Ida May Daly, born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, developed muscular dystrophy at age three. While this progressive disease weakened her muscles and confined her to a wheelchair in her thirties, it challenged her to become a tireless advocate for people with disabilities. In the 1950s, she worked with the Seattle Parks Department to found the Seattle Handicapped Center, 2525 Hill Street, which provided arts, crafts and social activities.

Here, at the Center, Daly sits at her desk in her electric wheelchair. Beyond her left shoulder is a special telephone, designed and built by telephone company engineers, which she can connect and dial with her elbows using levers at the base of the phone. On the desk is the electric typewriter on which she types by tapping the keys with a stick held in her mouth.

Caption information source: “Ida Daly, friend of handicapped,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 1, 1985, page D2.