Is this the right time for you to become involved at Historic Sappington House, a worthwhile non-profit? Please consider joining us as a member, volunteer, contributor, donor, educator or intern as we provide education, special entertainments, historic preservation and other vital activities to enhance the quality of life in our community.
Engaging as a member
There is never a wrong time to sign up as a new member at The Sappington House Foundation. We welcome the support of members, whose annual dues provide the largest revenue source. The Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) and depends on contributions from individuals, groups, corporations and grants from charitable foundations. Only because of the generous support of members and donors can the Sappington House Foundation accomplish its mission to preserve our historic home and inspire this and future generations to appreciate their own and their community’s heritage.
– Foundation members are eligible for a museum tour with free admission for two persons annually.
– They receive complimentary invitations to selected special events and programs.
– Members at the $50 level, when presenting membership cards, qualify for a 10% discount on non-sale products in the Loft Gift Shop.
We would be honored to welcome you to the Sappington family of members!
Also if you donate $50 or more, a small thank you awaits you at the Loft Gift Shop. And of course, all contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
To join or renew, please choose your desired level and complete online by credit card or PayPal. Another option is to download and print the membership form click here and mail to Sappington House Foundation, 1015 S. Sappington Road, St. Louis, MO 63126 1004. Phone 314 822 8171 with questions.
Enlisting as a volunteer
Historic Sappington House (HSH) depends on dedicated, willing volunteers to carry out daily operations and special events. If you have the time, just three hours per month, we have a job that you will find fulfilling. All volunteers are gladly provided comprehensive on-the-job training, and in the museum, new volunteers will be mentored for six months. We always need volunteers in these areas:
-Sappington House Museum docents to conduct guided tours for guests
-Library of Americana and Decorative Arts assistants to direct visitors to resources
-Loft Gift Shop associates to staff the shop and assist customers with purchases
-Gardeners to plant, maintain and water the formal flower garden, herb garden, pollinator flower beds, etc.
These are other possible areas where volunteers can make significant differences –
Foundation board member, Chairperson or committee member, Advisory board member, Archivist, Creative writer, Exhibit developer, Facebook contributor, Genealogy specialist, Grant writer, Graphic designer, Historian, Illustrator, Newsletter writer, Photographer, Liaison with Crestwood government, Promoter through media outlets, Retail buyer or display dresser, Researcher into the Sappington family and possibly enslaved people, Scrapbooker, Sign painter, etc.
Or with permission, you could be the Project Manager of YOUR own idea!
Volunteers are required to be on duty ONLY THREE HOURS PER MONTH! Usually they are scheduled for a routine shift by a staff coordinator. However scheduling is very flexible, and adjustments can be made as necessary.
Volunteering is rewarding, not only because you receive a 10% discount at the Loft Gift Shop, but you are also first to hear about special events and day trips. The Foundation hosts an annual volunteer appreciation tea honoring our devoted volunteers. And perhaps most satisfying are the friendships made and being at the center of historical and cultural activities in our community.
Members of the Board of Directors and committee chairs are all volunteers. Click here to see the organizational chart. If you would like to volunteer, please download and complete the volunteer application click here and email it to info@historicsapppingtonhouse.org or phone 314 822 8171.
Contributing to a good cause
The Sappington House Foundation asks you to take time to consider contributing to our mission of preserving the past by inspiring generations to discover and appreciate their own and the community’s heritage. This would be an overwhelming operation without the City of Crestwood’s maintenance of the house exterior and the park grounds. However this is still a major undertaking without your generous contributions. We are a small non-profit in which your dues and donations are crucial to support of historic preservation, community outreach and education programs. Your financial provision has allowed us to endure for more than 50 years as a premier St. Louis historic site.
If you are a long-time friend of Historic Sappington House or a recent visitor for the first time or just landed on this website, we would be privileged to have you partner with us as we preserve our heritage for the future.
Click here to see and better understand HSH’s community ties.
To donate now, please complete.
Donating in a significant way
Historic Sappington House, built in 1808, has stood as the cornerstone around which all of South St. Louis County was founded. It is ours to preserve for another 200 years!
There are many ways to support HSH’s mission in the place of or in addition to an annual membership and/or volunteering–
-Support HSH with your next purchase on amazon.com. Visit smile.amazon.com, then enter Sappington House Foundation as your charity of choice. A percentage of every purchase will be donated to Sappington House
-Participate in Giving Tuesday and Give STL Day by designating HSH as your charity of choice
-Contribute to our preservation or operating funds
-Give appreciated assets, common stock or mutual fund shares
-Include HSH in your long-term estate or bequest planning to make impact on future generations
-Donate in-kind materials or services
-Investigate your employer’s policy on matching donations to non-profits and if possible, take advantage of this benefit
Exploring educational opportunities
For over 50 years, Historic Sappington House has provided museum tours for all ages. In particular, we recommend our longtime volunteer visit classrooms as historically dressed “old” John Sappington, in advance of the actual tour. Old John sometimes takes the traveling touch trunk to introduce the students to what they can expect to see and experience the next day on the museum tour. This has been especially effective to encourage learning.
Beyond museum tours offered to school and home-school groups from adult, college, high to elementary school levels, we provide special programming, like diversity tours focusing on enslaved African Americans, pioneer women and indigenous Native Americans. These tours can be requested with two weeks’ notice.
We also host junior Girl Scouts twice a year in May and November for two Saturday sessions from 9 am to 12 noon or 1 to 4 pm to earn their “Playing the Past” badge. They enjoy a unique occasion to step back in time by dressing in 1820 attire and choosing a popular name from that time period like Jemima or Lucinda, and then taking an interactive tour of Historic Sappington House. Girls will learn how to make butter, sew cross-stitch and play old-fashioned games. After designing period clothing for paper dolls, in small group collaboration, they apply what they have learned to create and subsequently share a skit/story about girls’ lives on the frontier. Attendance is limited to six girls minimum; 12 maximum per morning and afternoon sessions. Reservations are required through the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri.
In addition, our spring Country Craft Festival includes folkways artisans who demonstrate old-time skills from spinning to musket shooting. Our Spirits of Sappington House event held on two evenings in October entertain and inform through historically-based skits. In each room, actual persons who may have lived in or visited Sappington House tell their compelling stories from the early 1800s.
We feel it is our responsibility, but it is also our pleasure to present educational programming. Contact us at 314 822 8171 for further information.
Missouri Bicentennial 2021
Historic Sappington House was pleased to host two Missouri Bicentennial events in 2021. First our community enjoyed an ice cream social in honor of Missouri’s birthday on August 10, featuring a children’s book reading by authors Rachel Nolen and Maria Price about Holstein calf Truman and his Cow Cocoon.
On November 14, we had the special privilege of offering Anne Williams’s one-act play, a compilation of letters to the editor of the Missouri Gazette, the first newspaper printed west of the Mississippi River. In 1818 and 1819, the Gazette printed dueling letters from two St. Louis lawyers and the supposed “Farmer from St. Charles County.” Entertaining and informative, the half-hour skit talks about the Missouri Compromise and how Missouri entered the Union. An original Missouri Gazette from July 26, 1808 was on display as well as the traveling Missouri Bicentennial State Park quilt. Missouri and Sappington House-shaped gingerbread cookies were served to guests.
https://missouri2021.org/portfolio/missouri-bicentennial-living-history-and-holiday-shopping-featuring-made-in-missouri/
Watch the play performance
Background information including the play script
UMSL Aural History Project
Jim Gass, University of Missouri-St. Louis museum student, visited Historic Sappington House two days in October, 2021, to complete his section of the Aural History project assigned in the History 6133 class. Through sounds, he captured a sense of what it is to visit Thomas Sappington House today and perhaps throughout its 213-year existence. Click on this link to access the report and scroll to the third section to hear brief audio files recorded at the Sappington site. We wish to express our special appreciation to the Missouri Fiddlers, fifth graders from the Rockwood gifted archaeology class, Professor Lara Kelland and Jim Gass .
Contemplating an internship
Historic Sappington House (HSH) cooperates with universities and colleges to advance education in history, art history, museum studies and potentially other fields. With their input, interns will be assigned to a particular task focusing on collections, exhibits, research, education programming, development or promotion. During their assistantship, they can expect to participate in routine and special activities, and be exposed to other St. Louis cultural institutions. As a result, interns will be more prepared for a wide range of museum careers.
Usually internships / assistantships are not paid, but are available for course credit. For more information, contact your academic advisor and please phone HSH at 314 822 8171.
Click here for an internship application.