The Eugene Field House is a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that is preserved as a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a variety of ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. Built in 1845, it was the home of Roswell Field, an attorney for

Dred Scott Dred Scott ( – September 17, 1858) was an enslaved African American man who, along with his wife, Harriet, unsuccessfully sued for the freedom of themselves and their two daughters, Eliza and Lizzie, in the '' Dred Scott v. Sandford'' case ...

in the landmark ''

Dred Scott v. Sandford ''Dred Scott v. Sandford'', 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that held the U.S. Constitution did not extend American citizenship to people of black African descent, and therefore they ...

'' court case. Field's son,

Eugene Field Eugene Field Sr. (September 2, 1850 – November 4, 1895) was an American writer, best known for his children's poetry and humorous essays. He was known as the "poet of childhood". Early life and education Field was born in St. Louis, Missouri ...

, was raised there and became a noted writer of children's stories. A

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

, it is now a museum known as the Field House Museum. (Previously known as The Eugene Field House & St. Louis Toy Museum.)

Description

The Field House is located just south of Downtown St. Louis, at the northeast corner of South Broadway and Cerre Street. It is largely surrounded by parking lots, with

Interstate 64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at Interstate 70, I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and U.S. Route 61, US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern ter ...

a short way to the north. It is a three-story brick building, three bays wide, with a side gable roof whose end wall sections are raised. The entrance is in the leftmost bay, in a panelled recess. The windows have stone sills and lintels.

History

The house was built in 1845, and was once part of a row of similar buildings called Walsh's Row. Most of these were torn down in the 20th century. Threatened with demolition, the house was transferred to the St. Louis Board of Education in 1936. Restored with funding from local preservationists, it opened as a museum to Eugene Field later that year. It was turned over to the Landmarks Association of St. Louis in 1968, and to the Eugene Field House Foundation in 1981. It was designated a

in 2007, for its association with attorney Roswell Field, who was Eugene Field's father, and a lead attorney for

. Field's legal work set the stage for Scott's final appeal to the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

, which was rejected in the 1857 ''

'' decision, in which Chief Justice

Roger B. Taney Roger Brooke Taney ( ; March 17, 1777 – October 12, 1864) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the fifth Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice of the United States, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 186 ...

issued a decision denying African Americans United States citizenship. A plaque on the home was dedicated in 1902 with the help of author

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

, who announced it as the birthplace of Eugene Field. Field's brother Roswell, however, noted that he was born elsewhere. Twain brushed the fact aside, telling him, "Officially and for the purposes of the future, your brother was born here." The inaccurate plaque remains. The plaque reads: "Here was born Eugene Field, the Poet, 1850–1895".Sorby, Angela. ''Schoolroom Poets: Childhood, Performance, and the Place of American Poetry, 1865–1917''. Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire Press, 2005: 126.

References

Additional reading

Marguerite Martyn, "Memories of Eugene Field by His Son: 'Pinny' Field, in St. Louis, Says the Poet Was a Child When With Children," ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch,'' September 21, 1936, image 32

External links

Eugene Field House & St. Louis Toy Museum
* {{authority control National Historic Landmarks in Missouri Houses in St. Louis Houses completed in 1829 Landmarks of St. Louis Museums in St. Louis Toy museums in the United States Historic house museums in Missouri History museums in Missouri Historic American Buildings Survey in Missouri Field, Eugene House National Register of Historic Places in St. Louis Downtown St. Louis 1829 establishments in Missouri Tourist attractions in St. Louis Buildings and structures in St. Louis Eugene Field

Description

History

See also

References

Additional reading

External links