By Jared Olar
Library Assistant
Among the notable names who appeared in our series on the history of the Pekin Public Library earlier this year was that of Miss Josephine Goldsmith. This week we will review her life story, relying on the Goldsmith Family materials preserved in the library’s archives.
Josephine Goldsmith (1892-1981) served as a trustee on the Pekin Public Library board for nearly 44 years, from 1932 until her retirement from the board in 1975. Her long tenure on the board extended up to the latter years of Pekin’s Carnegie library, and she helped oversee the development and construction of the new joint Pekin Public Library and Dirksen Congressional Research Center facility in the early 1970s. Over the years she served as board president and treasurer.
Goldsmith’s retirement from the board came about a month or so before the 26 Oct. 1975 cornerstone-laying ceremony for the new library facility, and that ceremony included a special tea and reception to honor her years of service to the library.
Prior to her 1932 appointment to the library board, Miss Goldsmith worked on the library staff, and the thing for which she is most remembered is her organizing of Children’s Story Hour in the 1920s. To memorialize her contribution to the library’s Children’s Department, for many years (until the 2015 remodel and expansion) the Youth Services Room at the new library facility was known as The Josephine Goldsmith Room and bore a plaque honoring her.
Miss Goldsmith was a Pekin native and lived here all her life. She was one of three children – and the only daughter – of Hyman and Jennie Goldsmith, who resided at 604 Washington St. For many years Hyman Goldsmith ran a clothing store at 326 Court St., next door to the old Empire Theater.
Hyman, whose father was named Jacob, was a German Jewish immigrant. He was born 22 Dec. 1856 in Czarnków, Prussia (today in Poland), and he came to America in 1873 at the age of 16. Hyman at first lived in Chicago and worked in his uncle’s shoe factory for a few years, but later moved to Pekin. He first appears in the Pekin City Directory in 1887 as an employee of Gottschalk Schradzki (1836-1911), who in partnership with Abram Fuld ran a clothing store at 305 Court St.
Hyman married Gottschalk’s daughter Jennie in Pekin on 24 April 1888 (on the Hebrew calendar, that date was 13 Adar 5648, as shown on their marriage certificate), and then became a partner in his father-in-law’s store until 1893, when he bought Gottschalk’s business and operated it as the H. Goldsmith Store at 326 Court St. When Hyman died on 18 Dec. 1930 at his home on Washington Street, the Pekin Daily Times reported that “news of his passing was received over the city with sorrow,” and acclaimed him as “one of the best known merchants in Pekin,” “one of the most familiar figures on Court street,” and “closely identified with the business life of the community.”
Hyman and Jennie had three children: Nathan (born 1889), Josephine (born 1892), and Harry J. (born 1893). None of the three siblings ever married, and after their parents’ death they continued to live in their home on Washington Street. Nathan later carried on his father’s clothing store business on Court Street. Hyman and Jennie and their children are all entombed in the Lakeside Cemetery Mausoleum.
Miss Goldsmith’s personality was noted as “soft-spoken” and “modest.” After high school, she attended St. Mary’s College at Knoxville, Illinois, graduating in 1914. She never married, but spent her life in community service. Her dedication to service was acknowledged in March 1967 when she received the Altrusa Club Community Service Award.
In addition to her 44 years on the Pekin Library board, as a young woman she served as a Red Cross volunteer during World War I, continuing her Red Cross volunteering throughout her life, providing aid and comfort to patients as a Red Cross Grey Lady at the Peoria State Hospital at Bartonville and regularly visiting the residents at Tazewell County Nursing Home. Miss Goldsmith also served on the board of Pekin Memorial Hospital. She served on the boards of both the state hospital and the nursing home.
She also was elected in 1933 to a three-year term on the board of directors of the Pekin YWCA, and was often seen at the YWCA receptionist desk after they moved into their current building on Buena Vista. Miss Goldsmith also was active in the League of Women Voters and the Pekin Woman’s Club.
She died on 8 Oct. 1981 at Pekin Memorial Hospital, the last survivor of her family. Another tribute to her volunteer service came in April 1980, when the local office of the American Red Cross honored her for her many years as a volunteer.
