Current Exhibits
Poems of Childhood
August 4, 2023 – October 13, 2024
Come and explore Eugene Field’s most popular book of poetry, Poems of Childhood, in this dynamic exhibit that will spark the imagination and bring to life the words of Eugene Field’s famous poems. From the land of sugar-plum trees and magnificent creatures to the sweet tales of falling asleep, guests will take a journey into a land of creativity.
The Field House Museum is sponsoring Poems of Childhood in partnership with the Missouri Humanities Council and with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Growing Up on Fifth: Childhood in 1850s St. Louis
March 1, 2024 – January 5, 2025
The kids who grew up on South Fifth Street (now Broadway) alongside young Eugene and Roswell Field probably wouldn’t recognize their neighborhood today.
Life in the 1850s is very different from life today, but these kids’ childhoods look closer to ours than you might think. Just like today, kids of every class and race found ways to play and learn – even those who also had to work.
Learn more about what childhood looked liked in the 1850s in the newest Eugene Field Library exhibit, Growing Up on Fifth: Childhood in 1850s St. Louis, open through January 2025.
Fielding the Question: Courtship, Matrimony and the Fields
October 2023 – October 2024
One hundred seventy-five years ago, Rosell Field and Frances Maria Reed exchanged marriage vows in St. Louis. One hundred fifty years ago, wedding bells rang for their son Eugene Field and Julia Comstock. The Field House Museum is pleased to celebrate these two unions with an exhibit, Fielding the Question: Courtship, Matrimony and the Fields. The exhibit highlights the courtship and marriage of the two couples and also illuminates the changing culture of courtship and marriage in the mid-1800s. Artifacts include Julia’s wedding dress and boots, Eugene and Julia’s wedding invitation, illustrated postcards of Eugene’s poem, “Lover’s Lane, St. Jo,” as well as a number of portraits of the couples.
Legally Bound
November 17, 2023 – October 2024
While living at what is now 634 S Broadway, lawyer Roswell Field crafted the legal argument that would take Dred Scott v. Sandford to the Supreme Court and push the country closer to civil war.
From his early days in Vermont to his legal practice in St. Louis, Field made a name for himself as a “second to none” lawyer whom his contemporaries considered as “standing in the front rank of the bar in the city and state.”
In Legally Bound, discover the circumstances that led Roswell Field to become involved in one of U.S. history’s most controversial Supreme Court decisions.
Upcoming Museum Exhibits
2024 Exhibits
Denotes ADA accessible exhibits