Robbins group seeks to use millionaire's ex-home as museum
Nick SwedbergDaily Southtown
Few outside of Robbins might remember the name S.B. Fuller.
Other names are more recognizable, such as cosmetics giant Mary Kay, which was founded six decades ago by the late Mary Kay Ash.
According to historian Tyrone Haymore, Fuller's family likes tells the story about the founder of Mary Kay cosmetics attending Fuller's sales seminars.
"There are some who say that Mary Kay owes her business fortune to Fuller," Haymore said.
Fuller, who made millions as a pioneer in door-to-door cosmetics sales, built his home in Robbins after making his fortune. But the historic home has fallen into disrepair and is in need of a hefty estimated $2 million to restore it.
Robbins Historical Society is trying to raise money in order to honor Fuller, who was once one of the richest black man in the country, said Haymore, the society's director and co-founder.
It wants to renovate Fuller's once upscale home into a museum.
Fuller's story rings of the American dream -- a man who despite adversity was able to amass wealth through hard work and ingenuity.
"His philosophy sort of mirrored that of Booker T. Washington, who believed that blacks shouldn't depend on others, that they can and should do for themselves," Haymore said.
Fuller's story also is one of betrayal, having trusted the wrong people and contributing to his eventual bankruptcy, and failures, Haymore said. Fuller pleaded guilty to violations of the Federal Securities Act in the 1960s before filing for bankruptcy in 1971.
In 1905, Fuller was born into a sharecropper family in Louisiana. His family's poverty forced him to drop out of school in sixth grade and, at age nine, began selling products door-to-door.
Fuller's mother, who died when he was 17, reportedly told him the best way to improve his station in life was to sell products on the road. Fuller moved to Chicago in the 1920s and, in 1935, started the Fuller Products Co., a firm that found a home on Chicago's South Side under Fuller for five decades before it was bought out in 1984.
Fuller died in 1988 at age 83. His wife, Lestine Fuller, died in 1999. The couple had five daughters, two of whom, Ethel Fuller and Geraldine Greene, are still alive.
During his long career, Fuller became the first black member of the National Association of Manufacturers, had control over eight other corporations, including a chain of newspapers serving black communities in several major cities, and employed a sales force of more than 3,000 people.
Work on the Fuller home was completed in 1958. It cost at the time was $250,000 -- or a little more than $2 million in today's dollars.
Fuller's family contacted the Robbins Historical Society Museum in 2015 about donating the home. On Dec. 31, ownership was transferred to the museum.
The society's director and board members are looking for up to $2 million in grants and donations to completely rebuild and restore the Fuller home so that it can be used as a tourist destination and new home for the society.
Fuller's biography is available for purchase at the society's current museum, 3644 W. 139th St.
Nick Swedberg is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
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