Evelyn Johnson Chapman (1935-2016) and John Hume Chapman (d. 2000) married in 1959 and had three children. Their oldest son, Coolidge, was born with brain damage which caused physical and mental developmental disabilities. Because of this, the Chapmans were not allowed to enroll Coolidge in Seattle Public Schools for kindergarten, and instead entered him into an experimental program at the recently formed Northwest Center for the Retarded (now the Northwest Center) in 1966. The Chapmans and other parents of children with disabilities became deeply involved in the Center, serving on its Board of Directors and working to increase funding and city and state support for its programs, with the goal of obtaining public funding for their children's educations. John Chapman, an attorney, served on the Board of Trustees of the NCR and was Board President in 1969-1970. Evelyn Chapman led a group of four mothers--herself, Janet Taggart, Cecile Lindquist, and Katie Dolan--and two University of Washington law students on a Northwest Center legislative committee fighting for "Education for All" legislation in Washington state. Washington State House Bill 90 was passed in 1971, mandating public education for children with disabilities. The bill went into effect in 1973 and became the basis for the Federal Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (Public Law 94-142). Coolidge Chapman began attending Seattle Public Schools in 1973, and graduated from Franklin High School in 1983. Evelyn Chapman went on to work for the City of Seattle for over 30 years, and was involved programs for women and children, immigrant families, and people with disabilities.
The collection consists of papers belonging to the Chapman family related to the schooling of their son. A large portion of the papers relate to the family's involvement with Northwest Center for the Retarded (now the Northwest Center) during its early years, when parents of NCR students and other concerned people worked to improve the funding and programs at the Center. A large folder of papers documents the efforts of a smaller group of parents-- the Legislative, or "Education for All," Committee--to advocate for legislation to mandate public funding of education for children with disabilities in Washington State. Materials also include school yearbooks, and publications and clippings related to education for children with disabilities.
The Museum of History & Industry is the owner of the materials in the Sophie Frye Bass Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from MOHAI before any reproduction use. The museum does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.
The collection is open to the public by appointment. Access to one folder of materials is restricted.
Chapman Family Collection on Special Education and the Northwest Center, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle
Donated by Mary Chapman Cole in 2024.
One yearbook for Franklin High School was separated from the collection and stored with the Yearbook Collection.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
Includes Evelyn Chapman's resume, showing employment and community service projects from 1966 to 1983; and one photograph from the Northwest Center's 40th anniversary celebration showing Evelyn Chapman with her daughter Mary, King County Executive Rom Sims, and Seattle City Council members Nick Licata and David Della.
Includes a copy of the Northwest Center for the Retarded By-Laws, Board of Trustees member lists, meeting minutes, and reports to the Board. Also includes documents about grant funding, other programs for children, including the Nellie Goodhue Group Home; detailed information about goals, policies and procedures of the Specialized Training Program (1969); financial summaries; and job descriptions.
Includes letters and templates for letters soliciting donations, and letters of thanks for donations and other funding, including corporate and government; budgets; and information about applying for staffing grants.
Papers documenting the work of Evelyn Chapman, Chair, and the members of the legislative committee in their efforts to pass HR-90, the "Education for All" legislation. Includes Evelyn Chapman's speech at the "Legislators' Luncheon" hosted by the Northwest Center for the Retarded Mother's Guild in May 1968; information about the NCR, and the budget for the 1967-1968 year; lists of legislators; template for writing to legislators and follow up letters to legislators; Washington Association for Retarded Children newsletter with recommendations for 1969 legislature; NCR newsletters to legislators; letters from legislators (1969); Social Service Legislation Information Committee newsletters; and related papers.
Includes letter from John Chapman to current Northwest Center Board president with long-range planning suggestions, and minutes for a February 2003 Board of Directors meeting.
Includes an undated printout from the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services website, and "A Brief History of the Northwest Center" by Janet Taggart, 2005
Letter to Evelyn Chapman from Superintendent of Seattle Public Schools in response to her letter about school funding, 1985; minutes of December 1979 meeting of the Steering Committee for the Campaign for Children & Families; lists of members of Advisory Committee for Specialized Programs for Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation, 1969.
Access to folder is restricted.
Box includes the following reference materials: Booklet "Sunshine for Retarded Children/ Seattle Guilds for Retarded Children, 1968-1969"; book "Becoming Citizens: Family Life and the Politics of Disability," (2005) by Susan Schwartzenberg, containing an interview with Evelyn Chapman; booklet "From Segregation to Community Integration : Washington State Developmental Disabilities Services 1861-1980"; two binders with information on Epton Center schools in Seattle and Washington state; printouts of articles from the Northwest Center website; printout of article "Special Education Law" (2022); printout of information about the film premiere of "Together they were Stronger" about passage of the "Education for All" law. Also includes a folder of newspaper and magazine clippings, 1968-2018, and 3 scrapbook pages with clippings, from Janet Taggart's scrapbook.