and excited with a new perspective on the importance of play in the lives of children (and grown-up children, too).

There is truly no age limit to the Omaha Children's Museum experience. The only limitations rest in you. I invite you to let those limitations go and discover a world still waiting for you.

Uncovering the Truth of the
Unsinkable Molly Brown
An iceberg sunk the ship and the sea covered her for decades. But it was the fog of legend that concealed the truth of the RMS Titanic for the better part of the 20th century.

The veil of myth also enveloped the ship's passengers and crew. One of its most famous passengers, known to the world as "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," perhaps became the most famous folk hero to have traveled that tragic maiden voyage.

Even the name "Molly" is apocryphal, a name given to Margaret Tobin Brown by Richard Morris, who wrote "The Unsinkable Molly Brown." But the legend of the legendary Mrs. J.J. Brown only starts there. The myth made permanent on film by MGM and a young Debbie Reynolds shows Molly Brown as a hard-drinking, foul-mouthed tomboy whose high spirited bluntness and natural intelligence made up for her lack of schooling.

This Hollywood fable turned folktale continues to this day, overshadowing the much more extraordinary personality and achievements of Margaret Tobin Brown.

More than any other passenger or crew, Margaret Tobin Brown has become identified with the RMS Titanic. Ironically, Brown would not have been traveling back to the U.S. but for news she received about her first grandchild's illness back home. Even before Brown stepped onto the Titanic in France, she had already led a very full life.

The child of Irish immigrants, Maggie Tobin, as she was known as a young woman, was born in Hanibal, Mo., where she worked her first job as a teenager stripping tobacco leaves for a tobacco shop. She moved to Leadville, Colo., with her sister, where she eventually married miner James Joseph "J.J." Brown.

J.J. Brown soon became a mine superintendent and Margaret devoted herself to social causes, including early work in the feminist movement and women's suffrage along with volunteering in soup kitchens for local mining families. Through a bit of ingenuity, J.J. Brown developed a method for mining gold in a mine that had been used for silver, making him one of the most successful mining men in the nation.

Wealth only seemed to increase Margaret Brown's ability and desire to help others and improve herself. She raised funds to build a cathedral and hospital, helped to establish the first juvenile court in the country and studied the humanities at the Carnegie Institute in New York. She was also rearing her two children and her brother's three daughters, who had lost their mother.

Brown's role on the Titanic bears out her propensity toward service. She helped others onto lifeboats and helped row away from the sinking ship. Aboard the Carpathia, which picked up the lifeboats and their passengers, Brown assisted survivors. By the time they reached New York, she had helped establish the Survivor's Committee, had been elected chair, and had raised almost $10,000 for destitute survivors. Her Titanic work continued for many years, as she raised funds and helped erect a memorial in Washington, D.C.

After Titanic, she used her now greater fame to promote labor rights, women's rights, education and literacy for children and historic preservation. She also became the first woman to run for U.S. Senate in 1914, a brief run that she abandoned after the start of World War I. Instead, during the war, she worked to help rebuild devastated areas behind the front-line and worked with wounded French and American soldiers.

In her later years, she studied and performed drama in Paris and New York, where she resided until she died of a brain tumor in 1932.

Margaret Tobin Brown is only one of the many passengers and crew that visitors get to know when visiting Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit. While she may be the most well-known, her story is just a part of the complete tale that makes up the history of the RMS Titanic.

Speaking of Molly Brown
Omaha Children's Museum welcomed a great granddaughter of Margaret Brown to Omaha for a visit in early July. Helen Benziger McKinney had the chance to answer a few questions
about her great grandmother.

OCM: How would you assess your great grandmother?

Helen: There are so many ways. She was a fabulous mother, a warrior for children's rights. Her compassion for others was limitless. She was a woman who did not allow limitations to stop her from accomplishing what she could or should do.

OCM: How do you feel about the movie and musical "The Unsinkable Molly Brown?"

Helen: I absolutely adore the play and musical. Some in my family don't agree, citing some of the "license" that was taken by Hollywood. I, however, see it as a testament to her spirit. I think the musical portrays who Molly Brown was . . . inside.

OCM: What, if anything, do you see of Molly Brown in yourself?

Helen: I have been accused of being something close to the reincarnation of her or of having what some have termed "The Molly Gene" in the family. I take that as an amazing compliment.

OCM: What do you enjoy about appearing with Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit?

Helen: The legacy I have been given is both a blessing and a responsibility. The messages that I convey are what I believe she would have wanted people to remember. Among those would be faith in God that He will be there always to get us through. I really don't think that she could have gotten through the Titanic disaster and other hurdles in her life without that belief. There is also courage of conviction, service to others and learning, always learning.

Helen lives on a farm high in the old Missouri River bluffs near the historic town of Weston, Mo. She shares the farm with her husband David, two dogs and a cat. Helen owns and operates McKinney Realty in Weston, Missouri and has a very active volunteer life. Helen has been traveling and speaking to groups about her great grandmother for the past six years. Helen was named for her grandmother, Helen Brown Benziger, Margaret’s daughter.

Discovery Ports Arriving:
Titanic Outreach Docking at a School Near You
The dog days of August mean that school doors will soon re-open, welcoming back old students and greeting new ones.

This year, the museum is offering a outreach program that brings summer vacation back to life. Discovery Ports are going out on the road.

These six exhibit pieces that complement Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit with hands-on activities will be folded up and rolled off the floor to be taken to area schools.

Accompanying the interactive exhibits is a half-hour Titanic play created by the Living Picture Project. In the play, a recent immigrant, Arthur Walcott, is waiting for his fiancée to arrive in America aboard the Titanic. She has written him postcards every day, but when they cease, he travels to New York to find her. At the dock, he speaks to survivors as they disembark the Carpathia, hoping to find his fiancée alive.

"We've been listening to teachers," said Tom Simons, director of education and public programs at Omaha Children's Museum, "and they've told us that they want school-wide presentations. So we've combined the larger audience program with class-by-class activities. It's a winning combination."

The ports include: What Makes Things Float? Understanding Density (Science and Math Activity); Plotting A Course (Geography Activity); Recovery, Conservation & Restoration (Science Activity); The Marconi Wireless: Communication Aboard the Titanic (Science & Communications Activity); Uniting the Classes: An Understanding of How People Lived in 1912 (History & Cultural Activity); and Building the Titanic (Engineering, Architecture & Design Activity)

"If you would like to see this outreach at your child's school, talk to your teachers," said Lindy Hoyer, executive director of the museum. "That's the best way to let them know about this engaging and educational exhibit."

Discovery Ports were made possible by Peter Kiewit Foundation, Ahmanson Foundation, Iowa West Foundation, The Charles and Mary Heider Foundation and Qwest Foundation.

The cost to book Discovery Ports is $300 for a three-hour program, including a 45-minute presentation and over two hours of interaction with Discovery Ports. The charge for additional time is $75 per hour.

Sue Renninger:
Dir. of Finance and Human Resources
Susan Renninger joined Omaha Children’s Museum in June 2004 as the Director of Finance and Human Resources.
Susan is a graduate of Bellevue University with a bachelor’s degree in Management of Information Systems with an emphasis in accounting.

Prior to joining the staff at OCM, Susan worked for several local companies and non-profit entities, most recently for Eastern Nebraska Human Services Agency as Controller and HIPA security officer.

Susan currently serves as treasurer for the Bellevue Bicycle Club and has been past treasurer for the Midwest Tandem Rally. Her hobbies include biking and quilting. She has biked in Bike Ride Across Nebraska for 10 years in a row and has also biked in Ireland, Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Born and raised in Chicago, Ill., Susan moved to Bellevue, Neb., in 1973 with her husband, Jack, whose career lasted 20 years with the Air Force. They have two grown children, Colleen and Brendon, who both reside in Bellevue.

Main - About - Things to do - Membership
News - Opportunities - Give - Site Map