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Roscoe archivist honored for work with history
By Hillary Wundrow
Daily News staff writer
ROSCOE - It's no surprise a descendent of the Mayflower won the Community Service Award from the Northern Winnebago County Rotary.
Dorothy Hunter, member of one of Roscoe's oldest families, has spent years sifting through historic photos and conducting interviews to learn more about Roscoe's roots.
After collecting verbal histories from village elders, Hunter authored “A Pictorial History of Roscoe.” As more people learned of Hunter's projects, they began bringing in hundreds of collectibles, including glass negatives. The pictures from the historic negatives and other artifacts are on display at North Suburban Library in Loves Park.
“It's the only known public display of Roscoe's history. She salvaged it, researched it and put it together,” said Colene Vivian, director of sales and marketing for River Valley Technologies and former Roscoe Chamber of Commerce director. “Dorothy is pretty much the historian of Roscoe.”
Hunter's daughters, Doris Tropp, Nola Carnine and Laura Engesetter, are probably their mother's biggest fans. The three sisters all live within walking distance of Bernard and Dorothy Hunter on land that was provided by the U.S. government to their ancestors. Growing up, Tropp said her mother told her plenty of historic tales passed on from her grandparents. In a genealogy book Hunter compiled for her family, it tells of a relative who had a pony and a cart and another who thought she was lame.
“She (my mother) always tried to instill in us a sense of history. She always took us to museums on vacations,” Tropp said.
Having descended from the Sturtevant, Wood, Elwood and Eakin families of Roscoe, Hunter was able to trace the family back to Mayflower rider Francis Cook. Over the years Hunter taught third and fourth grades in a variety of area schools including Pecatonica and Rockford.
Hunter wasn't able to pursue her love of history, however, until she was retired. It was then she began editing “A History of Roscoe” by Florence Shugars. As more people learned about her research, they started bringing her old family photographs. The serious expressions on the faces of Roscoe's settlers amused her daughter.
“It looks like they were sucking sour persimmons. I guess back then it was documentation of events rather than capturing happy events,” Tropp said.
Although many of the pictures were of old buildings and families, one photo was a panoramic view of one of the first Roscoe fall festival celebrations. The picture showed a communitywide pageant including both adults in children in all types of costumes.
“My grandma was dressed as an Indian. There must have been 100 people in the picture. It was like everyone in town was at the pageant. I think they had it a Leeland Park,” Tropp said.
Sifting through the photos hasn't always been easy. Hunter has to see if the people in the photo match any other Roscoe inhabitants she has identified through public records.
“Not all the pictures were taken in Roscoe. Some people took them on vacation or at other relatives' homes,” Tropp said.
As time marches on, it becomes difficult to gather information from village elders. Many of the reliable sources she interviewed in the 1970s and 1980s have passed away. And for the past two weeks Hunter has been in the hospital in Madison battling Crone's disease. As soon as she gets out, Hunter hopes to get a new scanner and continue her work as a history sleuth. Her daughters will make sure of it.
“Even as Roscoe grows and prospers, and life moves faster away from what was to what will be, she has provided the inhabitants of Roscoe a link to the past, which will provide a foundation to the future,” Tropp said.
Dorothy Hunter, member of one of Roscoe's oldest families, has spent years sifting through historic photos and conducting interviews to learn more about Roscoe's roots.
After collecting verbal histories from village elders, Hunter authored “A Pictorial History of Roscoe.” As more people learned of Hunter's projects, they began bringing in hundreds of collectibles, including glass negatives. The pictures from the historic negatives and other artifacts are on display at North Suburban Library in Loves Park.
“It's the only known public display of Roscoe's history. She salvaged it, researched it and put it together,” said Colene Vivian, director of sales and marketing for River Valley Technologies and former Roscoe Chamber of Commerce director. “Dorothy is pretty much the historian of Roscoe.”
Hunter's daughters, Doris Tropp, Nola Carnine and Laura Engesetter, are probably their mother's biggest fans. The three sisters all live within walking distance of Bernard and Dorothy Hunter on land that was provided by the U.S. government to their ancestors. Growing up, Tropp said her mother told her plenty of historic tales passed on from her grandparents. In a genealogy book Hunter compiled for her family, it tells of a relative who had a pony and a cart and another who thought she was lame.
“She (my mother) always tried to instill in us a sense of history. She always took us to museums on vacations,” Tropp said.
Having descended from the Sturtevant, Wood, Elwood and Eakin families of Roscoe, Hunter was able to trace the family back to Mayflower rider Francis Cook. Over the years Hunter taught third and fourth grades in a variety of area schools including Pecatonica and Rockford.
Hunter wasn't able to pursue her love of history, however, until she was retired. It was then she began editing “A History of Roscoe” by Florence Shugars. As more people learned about her research, they started bringing her old family photographs. The serious expressions on the faces of Roscoe's settlers amused her daughter.
“It looks like they were sucking sour persimmons. I guess back then it was documentation of events rather than capturing happy events,” Tropp said.
Although many of the pictures were of old buildings and families, one photo was a panoramic view of one of the first Roscoe fall festival celebrations. The picture showed a communitywide pageant including both adults in children in all types of costumes.
“My grandma was dressed as an Indian. There must have been 100 people in the picture. It was like everyone in town was at the pageant. I think they had it a Leeland Park,” Tropp said.
Sifting through the photos hasn't always been easy. Hunter has to see if the people in the photo match any other Roscoe inhabitants she has identified through public records.
“Not all the pictures were taken in Roscoe. Some people took them on vacation or at other relatives' homes,” Tropp said.
As time marches on, it becomes difficult to gather information from village elders. Many of the reliable sources she interviewed in the 1970s and 1980s have passed away. And for the past two weeks Hunter has been in the hospital in Madison battling Crone's disease. As soon as she gets out, Hunter hopes to get a new scanner and continue her work as a history sleuth. Her daughters will make sure of it.
“Even as Roscoe grows and prospers, and life moves faster away from what was to what will be, she has provided the inhabitants of Roscoe a link to the past, which will provide a foundation to the future,” Tropp said.
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