ST. LOUIS — The Campbell House was the home of fur trader and entrepreneur Robert Campbell and his family from 1854 until 1938. It's a piece of our cities history with a story that needed to be told. Which is why St. Louis Filmmakers Delisa Richardson and Dan Steadman set out to tell it.
"I had always passed by the Campbell house. I lived in St Louis my whole life and always thought, okay, well, there's this place that kind of looks like it's stuck in time," Delisa said.
Delisa Richardson is the codirector and writer of the film Eliza. The film tells the story of Eliza Rone. A Black woman who was enslaved and later emancipated by the Campbell family.
"The Campbells at that time were one of the richest, most posh families in the area," Delisa said.
But who was Eliza Rone?
"She was a woman who was the nanny of the children enslaved in the home, taking care of the Campbells, 13 children," Delisa explained.
Eliza was from Virgina, and it is unknown how the Campbell Family came to own her, but she came with the family to St. Louis in 1854 and moved into what we know now as the historic Campbell House, which still stands at 1508 Locust Street, and it's where the cast and crew shot the film. It’s a nuanced story in St. Louis’ history.
"You have the ugly history of slavery. Then we also have the fact that the things that we learned about her relationship with the Campbells, even after she was emancipated by Robert Campbell and when Virginia Campbell passed away, she left Eliza things in her will along with her sister. So there was a very close relationship there," Delisa said.
To learn more about Eliza and this story rooted in St. Louis history, you can catch the film Sunday afternoon at the Alamo Drafthouse as part of the St. Louis International Film Festival.
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