Our School Name John M. Smyth
The 140-year-old John M. Smyth Homemakers furniture stores closed their doors forever at the end of July, 2005. The CHICAGO SUN-TIMES reports, "Homemakers, known for its warbling theme song in television ads, found itself bombarded by competitors ranging from discount stores such as Wal-Mart, Target and Costco, to specialty stores Crate & Barrel, Ikea, Rooms to Go, Walter E. Smithe and Ethan Allen." John M. Smyth began his furniture business on Madison Street in 1867. He moved down the street in 1880 and, although the store burned down in 1891, he soon rebuilt a new store on the same land. Today, the Kennedy Expressway goes right through where his store was located around 750 W. Madison St..
Here is the text from the plaque above:
John M. Smyth's Family Tells Why Your School Was Named
In conflict with the British, his parents had to leave Ireland suddenly in the winter of 1843. Two weeks later John was born below deck in their sailing ship on the North Atlantic Ocean. When he was 8, a collapsing building killed his father, a volunteer firefighter. A good student, he started working for the newspapers at the age of 13 to help support his mother and brothers. At the age of 24 he started a second hand furniture store with $250 he had saved little by little.
Four years later most of Chicago burned down in the great fire of 1871, but the young man managed to keep the furniture store going. Many people could not pay to replace the furniture that the fire destroyed, but John trusted them and let them pay over time, without any interest charge. No other merchant had trusted customers like this. With loyal workers and customers, The John M. Smyth Co. came to dominate Chicago's furniture sales for a century. This was a monument to his leadership and initiative. But your school was not given John's name due to his success in business.
John M. Smyth opposed the corruption that was tolerated by too many successful people. Leading citizens wanted to build a library which would be open to all people and which would be among the best in the world. But they feared corruption would ruin their plan. So they asked John M. Smyth to manage their donations since he could be trusted to prevent kickbacks. The library (now known as the Cultural Center) was built without one cent improperly paid, and inside, it is one of the world's most beautiful libraries. It sits on Michigan Avenue across from The Bean in Millennium Park. We see the Cultural Center as a monument to his honesty. But your school was not named to recognize John's work on the Chicago Public Library.
John M. Smyth had a strong enthusiasm for Chicago and its potential for greatness. He served on a committee that brought the Columbian Exposition (World's Fair) to Chicago and transformed our lakefront with parks and buildings like the Field Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry. Our lakefront is world famous and remains a monument to people like John M. Smyth, who made no small plans for Chicago, but your school was not named for John's work on the lakefront.
John M. Smyth was popular with the people in this neighborhood and he served as Alderman and National Committeeman. He was asked to run for Mayor but he refused. Political power was not important to him. He felt that one could do just as much good work “behind the scenes". He made sure that his office workers listed each person who had come in need of help. As he worked on this daily list of the needy, he could not do each thing asked, but over the years he did more than anyone believed was possible.
There was no monument to John's quiet work to help those in need-until Chicago built and named your school.
Four years later most of Chicago burned down in the great fire of 1871, but the young man managed to keep the furniture store going. Many people could not pay to replace the furniture that the fire destroyed, but John trusted them and let them pay over time, without any interest charge. No other merchant had trusted customers like this. With loyal workers and customers, The John M. Smyth Co. came to dominate Chicago's furniture sales for a century. This was a monument to his leadership and initiative. But your school was not given John's name due to his success in business.
John M. Smyth opposed the corruption that was tolerated by too many successful people. Leading citizens wanted to build a library which would be open to all people and which would be among the best in the world. But they feared corruption would ruin their plan. So they asked John M. Smyth to manage their donations since he could be trusted to prevent kickbacks. The library (now known as the Cultural Center) was built without one cent improperly paid, and inside, it is one of the world's most beautiful libraries. It sits on Michigan Avenue across from The Bean in Millennium Park. We see the Cultural Center as a monument to his honesty. But your school was not named to recognize John's work on the Chicago Public Library.
John M. Smyth had a strong enthusiasm for Chicago and its potential for greatness. He served on a committee that brought the Columbian Exposition (World's Fair) to Chicago and transformed our lakefront with parks and buildings like the Field Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry. Our lakefront is world famous and remains a monument to people like John M. Smyth, who made no small plans for Chicago, but your school was not named for John's work on the lakefront.
John M. Smyth was popular with the people in this neighborhood and he served as Alderman and National Committeeman. He was asked to run for Mayor but he refused. Political power was not important to him. He felt that one could do just as much good work “behind the scenes". He made sure that his office workers listed each person who had come in need of help. As he worked on this daily list of the needy, he could not do each thing asked, but over the years he did more than anyone believed was possible.
There was no monument to John's quiet work to help those in need-until Chicago built and named your school.
JOHN M. SMYTH, FURNITURE FIRM'S 3RD-GENERATION EXEC
James Janega, Tribune Staff Writer
CHICAGO TRIBUNE – August 10, 2000 – Obituary Section
John M. Smyth, 85, the third Smyth to carry that name and to head the Chicago furniture company once known as the city's finest, died Monday, Aug. 7, in Evanston Hospital of respiratory failure.
For many Chicagoans, the name John M. Smyth evokes memories of the eight-story fine-furniture store once located on North Michigan Avenue.
And aside from Marshall Field, in which both department store and successive generations of family members bore the same name, John M. Smyth was one of the few names to endure as synonymous with Chicago retailing.
"He was very committed to keeping it an honorable name," said his wife, Judith. "He was proud of it and always tried to live up to it."
A sociable but private man who spent a lifetime not only doing business in Chicago, but also maintaining a constant and extensive involvement in civic activities, Mr. Smyth bore his family's traditions well, said Chris Robling, former radio anchor and longtime Smyth family friend.
"I think he was representative of the civic ideal that is so frequently discussed and rarely achieved," Robling said. "And he was one of these guys who would never talk about it or tell you about it. He was genuine, and I think that came through."
Yet his was a childhood filled with opportunities few have. He grew up in Evanston and with his parents and grandparents spent summers in Lake Geneva, Wis. Mr. Smyth's father was leery of letting his son grow up accustomed to privilege, so Mr. Smyth cut lawns around their summer house as a boy; later summers were spent working in the Madison Street store his grandfather founded in 1867, Mr. Smyth's wife said. He attended the Latin School of Chicago and the Canterbury School in New Milford, Conn., and graduated from Princeton University in 1937 and Northwestern University School of Law in 1940.
As a young man, he worked briefly as a lawyer, but joined the war effort with his brothers in 1941, serving as a junior naval officer in the South Pacific, where he saw action for which he was later decorated.
Married just before the war, Mr. Smyth returned in 1945, moved to Winnetka with his wife and settled into the family business. His wife said he had an abiding appreciation for advertising and preferred the family business to have its own advertising department rather than hire outside firms. His other contributions to the business were largely in managing its finances.
"Friends and relatives always assumed he knew a lot more about furniture," his wife said. "But he didn't."
Still, he was a cool head as the company weathered recessions in the '70s, '80s and early '90s that saw many of John M. Smyth's competitors washed away. Mr. Smyth was president of the company in the '60s when it expanded into the suburbs, with its first John M. Smyth Homemakers store in Schaumburg.
By the middle '70s, the company was operating six suburban stores along with its Michigan Avenue flagship, though in 1983, the Smyth family shuttered the seven-store operation in favor of the warehouse showrooms. In 1994, the family all but cut its ties to the company by selling it to Levitz Furniture Co. of Boca Raton, Fla.
Nevertheless, Robling said Mr. Smyth remained popular among employees; his wife said this was because he made a point of being courteous to everyone.
"It's so old-fashioned, I don't know how you'd express it," his wife said. "He was a kind and considerate gentleman."
Besides his wife, Mr. Smyth is survived by two sons, John M. Jr. and Andrew W.; two daughters, Judith India Smith and Mary Malinda Wagner; and nine grandchildren.
Mass will be said at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in Sts. Faith, Hope and Charity Catholic Church, 191 Linden St., Winnetka.
James Janega, Tribune Staff Writer
CHICAGO TRIBUNE – August 10, 2000 – Obituary Section
John M. Smyth, 85, the third Smyth to carry that name and to head the Chicago furniture company once known as the city's finest, died Monday, Aug. 7, in Evanston Hospital of respiratory failure.
For many Chicagoans, the name John M. Smyth evokes memories of the eight-story fine-furniture store once located on North Michigan Avenue.
And aside from Marshall Field, in which both department store and successive generations of family members bore the same name, John M. Smyth was one of the few names to endure as synonymous with Chicago retailing.
"He was very committed to keeping it an honorable name," said his wife, Judith. "He was proud of it and always tried to live up to it."
A sociable but private man who spent a lifetime not only doing business in Chicago, but also maintaining a constant and extensive involvement in civic activities, Mr. Smyth bore his family's traditions well, said Chris Robling, former radio anchor and longtime Smyth family friend.
"I think he was representative of the civic ideal that is so frequently discussed and rarely achieved," Robling said. "And he was one of these guys who would never talk about it or tell you about it. He was genuine, and I think that came through."
Yet his was a childhood filled with opportunities few have. He grew up in Evanston and with his parents and grandparents spent summers in Lake Geneva, Wis. Mr. Smyth's father was leery of letting his son grow up accustomed to privilege, so Mr. Smyth cut lawns around their summer house as a boy; later summers were spent working in the Madison Street store his grandfather founded in 1867, Mr. Smyth's wife said. He attended the Latin School of Chicago and the Canterbury School in New Milford, Conn., and graduated from Princeton University in 1937 and Northwestern University School of Law in 1940.
As a young man, he worked briefly as a lawyer, but joined the war effort with his brothers in 1941, serving as a junior naval officer in the South Pacific, where he saw action for which he was later decorated.
Married just before the war, Mr. Smyth returned in 1945, moved to Winnetka with his wife and settled into the family business. His wife said he had an abiding appreciation for advertising and preferred the family business to have its own advertising department rather than hire outside firms. His other contributions to the business were largely in managing its finances.
"Friends and relatives always assumed he knew a lot more about furniture," his wife said. "But he didn't."
Still, he was a cool head as the company weathered recessions in the '70s, '80s and early '90s that saw many of John M. Smyth's competitors washed away. Mr. Smyth was president of the company in the '60s when it expanded into the suburbs, with its first John M. Smyth Homemakers store in Schaumburg.
By the middle '70s, the company was operating six suburban stores along with its Michigan Avenue flagship, though in 1983, the Smyth family shuttered the seven-store operation in favor of the warehouse showrooms. In 1994, the family all but cut its ties to the company by selling it to Levitz Furniture Co. of Boca Raton, Fla.
Nevertheless, Robling said Mr. Smyth remained popular among employees; his wife said this was because he made a point of being courteous to everyone.
"It's so old-fashioned, I don't know how you'd express it," his wife said. "He was a kind and considerate gentleman."
Besides his wife, Mr. Smyth is survived by two sons, John M. Jr. and Andrew W.; two daughters, Judith India Smith and Mary Malinda Wagner; and nine grandchildren.
Mass will be said at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in Sts. Faith, Hope and Charity Catholic Church, 191 Linden St., Winnetka.