The Downers Grove Historical Society is pleased to announce that Jim Toth has been selected to be the 2024 Historian of the Year. Upon his arrival in Downers Grove in 2015, Toth swiftly immersed himself in the activities of the Historical Society. Soon thereafter he was on the Board of Directors. His keen awareness of the wealth of local historical knowledge led him and Liz Chalberg, then president of DGHS, to ponder, “How can we contemporize this knowledge?” He needed to find someone to create a web app for the Main Street Cemetery to make it easier to access the information about who is buried there. He looked around and found … himself! Thus Toth embarked on his first Historical Society project, “The Downers Grove Main Street Cemetery” which encompassed pictures, audio biographies, and written stories about those early settlers. The project started Toth on the path of preserving historical knowledge in formats that are informative and easy to enjoy.
Toth said he loves the ‘idea’ of history. “I’m not a scholar, but I find our local history is of special interest to me. I like the combination of telling historical stories and finding ways of making it more interesting.”
Toth’s formative years were spent primarily in Western Springs where he enjoyed a blissful childhood. Throughout high school, he found joy in music and theatre, which ultimately led him to Second City and Improv Olympic, two storied, renowned stages of improvisational theatre in Chicago. It was during this period that his path intersected with Kevin Matthews, a renowned Chicago radio personality. This encounter paved the way for Toth to assume both an on-air role, and as Executive Producer for the Kevin Matthews Show. Within a few years, Toth’s creative path found him in Los Angeles, servicing a content development deal for Buena Vista Television in Los Angeles, eight years with Arc Worldwide / Leo Burnett as one of the creative leaders on a team of digital specialists. There, while working on universally recognized clients such as Tampax, Capital One and McDonald’s, where his team created the first of its kind ‘digital’ Happy Meal for [Shrek the Third]. Toth left Arc to join a smaller independent shop (Colossal Squid Industries) where he was a lead agency creative, until his next venture, as Executive Creative Director for VSA Partners. He remained there for nine years, eventually becoming a partner with the firm while supporting such clients as Crystal Light, Kleenex and Marvin Windows and Doors.
His many years learning how the creative end of the marketing business works came in handy when, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic created major job losses in the advertising industry. Jim was one of those who was laid off. He was then presented with the ‘opportunity’ to reinvent himself.
In 2021, Toth took a job with a company in Madison, Wisconsin which allowed him to work from home. Turning a challenge into an opportunity, he started to build his own business, Node Films.
“As an observer, I understood quite a bit about the filming and post-production process and that was the thing that made me less fearful about jumping in and doing it [myself].” As he was getting his film business going, he admits, “I spent a lot of time learning the software to put it all together, and I loved that.” He reconnected with the Historical Society, donating his time and talent to create the Main Street Cemetery documentary, capturing interviews and footage of Lois Sterba detailing each grave within the cemetery.
His next project, which Toth also donated, was the Mochel Family documentary, during which he learned even more about the tools needed to capture the nuances of conversations between life-long partners like John and Doris Mochel.
Working with the Historical Society board, Toth next tackled the special project of capturing the Tivoli Theatre story. This eight-month production closely connected him with Willis, Shirley and Chris Johnson.
Toth recently made the decision to spotlight Downers Grove and its early settlers’ significant role in the Underground Railroad’s history. Working with the Downers Grove Museum and the Downers Grove Park District, along with the Historical Society, Toth’s latest documentary, “The 1846 Blodgett House” preserves the historical narrative, offering both poignancy and entertainment for present and future audiences.
In February of 2024, Toth started a new job with Classic Cinemas as Director of Marketing. He expounded, “It’s wonderful! I’m a resident, it’s an 8-minute walk from my house, and it’s with people I have really grown to care about.”
Toth looks forward to working with the high-energy Classic Cinemas company. His volunteer work with the Historical Society will continue as a hobby as historical topics pique his interest. Toth lives in Downers Grove with his two children, Langston and Vivian and his fiancée, Heather Young (a remarkable pastry chef). He also has two sisters who live in Downers Grove.
Toth sees his good fortune as an example of the Butterfly Effect, where one small connection may have a life-changing effect down the road. Without introducing himself to the Historical Society, none of this could have happened. We’re so glad it did!
