39 / 150
A
dvancing
T
he
K
ingdom
: K
ingdom
H
ouse
Mr. Sloan was the son of a minister, and
was himself a devout churchman all his
life. Thirty years ago he founded the Sloan
Mission, which still endures as Kingdom
House.
Surviving are his widow, Mrs. Caro Wise
Sloan; a sister, Mrs. H.S. Green, Corinth
Miss.; an adopted son, Moffat Sloan Wise,
and a nephew and niece of Mrs. Sloan,
William H. Wise and A.C. Craumer, who
were reared by the Sloans.
The funeral will be held at 3 p.m. today
at St. John’s Methodist Episcopal
Church, Kingshighway and Washington
boulevards. Burial will be in Bellefontaine
Cemetery.
23
Although the founder’s death
apparently went virtually unnoticed,
the settlement’s mission continued. In
October 1932 the new Kingdom House
at 1102 Morrison Avenue was ready
for occupation. Immediately after its
dedication, talk began of purchasing
additional property to accommodate
the needs of the organization. This
goal was not realized, however, until
seven years later, in the latter months
of 1939. The advisability of purchasing
more land was discussed again in 1948,
but the repairs to the main Kingdom
House Building mandated by the
Building Commissioner of St. Louis
consumed the resources necessary to
buy more property. The Community
Chest helped fund some of these repairs,
but the agency refused to make any
contribution towards maintenance work
on the Boys’ Building. In response,
the Women’s Board voted to close that
facility, while the Church Extension
Society discussed tearing it down. By
1950, the Women’s Board had decided
to delay plans for a new structure,
voting instead to rebuild the Boys’
Building and approving $5,000.00 of
their own funds for use in this work.
24
Edward Hudson, Executive Director
of Kingdom House, writes in the 50th
Anniversary publication that a fire in
1950 had made the Boys’ Building
uninhabitable, but that by January 1951,
it was again ready to use. The record is
not clear as to where chronologically
this fits into the Women’s Board minutes
regarding construction, but Hudson’s
only specific thanks is to the Methodist
Youth Fellowship, which contributed
$1,000.00 for new equipment for the
boys.
The following is a description of
the Morrison Kingdom House as it
looked during the mid-1940s. It had no
author listed, but the content indicates
the writer was likely someone on or
connected closely with the Women’s
Board.
The St. Louis Mission and Church
Extension Society of The Methodist Church
holds title to the Kingdom House property. It
also holds our endowment fund. We operate
under its authority and it approves our by-
36
P
hotos
:
A:
Edward Hudson, first
Executive Director, 1950-1959
A
I
n
O
ctober
1932
the
new
K
ingdom
H
ouse
at
1102 M
orrison
A
venue was
ready
for
occupation
.