One memorable acquisition, he recalls, that provided incredible insights into Naperville’s earliest years was a journal offered by a rare book dealer filled with discussions and debates on topics of politics, culture, social issues and religion from this area in the 1830s and ‘40s. From donations of great-grandmother’s quilt, a husband’s book collection or corporate archiving for groups like the Naperville Woman’s Club, he helps to preserve all things Naperville. Ogg also serves as a member of the acquisitions committee. Whether it’s walking tours, presentations, helping individuals with genealogy, or going out to different service clubs talking about Naperville history, he is-in many ways-the memory keeper of Naperville, helping people understand what has happened in the city. One aspect of his job he particularly enjoys is the many opportunities to interact with the public. With the help of a team of about twenty volunteers, documents such as these are routinely indexed, catalogued and preserved. Just different ways to look at a problem.”Īs Naper Settlement’s curator of research, Ogg’s primary work is to manage its collection of paper archives: books, photographs, documents, newspapers, diaries and letters. “If I’m looking at a house history, it’s one thing to look at the deed-who owns the house-but I also look at the tax records to see when improvements were made, maybe look at the phone book and newspaper records to see what was written about the house and the family. “You have to be able to look around the back door,” Ogg explains. One of the key strategies he has implemented over the years is not to always look at questions point blank. It wasn’t until his undergrad internship working at a heritage house museum for Senator Pettigrew in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, that he found museum work so well-suited to his skills and interests-a career that has often led people to hail him as a “history detective.” #POINT BLANK NAPERVILLE PROFESSIONAL#“I think it’s that love of history that carried into my professional life.” #POINT BLANK NAPERVILLE FULL#“I was blessed on both sides of the family with grandparents and elderly relatives who had massive old houses full of closets and drawers and attics and basements.” From family heirlooms to little-found objects, everything had a story, a meaning and a purpose. “I did like family history,” Ogg recalls. With both sides of his family still living in the same area they have farmed for three generations-and having an ancestral history that dates back to the 1600s-there was a treasure trove of stories, artifacts and genealogy that attracted his interest. This may not come as a big surprise to those who knew Ogg as a boy, growing up outside Peoria in his hometown of Morton, Illinois. Currently he’s curator of research at the award-winning museum, Naper Settlement, and he couldn’t be happier. Nichols.įor the past twenty-seven years Bryan Ogg has been doing what he loves. Shown at right is a book by a well-known nineteenth-century Naperville author and businessman, J.L. Naper Settlement’s curator of research holds the only-known photograph of Joseph Naper, a daguerreotype from circa 1857 off of which all likenesses of Naper are based.
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