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Help Us Find a Vintage Chess Set for the Marston House Museum
November/December 2024
 George Marston and his sister Lilla Burham playing chess in the Marston House library. Photo from George White Marston: A Family Chronicle by Mary Gilman Marston, page 234. Courtesy SOHO collection |
The Marston House Museum, a cornerstone of San Diego’s historic legacy, is not only a place of beautiful architecture and carefully restored interiors. It’s also a home rich in stories about George and Anna Marston and their family. Daughter Mary Marston mentions several times in her 1956 memoir, George White Marston, a Family Chronicle, her father’s love of testing wits over chess. He played regularly with family and friends.
Mary fondly recalls on page 183 of her two-volume memoir, “Longest of all, father kept up the game of chess…” Two of George’s favorite chess partners were his youngest sister Lilla Burnham and his son-in-law Leal Headley, daughter Harriet’s husband. Mary’s book includes a photo of George and Lilla, who was also his next-door neighbor, seated in his library and engrossed in their chess match, as they were several afternoons each week.
While George’s love for chess is clearly recalled in family memoirs and stories, the Marston House Museum lacks any representation of this cherished pastime.
That’s why we are asking for your help. We are looking for a vintage or antique chess set, ideally from the 1920s to the 1940s.
If you have a vintage chess set, or know someone who might, and are willing to donate it to the Marston House Museum, we would love to hear from you. Please email us at SOHOsandiego@aol.com. Your gift will help us further interpret and celebrate the legacy of George Marston and his family.
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