Like some others who have already posted, prior to the lecture my only knowledge of Margaret Brown was limited to "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," which always conjured an image of Kathy Bates saying, "Those are your men out there!"  I had never even see a picture of Margaret Brown before the lecture.  I must say though, the casting director for Titanic did a great job in casting Ms. Bates in terms of her and Margaret's resemblance.

One thing that surprised me in the lecture was learning about Margaret running for Colorado state senate in 1915.  I suppose I assumed, with women given the right to vote only 22 years before, any attempt for a woman to obtain political office of some kind would be more locally based, that is minor office within the city or county, rather than a state representative.  It seems as though even being in the running for state senate would be a difficult spot for a woman to procure during that period of time considering women's political role was more or less expected to be in the background, such as the expectation to take on a hospitality role (as Sarah pointed out) during the 1908 DNC.  The lecturers spoke about Margaret's campaign photo being very feminine, which seems strange to me.  I would think she would attempt to have an image more inline with the men she would be campaigning against, something that would serve to make her seem just as powerful and not a "fragile woman," especially after stating she would run "a regular man's campaign."  But perhaps doing so would have created ill effects for her campaign. 

I thought the headline "Visitor will find woman voter as modest and wise as wife or daughter" after women were given suffrage in Colorado was a little hilarious.  That somehow a woman with the right to vote would be different than a woman without; as if the voting woman were a different breed - unruly and lacking necessary wisdom. I guess this same viewpoint plays into Margaret trying display her femininity in her campaign photo, just "as modest and wise as wife or daughter," sigh.  The campaign game hasn't changed much. 

I had an unfortunate, though familiar, round with my alarm clock Saturday morning and missed the scheduled tour of the Margaret Brown House, whann-whannn. This was very disappointing because I was really looking forward to getting a better idea of this celebrated woman.  There's something about being exposed to someone's "Psychic Anchor," as Hunter S. Thompson referred to his home in Woody Creek, that can reveal more than facts and biographies can.  Hopefully, I'll be able to visit the museum in the near future.