As we often say around the Historical Society, we owe our existence to the work of Leone Schmidt and the Natzkes!
Barbara Natzke and her husband, Peter, produced and published the Warrenville Digest for over 30 years, at the time providing a robust news source of the happenings of town, and to us historians, providing a detailed history of the more recent past. The Digests get frequent use around the Museum when preparing for programs, exhibits and when helping researchers.
During this last week of Women’s History Month, we honor all the hard work Barbara put into not only the Warrenville Digest, but also the Warrenville community through her work with the Library and the Historical Society. Please enjoy reading a little more about Barbara as told through a 1996 column by our late City Historian Leone Schmidt:
There was a lot more to the editor of the Warrenville Digest, Barbara Natzke, than met the eye.
As she rode her bike dispatching her errands, her headset was usually tuned in to her favorite symphonic recordings. She gardened and took care of her home and family. An embroidered map of the city, a product of her design and needlework skill, hangs in City Hall.
Before co-founding the Digest with her husband Peter in 1964, Natzke’s byline appeared regularly on the pages of its predecessor, the Warrenville News, and eventually, she succeed Joyce Nilles as its Bulletin Board columnist.
Warrenville’s very own telephone directory was pioneered by Natzke in 1961. Convinced of a genuine need, even though informed by Illinois Bell that the listings in its directory could not be used in preparing a Warrenville book, she laboriously started from scratch, calling each resident. The annual directory thereafter, through 1988, was the result of her foresightedness and tenacity.
Holding a master’s degree in library science, Natzke was an avid reader and felt a special devotion to the library. She served on its board as secretary continuously from July 1979 until her retirement last November because of her ill health.

Barbara Natzke working with the Historical Society’s Historic Sites Committee placing a plaque on a historic 4th Street home. Bob Chase is securing the plaque, while Barbara (far left) and other members make the presentation.
Her interest and contributions to Warrenville’s heritage were significant, starting with the publishing of the booklet, “The Living Past of Warrenville,” which was based on extensive interviews with local historian John Player. She recorded the organizational minutes of the Warrenville Historical Society in 1980, become a life member and was active on the Historic Sites Committee. Until last year she faithfully took her turn staffing the desk at the Warrenville Museum on Sundays.
Barbara Natzke went about unpretentiously “making a difference,” and Warrenville will long reap what she sowed.