Above / During its May meeting, the Naperville Area Branch of AAUW honored Peggy Frank as its Woman of the Year, pictured here with Co-presidents Becky Glimco and Elaine Fisher.
On May 7, fifty-six members and guests celebrated the achievements of the past 60 years of the Naperville Area Branch of AAUW (American Association of University Women).
Prior to lunch, guests browsed historic displays and viewed an anniversary slide show. Charter members Audrey Bueche and Miriam Lehman gave a toast to the branch’s past accomplishments and Donna Yule gave a toast to the branch’s future.
Following lunch, members reminisced while watching a 2006 DVD featuring interviews with four charter members. Speakers then revisited notable programs of the past 10 years: 2010 Science Spooktacular, Mary Lou Lipscomb; 2013-14 What I Wish I Had Known Before Going to College, Marge Marek; National Conference of College Women Student Leaders, Dana Cornish of Benedictine University; and 2005 Angeline Gale Memorial Scholarship recipient, Lauren Davies.
Peggy Frank is AAUW Naperville Area Branch Woman of the Year
Every year, AAUW (American Association of University Women) Naperville Area Branch selects a Naperville area woman who has demonstrated through her actions an exceptional level of commitment to the community and is recognized by the community for her leadership and accomplishments.
This year AAUW Naperville Area selected Peggy Frank as its 2016 Naperville Woman of the Year.
Peggy was nominated for her long running efforts in promoting, growing, and preserving Naperville’s rich history and the development of Naper Settlement as the only accredited outdoor history museum in Illinois. Through her leadership, Naperville’s agricultural and community history is available to everyone.
In 1979 when many women were not in top leadership positions, Peggy Frank was hired as the museum’s director by a woman president of the Heritage Society, Peg Yonker.
Peggy came back to the Chicago area to work at Naper Settlement as the museum’s first paid employee. Peggy has a degree in museum studies and according to the Naper Settlement Treasures magazine (January- April 2009), she was looking for a job that allowed her to “be outdoors, work with volunteers, and preserve American history.”
In 2006, the Board and staff developed the Long Range Plan to carry Naper Settlement into the future. In another quote from the same edition, Peggy Frank said this about that plan, “We have been responsive to the community and that has been the key to our success. History can only be real if people connect to it. I believe we have the resources here to connect with people.” She felt that the museum succeeded because the town embraced the mission of Naper Settlement. Without the volunteers and board, the museum would not have grown and thrived through the years.
Peggy retired as the Executive Director of Naper Settlement in January 2013.
Reflections of Women at Naper Settlement, Etc.
Peggy truly appreciated the opportunities for growth both professionally and personally at Naper Settlement as well the fortunate aside of making Naperville her home. For such a high profile position, she was treated as an equal from the beginning, privileged to work closely with the Naperville Heritage Society members and leaders. The Heritage Society has embodied an open arms policy no matter the persons gender and also made volunteering a family affair. Peggy’s own daughter was involved as a Naper Settlement volunteer and spent many hours helping at the museum.
Many Settlement traditions were started by women, such as the Weed Ladies, who drew the men into volunteering to assist their endeavors. Peggy felt it was wonderful to see more women develop leadership roles and, when Peggy retired, she felt it was time to pass the torch and give new volunteers and staff the same opportunities as she to develop their skills.
The Society and Settlement again have a strong female duo at the helm with Sally Pentecost as Chairman of the Board and Rena Tamayo-Calabrese as CEO.
Two of Peggy’s points of pride centered on children at the museum. Peggy has seen the impact to school age children learning history at the history museum. She loved to see their reaction to participating in hands on experiences on the grounds.
Peggy has also watched the progression of young volunteers at the museum. Many of them took their volunteer experience and decided to study history or museum studies in college. It has been very rewarding to see the next generation develop a passion for the professional sharing of history, she said.
Since retirement, Peggy has been able to pursue other interests in the community. She continues to focus her efforts on youth, education and cultural groups. Peggy has worked with many local non-profits to help them develop strategic plans and policies, recruit new Executive Directors, as well as been part of their boards. For example, she is on the Advisory Board of Naperville’s 360 Youth Services organization, works periodically with Project Help, the parent cooperative Hobson preschool, West Suburban Friends of the Chicago Sinfonietta and serves on the Downtown Advisory Commission. She is also very pleased to have been a part of the team that helped School District 203 with their community engagement as part of their Future Focus deliberation.
Other Awards & Used Book Sale, Too
The annual AAUW Naperville Area Branch awards also were announced. Charlotte Szromba received the branch Service Award for her 6 years of leadership in membership, programming, scholarship committee and activities coordinator.
Eryn Krueger was the winner of the 2016 Angeline Gale Memorial Scholarship. She will apply her scholarship to finishing her Bachelor’s degree in Business from Benedictine University, then hopes to continue her education with a Masters Degree in Business and a law degree. Krueger has maintained a perfect 4.0 average while working full time and caring for her daughter.
The Angeline Gale Memorial Scholarship is funded by the AAUW Naperville Area Branch Used Book Sale. This year’s sale will be held on June 15-18, 2016, at Celebration Community Life Center, 919 S. Washington St., Naperville.
For more information about programs, membership and meetings of the AAUW Naperville Area Branch, visit naperville-il.aauw.net.
Photos and news story submitted by Lee Eastman for AAUW Naperville Area Branch.
