Martin A. Ryerson

Martin A. Ryerson was born in 1856 in Michigan.[1][2] His father, Martin L. Ryerson, was a lumber baron in Michigan forests who invested in real estate in Downtown Chicago.[2] His mother, Mary Ann Campau, was the niece of Louis Campau, the founder of Grand Rapids, Michigan[2] and member of the Detroit's Campau family.

Ryerson grew up in Chicago.[2] He was educated in Paris and Geneva.[1] He graduated from the Harvard Law School in 1878.[1][3]

Ryerson started his career as a lawyer. In 1880, he joined the family business, working for his father, who owned the only remaining lumberyard in Chicago in the aftermath of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.[4] As a lumber manufacturer,[5] Ryerson was Chicago's richest man by the age of thirty-six.[4]

Ryerson served on the board of directors of the Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company,[6] Northern Trust, and the Elgin National Watch Company.[7]

Ryerson served as the president of the board of trustees of the University of Chicago from 1892 to 1922.[1] He donated over $2 million to the university, including $350,000 for the construction of the Ryerson Physical Laboratory and $25,000 for the establishment of the Harper Memorial Library on campus.[1] Additionally, he endowed the Martin A. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professorship in 1925.[1]

Ryerson served on the board of trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation.[7] He served as honorary President of the Art Institute of Chicago.[5] He also served as the Vice President of the Field Columbian Museum from 1894.[1] He donated $300,000 to build the Ryerson Library in Grand Rapids, Michigan.[2]

Ryerson maintained an art collection.[1] He was the owner of five paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir and sixteen paintings by Claude Monet.[1] He also collected paintings by Old Masters.[1]

With his wife Carrie,[8] Ryerson resided at 4851 South Drexel Boulevard in Chicago.[1] They summered at Bonnie Brae,[4] an estate in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.[5] Ryerson was a member of the Lake Geneva Yacht Club, where the Martin A. Ryerson Trophy is named in his honor.[3]

Ryerson died on August 11, 1932, in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.[5][7] He was buried in the Martin Ryerson Tomb at the Graceland Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois.[7] At the time of his death, his estate was valued at $5 million, $3 million of which was invested in real estate.[9] Upon his death, he bequeathed the entire sum to charities, family members and former employees.[8] For example, his widow inherited one tenth, $500,000,[8] as well as an annual income of $200,000.[10] He also bequeathed $25,000 to Harvard University, $25,000 to Kenyon College, and $25,000 to the Little Sisters of the Poor.[10] His art collection was donated to the Art Institute of Chicago.[1][11] Edward W. Forbes served as the Martin A. Ryerson Professor in the Fine Arts at Harvard University from 1935 to 1944.[12]

• Ryerson & Burnham Libraries
• The Alarm (Boyle)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Martin A. Ryerson Collection.

• Historic Collections: The Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection, Art institute of Chicago
• Martin A. Ryerson, The University of Chicago and Its Donors, 1889-1930, University of Chicago
• Guide to the Martin A. Ryerson Papers 1877-1878 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center