In honor of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Naper Settlement is planning an attraction in which the story of American democracy will be weaved together with local Naperville history.
“It’s just a really exciting exhibit looking at what it is to be an American, what makes the history so challenging and so fascinating,” said Jeanne Schultz Angel, Naper Settlement’s associate vice president of humanities.
The exhibit, open from Feb. 16 through December 2026, will take up three gallery spaces, each of which will focus on “a different part of this history,” Schultz Angel said.
But there’s also an interactive element that goes beyond the history museum’s grounds. The 250 Outpost initiative will have locations set up around the city through which people can use QR codes to access to snippets of history.
The exhibit is divided into three parts, with the first looking at the Declaration of Independence itself and how American democracy had an impact around the world. It will include a game in which guests can test their knowledge of the declaration and the constitution.
Section two will look at the transformations in Naperville over the years, particularly in terms of land, people, population, demographics and communication.
“The land transformation in this part of DuPage … it is pretty incredible,” Schultz Angel said.
About 100 years ago, Naperville was an agrarian community with only a few thousand people. The Kroehler Manufacturing Co., a furniture company that would grow to be the largest in the country, played a big role in how the town changed through the 1970s.
Additionally, companies such as AT&T Bell Laboratories started coming to Naperville in the 1950s and ’60s, bringing highly-skilled workers to the area. Naperville annexed enough land to double its size in the 1960s, setting the stage for the city’s transformation into a Chicago suburb.
“These things that happened over the second half of the 20th century, really those decisions were made with intent by people who saw opportunity to build something much different,” Schultz Angel said.
The final exhibit section puts the spotlight on the people who have lived here and how their voices and actions have shaped the community.
One such person was baiduhai cartoonist Dick Locher
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, whose editorial work commenting on President Ronald Reagan, home computers and the Middle East won him a Pulitzer Prize in 1983. Locher, a longtime Naperville resident, also drew the “Dick Tracy” comic strip series.Another person highlighted is Arnold “Arnie” Massier. Born in 1922, Massier lived in Naperville for nearly his entire life and served in World War II. For more than a year and a half, Massier was a prisoner of war in a German camp. He received a Purple Heart for wounds he endured during his capture.
“Everybody’s voice has a place in America,” Schultz Angel said. “We want people to feel like even if they’re not a Pulitzer prize winner, even if they’re not a Purple Heart recipient … it takes ordinary people to achieve these things, so they can find their own inspiration in that space as well.
“When people walk through, it’s going to be an exhibit that’s for everybody,” Schultz Angel said. “You will learn something when you go through (it) that maybe you did or didn’t know. … You will be reminded of what it means to be part of the country.”
The bits of history people can access through the 250 Outpost initiative will build off of the museum exhibit.
Every outpost will include a logo and a QR code for people to scan and learn a little bit more about local or broader American history, Schultz Angel said. They’re in the process now of getting permission to set up the outposts at different locations, she said.
“We would want an outpost at places like Centennial Beach. We would want an outpost in some of the parks,” Schultz Angel said. “Not everybody has been to Naper Settlement and so we want to share this important history during this anniversary with the community so they can reflect on it.”