By Molly Snyder Senior Writer Published Dec 15, 2015 at 2:28 PM

Ever wonder who Betty Brinn – namesake of Milwaukee's children's museum– was? I have. 

Kristen Adams from the museum provided some information, through which I learned that Brinn was a successful Milwaukee businesswoman who spent most of her childhood in Wisconsin-based foster homes and orphanages.

As an adult, she dedicated her life to helping underprivileged women and children in the Milwaukee area secure health care. Brinn passed away in 1992, but her legacy lives on through the thousands of children who visit the museum each year.

Last Friday, Potawatomi’s Heart of Canal program donated $1,031,543 to 31 local children’s charities. OnMilwaukee was once again a part of this program and, this year, partnered with the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum. Thanks to Heart of Canal, the museum received $31,051.

Brinn was an inspiring woman and Heart of Canal is an inspiring program. 


Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.

Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.