Historian: Bess Bower Dunn (1877 - 1959)

Bess Bower at Grass Lake, circa 1905. Dunn Museum Collections.

Bess Bower Dunn has made appearances in previous posts, but I've never featured her until now. She is so deserving of her own post!

Bess, also known as Bessie, was a woman of firsts. She was one of the first women in motion pictures, the county's first official historian, the county's first assistant probate clerk, and one of the county's earliest genealogists and historic preservationists.

Still from Edward Amet's silent film featuring best friends, Belle Spoor (left) and Bess Bower. Circa 1896. Amet Collection, Dunn Museum. 

About 1896, Bess and her best friend, Isabel "Belle" Spoor, were asked by inventor, Edward Amet, to help with his new motion picture invention. When the women arrived at the inventor’s home on North Avenue in Waukegan, Amet handed each a pair of boxing gloves. Bess recalled, “We whipped those long skirts out of the way and had a fine old time.” 

For several historic minutes, the girlfriends punched each other while Amet filmed. The stars of Amet's film titled, "Morning Exercise," became the first women in motion pictures.

Bess Bower working in Lake County's probate office as the assistant probate clerk, circa 1899. Bess Bower Dunn Collection, Dunn Museum, 61.14 

In 1899, Bess was hired as the county's assistant probate clerk, and in her spare time assisted people with their family research. If you happened into the probate office at the first half of the 20th century, Bess would happily assist in your research by looking into county records, and offering to visit local cemeteries to verify the correct spelling of surnames and birth/death dates. 

Bess Bower with Daniel Wright Memorial Rock in Half Day, 1909. Bess Bower Dunn Collection, Dunn Museum.

Bess was one of the founders of the Lake County Historical Society (defunct). In 1909, the Society placed a 7-ton memorial rock near the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue (Route 21) and Aptakisic Road west of the Des Plaines River to commemorate the county's first permanent non-native settler, Daniel Wright (1778-1873). See my post on Wright. 

Bess promoted Lake County history through the efforts of the Lake County Historical Society and by giving lectures. She also preserved history by documenting the county's heritage through research and speaking with descendants of early settlers. She was an avid photographer and traveled throughout the county looking for historic sites and natural areas to capture on film. 

Bess Bower with her box camera at an unknown location, circa 1905. Bess Bower Dunn Collection, Dunn Museum. 

Bess Bower with Native American trail tree in Lake Bluff, circa 1909. Bess Bower Dunn Collection, Dunn Museum. 

On November 21, 1918, after several years of courtship, Bess Bower married Roland R. Dunn. Roland was the son of Byron A. Dunn (1842-1926), historian, author, Civil War veteran, and newspaperman.  Roland became the advertising manager of the Globe Department Store in Waukegan. Sadly, just ten years into their marriage, Roland died of pneumonia following an appendicitis operation. Bess and his sisters were at his bedside. Bess never remarried. 

Bess Bower's husband, Roland R. Dunn (1874-1928). Photo 1903. 

In the mid-1950s, Bess Bower Dunn assisted Robert Vogel with his Lake County Museum of History in Wadsworth, Illinois. She was the museum's curator and donated materials from the Lake County Historical Society and her own collections for Vogel's museum. Those collections are now part of the collections of the Bess Bower Dunn Museum in Libertyville. 

Just before her death in 1959, the Lake County Board of Commissioners awarded Bess the title of Lake County Historian. She is the first person in the county's history to have the title. She was also honored for her 60 years of service as an employee of the County of Lake from 1899 to 1959, which made her the longest county employee on record.

The day after her passing, the courthouse flags were at half mast in memory of Bess and the county's Recorder of Deeds, Gustaf H. Fredbeck, who had also passed away.

Bess Bower Dunn was known to have a wide circle of friends. Here she is with friends in Millburn, Illinois: (left to right) Bess Bower, Florence Stewart, Mrs. White, Maud White, Mrs. Stewart, Mrs. Armbruster, and Mrs. Strang. Photo taken July 12, 1897. Bess Bower Dunn Collection, Dunn Museum. 

Bess Bower likely at home in Waukegan, circa 1896. Bess Bower Dunn Collection, Dunn Museum. 

Bess Bower Dunn is one of my most admired Lake County citizens. From her photographs and articles it's apparent her life was full of joy and purpose. I think she'd be pleased that her efforts in preservation are appreciated to this day. 

D. Dretske, ddretske@lcfpd.org

~ ~ ~ 

Note: In 2016, the Lake County Forest Preserves Board voted to change the name of the Lake County Discovery Museum to the Bess Bower Dunn Museum, honoring Dunn's extraordinary efforts to preserve and promote Lake County's heritage. 

Note: the Lake County Historical Society's collections are now held by the Bess Bower Dunn Museum and Lake Forest College. 

American Archives Month

October is American Archives Month which celebrates the value of archives and archivists.

Archives provide researchers with firsthand facts and data from letters, diaries, reports, photographs, postcards, audio and video recordings, and other primary sources. You could say that archives preserve the "raw material" that is essential to understanding the past, present, and future.

When you donate your personal or family papers to an archives, your family history becomes a part of your community’s – and America’s – collective memory. Archives collect and protect the heritage of the area they serve.

In an effort to preserve history, great and small, archivists not only care for the items donated to their archive, but also do outreach to community groups to teach preservation methods. I have given lectures on preservation, including how to care for family photographs.

Here are a few tips to remember:

Do not store valuable paper or photographic collections in an attic or basement. These locations are commonly subjected to excessive heat and/or moisture. The best place to store items in a house is a room where the temperature and humidity remains the same year round (e.g. the master bedroom). Also, an interior closet (not on an outside wall) creates a relatively constant environment. It's important to remember that extreme fluctuations in temperature and humidity are damaging.

Light causes fading. Overall, it's best to keep photos in the dark. Direct sun or bright light will fade photographs. Hallways and other rooms without windows are best.

Color photos exposed to light will lose the red pigment first. The photo at right consists mostly of blue tones, having lost the red from light exposure. If you notice that damage has occurred, make a high-quality scan and display a digital print instead. Also, scanned images can be enhanced through Adobe Photoshop and other software.

Choose an archival photo album and archival photo corners.

Photo albums with "magnetic" pages (which actually contain adhesive that can stick to or react to photos) is the worst place for photos. Shown here is the condition in which the Maynard Family photo album was in when it was donated to the archives. Staff photographed each page to record the original order of the photos, since the album had to be dismantled to remove the photos from the sticky pages.

Also note that tape was used to adhere the photos to the pages. That's another problem with magnetic albums, sometimes they lose their sticking power and family's turn to tape to keep photos in place, permanently staining the originals.

Make preservation prints. By making a high-quality scan of your photos you can then make additional prints, and/or restore the image. The only way to conserve an original photograph is to take it to a photo conservator, but you can scan a photo and fix the digital image.















Here is an example of some minor restoration work on a digital scan. At left is the original photo with moisture damage, and at right the scanned image with dots removed from the subject's face.

Watch those fingers... The oil on your hands will leave an imprint on the face of a photo. You may not see the fingerprint immediately, but believe me, there are plenty of photos donated to archives with thumbprints! So, if you don't want a future detective using a photo as evidence against you, watch how you hold your photos! Remember to handle photos carefully and by the edges only.

As part of the celebration for American Archives Month, the Lake County History Archives and Curt Teich Postcard Archives are hosting behind-the-scenes tours on Thursday, October 15th (at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.). The tours are free, but registration is required by calling 847-968-3381.

The Archives Tour is a great way to see how an archives works and to view the materials available to researchers. If you can't make the tour, but have questions about preserving a family heirloom, please give us a call.

Rare Maerlein Family Photograph

The museum's collections staff assists about 1,700 people each year. Many of these individuals need access to the Lake County history materials or the Teich postcard collection. They contact us by phone and email, and a portion of them visit the archives to complete their research.

We've had visitors from Europe, Canada, and across the United States. Lake County residents often stop in for one to two hours to pore over historic maps, photographs, manuscript collections, or to utilize our special library. It's not unheard of for researchers to make an appointment to spend an entire day, or even several days to fully delve into their research topic.

Recently, a couple visiting from San Diego, California, spent a day digging into their family's Lake County roots. They gave me a list of family names and asked if there might be any photos or other materials related to them. One of the surnames on the list was Maerlein or Merline.

A query of the archives database showed a couple of items of interest, but I recalled a collection of photos related to the part of the county they were researching that weren't yet catalogued on the computer. After checking the inventory for the Wagner Collection, I found the name Merline listed, and pulled the photograph to show the researcher.


Handwritten on the back was: "Merline family, daughter married Titus." No other information was known, other than the family was from Fremont Center. When I showed her the photograph, she was overjoyed. It was an extraordinary find for her. The photograph was of her grandmother and great grandparents, and the only photo of her great grandparents she had ever seen.

What turned out to be a great discovery for her was also a bonus for the archives. The researcher was able to identify the individuals in the photograph as John and Margaretha Maerlein, and their daughter Anna. Anna married John "Joseph" Titus in 1907.









After returning to California, the researcher sent me a note to thank me for assisting her and making a quality copy of the photo for her. She wrote: "I consider it one of my treasures, because I have few or no pictures past my grandparents' generation."

Finds like this don't happen every day, but they do happen, reminding me of the great value of organizing and making these materials available to people around the world.