What is the history of Missouri State Questers?

In 1953 Connie Lennahan, whose husband was the new commander of the Aeronautical Charter and Information Center in St. Louis, formed a women’s club for the wives of the Air Force officers and the executive and supervisory civilians. The club was patterned after the officers’ wives clubs on most military bases at the time. Various activity groups were formed including an antique study group.

In 1960 the study group withdrew from the official women’s club so it could expand membership beyond those connected with the military. In 1961 Connie saw a magazine article about the Questers. She wrote to the national headquarters in Philadelphia for information about the organization. It seemed to her that Questers offered a sense of direction and opportunities to learn through the use of the national Questers library and its collection of study papers. She presented the idea of joining the Questers to the group and after a couple months of discussion, they decided to form a chapter. The charter application required a slate of officers and a chapter name. After some deliberation it was determined that not much was being done to remember the writer Eugene Field and not many St. Louisans knew about his family. On December 10, 1961, the antique study group became Eugene Field #151 of the Questers, the first chapter chartered in Missouri. Connie was the first president, presiding from 1961-1963.

Soon after becoming Questers, the members visited the Eugene Field House in downtown St. Louis and saw a great need for improvements. At that time the house was owned by the St. Louis Board of Education and funds were not available for the proper maintenance or preservation of the contents. Chapter members volunteered to work at the house and that began a long and rewarding partnership between the Questers and the Eugene Field house. Originally known as the Eugene Field House and Toy Museum, it is now the Field House Museum, home of Eugene Field, “the children’s poet,” and his father Roswell Field, Sr., the lawyer who defended former slaves Dred and Harriet Scott. By 1976 Missouri Quester membership totaled 150, which was the first requirement for chartering a state organization. The first Missouri chapters were Eugene Field #151, Westward Ho #193, Pony Express #400, Mason Jars #553, Hyde Forge #632, Petite Cotes #664, LaBelle Fontaine #702, and Catfish and Crystal #710. Fittingly, Connie Lennahan was the first Missouri State President.

Missouri currently has ten chapters: six on the Kansas City side of the state and four on the St. Louis side. Please contact one of the Vice Presidents for information about finding a chapter to join.

(History written by Past Missouri State President Nelle Garrecht)

What are some of the Preservation and restoration projects that Missouri questers have been involved in?

·      Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art

·      Augusta Museum

·      Bingham-Waggoner Estate

·      Chatillon De Menil Mansion

·      Conway House

·      Eugene Field Museum

·      Frenchtown Heritage Museum

·      Governor Fletcher Foundation

·      Hawken House

·      Hanley House

·      Military Heritage Museum

·      Missouri Theater

·      Mudd's Grove

·      Patee House Museum

·      Pony Express Museum

·      Robidoux Row Museum

·      Shoal Creek Living History Museum

·      Sutter-Myer Farmhouse

·      Wyeth Tootle Mansion

Some of the State President’s Projects include the Lewis & Clark Discovery Expedition, the display of the Women’s Suffrage Exhibit in state libraries, and the Merci Train.