Naperville Heritage Society names inductees to Hall of Honor

The late Grace Fredenhagen was ahead of her time in wanting to preserve Naperville's past.

She was instrumental in converting the Martin Mitchell Mansion into a museum that sits on the grounds of what is now Naper Settlement. Her own family owned and restored the 1830s Bailey Hobson house in Naperville, the home of DuPage County's first white settler.

"She felt strongly about preservation and historic roots," said her daughter, Naperville resident Rita Fredenhagen Harvard. "In the 1940s, when there was little interest in preservation, she was standing alone."

Fredenhagen and Harvard will be among several inductees into Naperville Heritage Society's Distinguished Heritage Hall of Honor at 2 p.m. Sunday in Century Memorial Chapel at Naper Settlement, 523 S. Webster St.

The ceremony, which is open to the public, recognizes those who have shown exemplary dedication to the preservation of the community's heritage.

Grace and Rita

Grace Fredenhagen moved with husband, Walter, to Naperville in the 1920s, and immersed herself in the community. She helped her husband manage the Prince Castle Ice Cream Company, later renamed Cock Robin; directed three local choirs; and as a professional pianist, drove to Chicago to accompany a group there.

"I do believe that's why she died so young," said Harvard of her mother, who passed away at age 67. "Her candle burned at both ends."

Fredenhagen didn't live long enough to see the formation of the Naperville Heritage Society 40 years ago, but she made a major contribution in helping restore the Martin Mitchell Mansion that has become part of Naper Settlement, the 19th-century village the heritage society operates.

The mansion had been left to the city by Caroline Martin Mitchell, the descendant of the wealthy Naperville family who built the house. Fredenhagen sat on the original Martin Mitchell Mansion Board that converted the home to a museum that opened to the public in 1939.

"She was instrumental in furnishing and getting the mansion restored," Harvard said.

The Fredenhagen family moved to the Bailey Hobson home and her mother took pains to restore it to its original character, Harvard said. The restoration was completed in 1949.

"That took five years. The house was in extremely dilapidated condition," Harvard said.

Harvard and her husband, John, later owned the home, which remains a private residence.

Harvard followed in her mother's footsteps in becoming an advocate for historic restoration. She served as a guide in the Martin Mitchell Museum and joined the Naperville Heritage Society about a year after it formed.

The vision for preserving historic buildings and creating Naper Settlement didn't catch on right away, Harvard said.

"It was so difficult in the early years because the attitude of people in this area wasn't what I hoped it would have been," she said. "They couldn't envision this as being important to our downtown, to the community and our quality of life."

Heritage society members persevered - moving buildings, landscaping the Naper Settlement site, and holding an annual antiques show to help raise funds.

"Everybody was working so hard. Nobody could be a volunteer and just pay dues," Harvard said.

Harvard served as a costumed guide in Naper Settlement's Murray House. Although it no longer is a role she plays, she and her husband remain strong supporters of the heritage society and Naper Settlement.

"It's always been a very special project, very dear to my heart," she said.

Ruth Gamertsfelder

Ruth Gamertsfelder, a 40-year teacher at Naperville High School, started welcoming visitors to the Martin Mitchell Museum when it opened to the public in 1939 and became its curator after she retired from teaching. When Naper Settlement was started in 1969, she volunteered at various buildings as they were moved to the property.

Her niece, Helen Naumann, said Gamertsfelder was committed to the community, to the high school where she taught Latin, to her church and to North Central College where she had graduated.

"She was known to everybody as Miss Gam," Naumann said. "She was the kind of person who pitched in on anything. She could be in charge or she could do anything. She never expected credit."

Gamertsfelder had moved to Naperville at age 2 when her father came to teach at what was then Union Biblical Institute, later Evangelical Theological Seminary, on the grounds of North Central College. (The seminary later merged to form Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston.)

Active, independent and outgoing, Gamertsfelder remained single and spent nearly her entire life in Naperville, Neumann said. Old newspaper clippings attest to her community involvements, which included Edward Hospital and the Naperville Woman's Club.

Neumann doesn't recall much about her aunt's work with the heritage society, but she does remember Gamertsfelder as the aunt everyone should have.

"She would tell stories about the way things were (when she was young)," she said.

Harold, Eva White

Harold White is well known as the late publisher of the Naperville Sun and his wife, Eva, worked alongside him. He saw potential in Naperville and purchased the year-old Sun in 1936 shortly after he graduated from North Central College.

With Eva, also a North Central alumna, he sold ads and subscriptions, wrote articles, ran the press and delivered the paper door-to-door through several lean years while the publication put down its roots.

After their business grew and prospered, the Whites became major philanthropists in the community. They donated millions to North Central College. The Naperville Heritage Society benefitted, too.

The Whites provided behind-the-scenes support with resources such as a letterhead, note cards, mailings, fliers and advertisements for the society's antique show.

The couple also provided the funds to create Naper Settlement's 1800s working print shop.

"He gave a lot to Naperville," said White's brother, Dr. Robert White of Aurora.

Donald Burney

A research chemist, Donald Burney had never run printing presses before but he was willing to try. Burney was among the first group of volunteers to learn to set type at Naper Settlement's new print shop in 1983.

"I just was interested in the mechanics so I learned to set type," he said.

For more than a decade, Burney trained and led a team of volunteers who provided demonstrations of 19th-century printing to visitors and schoolchildren.

Burney said he enjoyed the contact with the public, but an unfortunate accident put his volunteer work at an end.

"I caught my hand in the printing press and lost two fingers. That's when I quit," he said.

Burney now resides with his wife at Sunrise Assisted Living in Naperville.

Cress Creek Garden Club

For 30 years, members of the Cress Creek Garden Club faithfully have tended the gardens around the Paw Paw Post Office, Naperville's first post office and the oldest frame house at Naper Settlement.

President Jan Barbour said about 30 of the club's 80 members help care for the gardens at the settlement. Many of them are former teachers and they carefully research plantings that are appropriate for the time period, she said.

"I marvel at their dedication," she said. "They do it because they enjoy it. They just come and go at different times and take their turns."

The gardens include fruit and shade trees the club donated long ago. Club members also provide the flowers for spring planting, do the summertime watering and weeding, and the fall cleanup.

Carol Sweder, the co-chairman of the volunteers who tend the gardens, said two members sign up each week during the summer and do whatever work is needed for that week. Sometimes it takes one or two hours, sometimes five or six, she said.

"There's, of course, the joy of gardening and doing it with friends makes it even more enjoyable," she said.

Sweder, who has been a member of the group for five years, said gardening at Naper Settlement makes it even more special.

"For me, it's just being part of what Naper Settlement does for the community and the children who visit," she said.

<p class="factboxheadblack">If you go</p> <p class="News"><b>What:</b> Naperville Heritage Society's Distinguished Heritage Hall of Honor induction ceremony</p> <p class="News"><b>When:</b> 2 p.m. Sunday</p> <p class="News"><b>Where:</b> Century Memorial Chapel at Naper Settlement, 523 S. Webster St., Naperville</p> <p class="News"><b>Cost:</b> Free for ceremony; admission to Naper Settlement</p> <p class="News"><b>Info: </b>(630) 420-6010</p>