Giving Tuesday 2014

Click here to make a gift in support of the Campbell House Museum.

After the hustle and bustle of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, today is Giving Tuesday – a nationwide movement to increase awareness and support for charitable organizations during the holiday season.

The Campbell House Museum might not be the first place to come to mind when you think “Charity”. After all, so many of our wonderful museums in the St. Louis area are supported by tax dollars and through government funding and thus are guaranteed a constant stream of revenue. CHM, however, is entirely privately funded and it’s only through the generosity of folks like you that we’ve been able to serve the St. Louis community for the past 71 years. A gift in support of the nonprofit Campbell House Foundation makes it possible for us to continue to serve hundreds of children in your schools, collaborate with other small area museums and keep up the Campbell House as one of the best restored 19th century buildings in America.

Students at the Campbell House last month. Education programs are made possible only through donor support.

We’d love to have your support. A gift to Campbell House on this Giving Tuesday shows a commitment to St. Louis historic preservation and education and makes a strong statement that CHM is worth giving some of your hard-earned dollars. Please click here to make a donation quickly and securely online, call the Museum at (314) 421-0325 to donate over the phone or mail to 1508 Locust Street, St. Louis, MO 63103.

So, thank you from Robert and Virginia and all of us at CHM. Please come and see us soon!

The Campbell House Museum is owned and operated by the Campbell House Foundation, Inc., a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. 

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Campbell goblets are on their way home!

One of twelve Campbell goblets that are coming home.

First day back in the office after a long weekend, and we have an email from a board member announcing he’s secured the donation of some Campbell possessions from the Selkirk auction back in February 1941.

What was the Selkirk auction? After Hazlett — the last surviving Campbell — died in 1938, the Campbell estate went through a long probate case. It was one of the largest in Missouri history, and it took ten years to wrap up. As part of the settlement — and why we have many of the possessions we do — all the Campbell furnishings went up for auction at a 1941 sale by Ben J. Selkirk and Sons (now Ivey-Selkirk Auctioneers). Stix, Baer & Fuller, meanwhile, purchased the house from Yale University (who had inherited it), and they in turn donated it back to the newly formed Campbell House Foundation.

Since the Campbells’ furnishings were auctioned at a public sale and the foundation only had a budget of $6,500 to buy back as much as possible, quite a few items ended up with other families. Fortunately, many generous folks have given us back items over the years. Today was no exception.

Board member Tim Rohan learned a local family had this set of twelve punch goblets (pictured above), and they agreed to generously donate them back to us . Here’s the original auction catalog description:

[969] American Sterling Silver Punch Goblets, Mermod & Jaccard Co

Hemispherical body with double-scroll border, baluster and ring stem; rising circular foot with beading, height 4-1/4 inches.

They fetched a whopping $2.25 each at the 1941 Selkirk auction.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch clipping of the Selkirk auction. These cups are on the bottom shelf of the case in the top picture. Also note that "Women Almost Swoon."

To the left is an image of a page from the Sunday, February 23, 1941 edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and these cups can be seen in the top picture on the bottom shelf of the case.

Want to see the goblets (and all of our other cool stuff)? They’re not here just yet, but give us a call at 314/421-0325. The house is open by appointment only in January and February, but we are here all week and we’re always happy to welcome guests.

With this donation, ongoing mysteries and all the other exciting programs and events we have on tap, 2012 has kicked off swimmingly. From the Campbell family to yours, we hope that you’re having a happy and productive new year.