The Robbins History Museum is raising money to restore the former mansion of SB Fuller. Tyrone C. Haymore is the Executive Director/Curator and Co-Founder of the museum. He plans to move the museum into the mansion that millionaire SB Fuller once owned. SB Fuller was one of the first African American millionaires. Fuller was born in Monroe, LA. With a sixth-grade education and $25.00 in his pocket, Fuller hitch-hiked to Chicago to start a better life.
In Chicago, SB Fuller worked at an insurance company where he learned and began a career in sales. Fuller made soap and cosmetic products selling them door to door. The Fuller Products Company was based in Chicago with 5,000 workers for five decades. Fuller trained African Americans on how to start, build and grow a successful business. SB Fuller taught John H. Johnson, the founder of Johnson Publishing.
“Fuller saw Robbins, IL, an all-black town, was small enough that he could make a lot of African Americans very wealthy. That was his intent. It wouldn’t be difficult for him to sell in Robbins and recruit others to do the same thing he was doing,” Haymore said, who knew Fuller personally.
SB Fuller was a publisher of two newspapers, owned eight corporations, and president of the National Negro Business League. Fuller donated a fire truck and put in an air conditioner system at the Robbins Village Hall. Fuller helped put in Robbins‘ first water filtration system connected to the City of Chicago and supported several organizations. Fuller also bought a shopping center and the historic Regal Theater in Chicago. Fuller became the first black member of the National Association of Manufacturers.
SB Fuller built the one-story, 12 room, six-bathroom mansion in 1958 for $250,000 at 13500 S. Kedzie Avenue. “Fuller had groundkeepers, security guards, butlers, and maids,” Haymore said. When Fuller died in 1988, the family maintained the home before it was donated to the Robbins History Museum. Due to the mansion not being secured properly, it had been vandalized. “90% of the value of the interior was completely stripped,” Haymore said.
One of the struggles the museum is facing is trying to raise money for building restoration. “How do we fix a $5 million home that has been vandalized,” Haymore said. In January, the Landmarks Illinois awarded the museum a $2,500 grant to repair the roof.  On Saturday, May 15, there will be a restoration fundraiser for the Fuller Mansion and future home of the Robbins History Museum. The drive-up donation will be from 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm at the Fuller Mansion, 13500 S. Kedzie Avenue. The goal is to raise $200,000.
Haymore said it’s essential that the history of SB Fuller and the City of Robbins be shared to inspire the youth. “Young people pass by the Fuller Mansion going to school and never ask questions. I have been invited to several schools to talk about the legacy of SB Fuller and the rich history of Robbins,” said Haymore.
In 1931, the first black airport in U.S. history was built, owned, and operated by aviators Cornelius R. Coffey and John C. Robinson located at 14046 S. Lawndale Avenue. In 1933, a violent windstorm destroyed the airport. Coffey and Robinson relocated their aviation training school in an unincorporated Worth Township near Oak Lawn, IL. A marker was dedicated on September 6, 2003, in Robbins, IL, on the 100th birthday of Cornelius R. Coffey.
Robbins is the home to 10 Tuskegee Airmen and the birthplace of Star Trek star Nichelle Nichols, actress Keke Palmer, actor Laurence “Mr. T” Tureaud, and former NBA basketball star Dwayne Wade. To learn more about the Robbins History Museum and the drive-up fundraiser, Saturday, May 15, go to https://www.robbinshistorymusuem.org/.
Tammy Gibson is a black history traveler and author. Find her on Facebook, Instagram @SankofaTravelher, and Twitter @SankofaTravelHr.
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