Ran­dom fun­ny his­to­ry thing. Yep, the CHM blog is back. (For more on these uber­cool posters, here’s the full sto­ry: http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/story-of-the-historically)

It’s been awhile since we’ve been on here, but let’s just say the super fan­cy new look of our blog — cour­tesy of the awe­some nin­jas at Think Tank — has inspired us to get back to it.

What have we been up to? One word: Loads.

Between inten­sive research and a cal­en­dar chock-full of spe­cial events, we’ve been busy lit­tle bees at the Muse­um. Here’s what we’ve been up to:

• You know the names McCaus­land, Clay­ton and Mar­shall, don’t you? Not only are these the names of streets that are for­ev­er linked to the land­scape of St. Louis, but all of them are relat­ed to the Camp­bells. More on this over the next week or so as we fin­ish writ­ing the story.
• Research con­tin­ues on Eliza Rone, the slave Robert eman­ci­pat­ed in 1857. We have now found her grave and we are learn­ing more about her and her exten­sive fam­i­ly in Kansas City.
• More Camp­bell loot was returned to the Muse­um. This time, were­ceived a vase that Hugh Camp­bell gave to the cook, who gave it to anoth­er ser­vant upon her wed­ding. After we acces­sion it (i.e. hoity-toity museum 
  

  Our new (sort of) vase!

  term that means to make a new record for the item and for­mal­ly bring it into inven­to­ry), we are going to do a blog post all about the piece, com­plete with fam­i­ly pictures.

Are you look­ing for things to do over the next cou­ple of months? Check out our events page, but here’s a quick low­down of what’s happening:

• Lucas Place Walk­ing Tour AND a trip to the Schlafly Tap Room. Sat­ur­day Octo­ber 1 (that’s this Sat­ur­day), 2:00–4:00 PM. Back when the Camp­bells moved into this house in 1854, Lucas Place was THE place to be. Direc­tor Andy Hahn will take the group through the house, then we’ll hit the street where he will point out where the big names lived as well as oth­er sites includ­ing the orig­i­nal St. Louis Art Muse­um and the loca­tion of the first doc­u­ment­ed roller coast­er (!). After the tour is done, we’ll stop at the Tap Room where one beer is includ­ed in your tour tick­et price. Host­ed with Land­marks Asso­ci­a­tion.  Tick­ets are $25.00; only $20.00 if you are a Camp­bell House or Land­marks mem­ber. Tour is fill­ing up quick­ly, so call us at 314/421‑0325 to reserve your spot!
• Psy­chic Par­ty, Sat­ur­day, Octo­ber 8th from 6:30 to 9:00 PM. Yes, you read that right. Is the house haunt­ed? We’ll nev­er tell, but come to fes­tiv­i­ties to find out for your­self.  We’re throw­ing a par­ty the way the Camp­bells did: gourmet food in the din­ing room, an assort­ment of French wines in the kitchen and the house is open for explor­ing. Two psy­chics will be on-hand for pri­vate tarot card read­ings on the third floor. Host­ed by our very own Tim Rohan, this par­ty was a hit last year, so make your reser­va­tions soon by call­ing 314/421‑0325. Tick­ets are $50.00, and wine, beer, heavy hors d’oeurves and a tarot card read­ing are includ­ed in your tick­et price.
• Twi­light Tour, Thurs­day, Octo­ber 13 from 5:30 to 8:30 PM. We offered our first Twi­light Tour this week, and one guest said, “THIS is the way to see a muse­um.” We could­n’t agree more. Come down to the house to enjoy wine and a selec­tion of hors d’oeurves while you explore the house and gar­den. At 6:15 we will begin an evening tour of the house, a unique expe­ri­ence that — lit­er­al­ly — show­cas­es the hand­some home in a whole new light. Tick­ets are $20.00; only $10.00 for Camp­bell House mem­bers. Please call us at 314/421‑0325 for reservations.
• Mem­bers Par­ty, Sat­ur­day, Octo­ber 22 from 3:00 to 6:30 PM. It’s our semi­an­nu­al mem­bers par­ty, so come down to the house for refresh­ments and our spe­cial Anniver­sary Cel­e­bra­tion to com­mem­o­rate the Muse­um Store’s 20th year. We will be offer­ing 20% off all items in the shop, so you can stock up on some ear­ly hol­i­day gifts.
• Hol­i­day His­toric House Tour, Thurs­day, Decem­ber 1st. Details will be post­ed as soon as they are available.

Thanks again for check­ing out our new blog, and stop in often to learn about muse­um news and events.