The Sun's seventh decade saw changes roll in like the wheels of
skateboarders in a downtown park some said would never see its 2004
dedication.
1996: The seeds of The Sun's new photo- and feature-driven focus are sown in the weekly Fox Valley Villages 60504 edition.
As early as 1987, Naperville Sun editors were talking about turning it into a daily newspaper.
To this day, Irene Tindall is convinced that her boss, Harold White,
had a saucer full of commas on his desk that he liberally sprinkled
onto all the copy that he edited.
The voice of 30-year-old Mike Watts reverberates through the tiled
lobby of the downtown post office as he places his order: 20 10-cent
stamps and 20 2-cent stamps.
The Naperville Sun was established as a weekly newspaper by Harold E.
Moser in July 1935. A year later, it was purchased by Harold E. White,
in partnership with a friend, Gordon K. Haist. The assets consisted of
the name, an old desk and an equally old typewriter.
At 6 a.m. the hum of traffic has begun to build strength, lending one
of few clues to the busy thoroughfare rendered invisible by a narrow
curtain of trees.
Washington Street is an asphalt river that flows from north to south, carrying people past in cars, on motorcycles and on foot.
In the shadows of new condominiums, law offices and hospital wings, the
bones of the city's founder rest eternal, along with others whose names
appear on street signs and schools.
Daniel Lund walked along the table at his yard sale, his feet blackened from a day outside without shoes.
It's a warm July evening along Washington Street. The Naperville Municipal Band is giving a concert in Central Park.
When I walked out of the sunlight and into the dimly lit confines of
the Lantern, I thought I'd actually discovered a dive bar in downtown
Naperville.
Washington Street is a thoroughfare that serves many purposes during its journey through Naperville.
No fear, no doubt. It was coming. Another puff of a cigarette. Another puff.
The hot July sun beat down on the pavement along Washington Street, but
that didn't stop pedestrians in search of a bargain or two.
One of the things that happens when you've worked at a newspaper since
dinosaurs roamed the earth is that they ask you to write a column for
the 70th anniversary section.
The 1960s and '70s might have been a time of social change and
history-making events, but in the pages of The Naperville Sun, the
focus was relentlessly local.
In 1964, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act was passed, protecting women
against employment discrimination based on their gender.
When Peg Sproul came to work for The Sun, the staff numbered less than
a dozen — not including Fannie White, mother of editor and publisher
Harold, whom Sproul described as a "surrogate mother" to the rest of
the crew.
As The Sun moved into its second decade, news of World War II still dominated the pages of the newspaper.
When North Central College graduates Harold White and Gordon Haist
bought The Naperville Sun for $600 in 1936, the year-old publication
was little more than a typewriter, a desk and a name.
