09 February 2019

Touring the Field House Museum

This morning, I joined with five others from Missouri Professional Communicators (https://www.facebook.com/MissouriProfessionalCommunicators) to tour the Field House Museum (https://fieldhousemuseum.org/) in downtown St. Louis. This restored house became the home of attorney Roswell Field in 1850. He served as the attorney to Dred Scott, a slave who sought his freedom in a case that went to the United States Supreme Court. The court ruled against Scott in 1857, and this helped bring the United States closer to Civil War four years later.

Roswell Field's son, Eugene Field, was born in his house and lived there during his youth. Eugene Field became a newspaper columnist and poet, known for such poems as "Little Boy Blue, "Wynken, Blynken, & Nod," and "The Gingham Dog & Calico Cat."

Saved from demolition in the early 20th century, the house has been restored to its 1850s appearance. The adjoining museum includes some of the toys Eugene Field collected over the year, along with family artifacts, traveling exhibits (currently featuring dolls of British monarchs), a gift shop, and a library filled with works by and about Eugene Field.

I parked by the St. Louis Artists' Guild (https://www.stlouisartistsguild.org/) in Clayton--our group's usual meeting place--and rode with fellow MPC member Janice Denham to the museum.

Our group's tour of the house was led by Kelly, a graduate student who was excellent in her job. We all had such a great time visiting this place. I last visited the house (the museum was not then built) when I was much younger, and I was very impressed with the work done here in recent years.









(The last photograph is courtesy of Missouri Professional Communicators.)

After the tour, four of us--Linda Jarrett, Deborah Reinhardt, Janice, and I--went to Rosalita's Cantina (https://www.rosalitascantina.com/) on Washington Avenue in downtown St. Louis. We enjoyed a good Tex-Mex lunch--I had barbacoa beef enchiladas--and good conversation. After that, Janice drove me back to Clayton, and then I got into my car and drove home.

Later.