History runs deep in Passaic County, and no one dug deeper or knew that history better than Edward A. Smyk.
Smyk had just entered his 50th year as Passaic County historian when he died Thursday at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson. He was 79.
A lifelong resident of Paterson, Smyk took his unpaid job as Passaic County historian seriously. A compulsive collector of newspaper clippings, he kept files on just about everyone and everything that pertained to Passaic County history and published over 150 articles during his career.
“There was no one like him,” said Glenn Corbett, a trustee at the Paterson Museum Foundation and a former president of the Passaic County Historical Society. “With the passion and breadth of knowledge he had, there is no one who is going to replace him.”
Smyk was also responsible for salvaging many pieces of history that otherwise might have been lost. Paterson Museum Director Giacomo DeStefano said Smyk salvaged over 100,000 glass negatives from the defunct Paterson News, a treasure trove of photographs that is now being digitized.
“He was in a constant search for the truth,” DeStefano said. “Ed knew Paterson’s place in the overall history of the nation.”
Mark Auerbach, a historian from the City of Passaic, said Smyk was a great storyteller.
“He had a command of the English language that was second to none,” Auerbach said. “He was a captivating speaker. He held your attention.”
Passaic County history runs deeper than the 77-foot chasm at the Great Falls, the site of America’s first planned industrial center. Water harnessed from the mighty falls powered the mills that first produced cloth, followed by Colt .45 pistols, locomotives, silk and aircraft engines.
John Holland tested the first submarine on the Passaic River just above the falls in the 1870s. Smyk was responsible for organizing Holland’s drawings and papers that are now kept at the Paterson Museum, DeStefano said.
No one knew those old stories better than Smyk. Rather than just retell old tales, Corbett said Smyk was more interested in breaking new ground.
Corbett said he and Smyk were recently looking into the Marquis de Lafayette’s visit to Paterson in July 1825. Lafayette had helped George Washington win the War of Independence with Britain and stopped in Paterson on a tour of the states.
While searching old newspapers online, Smyk discovered the account of an African American man who that night drove Lafayette to dinner in Morristown in a stagecoach.
“Ed dug down deep, using Newspapers.com,” Corbett said. “That really opened up a whole new world for him.”
At the time of his death, Smyk was producing webinars for the Paterson Museum. Those pieces, which include segments on the Dey Mansion in Wayne and Mark Twain’s visit to Paterson, are available on the museum’s YouTube channel.
A graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University in Rutherford, Smyk worked as the public information officer for the Passaic County Board of Social Services. He started writing local history pieces for the employee newsletter and was appointed county historian by the Board of Chosen Freeholders — now known as commissioners — in 1975.
There was no job description and no pay, but Smyk made the best of it. He kept an office at Lambert Castle, the home of the Passaic County Historical Society, and although he frequently clashed with county officials, Smyk became the voice of authority on historic preservation projects.
In 2001, he testified before Congress on the historic value of Paterson’s Great Falls. Eight years later, President Barack Obama signed the bill that created the Paterson-Great Falls National Historical Park.
“He was a warm person, even though he put on that academic face,” said Pat Lepore, the director of the Passaic County Board of Commissioners. “He had a tremendous amount of information, and he liked to share it. He will be missed.”
Smyk is survived by a brother, David, of Georgia. Funeral services are scheduled for Monday at 10:30 a.m. at the Festa Memorial Home in Totowa, with burial to follow in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Paterson. Visiting is Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. at the funeral home.
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Richard Cowen may be reached at rcowen@njadvancemedia.com.