Sally Sexton Kalmbach is a fourth generation Chicagoan whose family founded a Chicago-based coffee and tea company in the early 1880s, at the same time Potter Palmer was developing the Gold Coast. Sally has taught classes in Chicago history at the Newberry Library, and given numerous speeches and customized tours for individuals and groups.

Her topics include: Chicago's Gold Coast, McCormickville neighborhood, Chicago Fire of 1871, Art Institute, Graceland Cemetery, and Mrs. Potter Palmer's Chicago.
She has been a docent for the Charnley-Persky House Museum for 20 years and authored, The Jewel of the Gold Coast, and Mrs. Thorne's World of Miniatures.