Person:Harm Mulder (16)

Herman Miller didn't work at Herman Miller When 51 percent of the stock in the Michigan Star Furniture Co. of Zeeland was purchased in 1923, the business was renamed the Herman Miller Furniture Co. The name would become a legend in innovative furniture and office design worldwide.

KEVIN S. COLLIER JUL 7, 2014

However, if you telephoned the company since its establishment in 1923 and asked to speak with Herman Miller, you would have been told that he never worked there.

In fact, Miller wasn’t even the man’s birth name. It was Mulder.

Born to Harm and Stientje (Stella) Smit Mulder in 1868, Herman Mulder changed his surname to Miller before he married Nellie Breen at Grand Rapids in 1889. The couple then moved to Zeeland, where they had six children.

Enter Dirk Jan De Pree, who in 1914 married one of the Miller daughters, Nellie.

Dirk Jan De Pree, 18, began working for the Star Furniture Co. in 1909 as a clerk, working his way up to president 10 years later. The company changed its name to the Michigan Star Furniture Co. at that time.

In 1923, De Pree took control of the business with the financial help of his father-in-law, Herman Miller, by securing 51 percent of the company’s stock. As an expression of enormous gratitude, the appreciative son-in-law renamed the company the Herman Miller Furniture Co. Thus, De Pree becomes the first president of the Herman Miller Furniture Co.

While Dirk De Pree lent credit to Miller’s personal example by adopting a policy of “quality through the use of the best materials and best workers,” Herman Miller never worked at Herman Miller. He was not a founder of the company that bears his name, nor was he ever active in the business.

While Herman Miller (the company) is known worldwide, Herman Miller the man has been lost to history. If you attempt to research the man, you will discover far more about people who worked for the Herman Miller company than information on the man the company is named for.

Herman Miller and his wife, Nellie, were married for 50 years — she died just weeks after that landmark anniversary in 1939. Herman Miller died in 1948 at the age of 80, and is buried in Zeeland Cemetery beside his wife.

While there is a large “Miller” family headstone on the site, the marker on Herman Miller’s grave is quite simple. It reads: “Father Herman 1868-1948.”

Dirk De Pree, born July 31, 1891, nearly lived to the age of 100, passing away on Dec. 10, 1990. He is also buried in Zeeland Cemetery, as well as his wife, Nellie (Miller) De Pree, who died in 1982.

Perhaps one of the most revealing pieces of Herman Miller company lore has to do with a tragedy that happened in 1927 when a millwright died on the job. Dirk De Pree visited the deceased's family, where the man's widow read poetry authored by her husband. Deeply moved, De Pree made a commitment to treat all workers as individuals with special talents and potential.

The same year that Herman Miller, the man, died (1948), the company published and sold a bound hardcover product catalog, written by George Nelson and designed by the Nelson Office. According to the company's website, the catalog articulated Herman Miller's philosophy and principles about business and design.

The catalog is believed by many to be the first time a furniture catalog was sold, rather than distributed for free. It has since become a collector's item.

One amusing point to ponder is if Herman Miller, the man, hadn't changed his last name, the worldwide company would bear the name “Herman Mulder.”

1. ↑ Geboren, in Aduard, Groningen, Netherlands. Burgerlijke Stand
   Akte 56, 7 Sep 1867.

   Alle Groningers

2. ↑ Michigan, Death Certificates , in FamilySearch - Search
   1948.

   Herman Miller

3. ↑ Tombstone, in Find A Grave
   1948.

   Herman Miller