On the occasion of the Questers 50th anniversary, it was a delightful day of recognizing the efforts of the women who have helped maintained the home of Attorney Roswell Field and his son the poet, Eugene Field.  The row house was saved from demolition when astute citizens recognized the importance of Roswell's role in bringing the Dred Scott Case to the US Supreme Court after the Missouri Supreme Court denied the Scotts their freedom on appeal.

In the photo is Susan Favazza, president of the Questers, Lynne Jackson, descendant of Dred Scott, and Kim Larson.  Lynne and Ruth Ann Hagar were speakers at a recent Quester Meeting in 2011 and Lynne was Susan's guest at the anniversary luncheon.   As our histories continue to intersect, we continue to learn more of why we are who we are.  As you visit the Old Courthouse, a trip to the Field House (four blocks down the same street) which is now a National Historic Landmark because of the ties of Roswell and Dred in Dred Scott Decision, is highly recommended.  Lynne accompanied the board of the Field House on a successful trip to Washington DC to the Department of the Interior to testify for the home to become a NHL in 2007.

Chapter Activities

Eugene Field #151 Meeting on the Eugene Field Home

Eugene Field #151 Chapter met in June 2011 and listened to a presentation that amplified the heritage of the chapter.  The Eugene Field Home was designated as a National Historic Landmark in March 2007 by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne.  The home merited such recognition not as Eugene’s home but rather as his father’s home Roswell Field, the key attorney in the landmark Dred Scott Freedom Suit.

The co-speakers were Ruth Ann Hager, St. Louis County Library Special Collections Department, and Lynne M. Jackson, Harriet and Dred Scott’s great-great-granddaughter.  The personal story of Harriet and Dred Scott and their two daughters emerged as Ruth Hager investigated genealogic records available in St. Louis.  She found and confirmed Harriet Scott’s date and place of death and burial and from there the family story evolved.  The Scotts battled to protect their daughters from slavery as they approached their teens and keep the family together.  Both Harriet and Dred sued for freedom and were turned down by the Missouri Supreme Court.  Roswell Field took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court where the family was again denied freedom.  Their plight and perseverance brought national attention to the issue and pushed the country a step closer to Civil War.  The Scotts story ended when their owner granted emancipation in 1857.

Ruth Hager’s work and others (including the Scotts great-grandchildren, Alma and her brother Dr. John Madison, Jr.) culminated in 2007 and was published in 2010 by the St. Louis County Library.  Lynne Jackson, a great-great-granddaughter of the Scotts, is working with The Dred Scott Heritage Foundation to place a statue of the couple at the Old Courthouse in STL., MO.