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 disabled people. In the 1950s, she worked with the Seattle Parks Department to found and run the Handicapped Center, which provided arts, crafts and social activities.

Daly was also instrumental in the design of Center Park, the first apartment complex in the nation built solely for residents with physical disabilities. She went on to found and run Creative Activities for the Physically Disabled, a center in the Seattle’s Mount Baker area. Daly received numerous local, state, and national awards for her work.

This image, showing Daly in a Center Park kitchen, accompanied her impassioned article on the challenges faced by adults with disabilities and the ways they can be supported.

Caption information source: “Center Park Answers a Dream; Attracts Nationwide Interest”, by Jean Hunzer Lunser, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 16, 1969, pages 63, 64.
Caption information source: “Wider Horizons for Disabled”, by Ida Daly, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September 8, 1979, page A9.
Caption information source: “Implementing the ADA in Seattle”, Seattle Municipal Archives, www.seattle.gov/cityarchives/exhibits-and-education/digital-document-libraries/implementing-the-ada-in-Seattle. Retrieved March 20, 2026.