2008: Linda Saxer Retires After 13 Years as Director of the Durant-Peterson House Museum

A field trip with her daughter's Campfire group in 1981 inspired Linda's lifelong passion for the Durant-Peterson House. Linda, a frequent fixture at the weaving loom (pictured), became the Director of the Durant-Peterson House Museum in 1995 after 14 years as a volunteer. Her favorite event at the Durant-Peterson House was Candlelight during the holidays. "I loved preparing for it, doing it, and [even] the weariness afterwards," she said. Though she retired in 2008, Linda has returned frequently as a volunteer. Individuals like Linda—and the many more you will meet through our journey of fifty years of saving and sharing local history—are why the Durant-Peterson House Museum has remained a truly special place for over 50 years.

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Photo: "Stepping Back in Time," The Daily Herald, February 21, 1999.

Sources: "New Staff in Place at Beith House Office," Advocate (Spring 1995): 2, Archives of Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley, St. Charles, IL; Linda Saxer, interview by phone, January 17, 2024.