Dolly Hallstrom: A Dedicated Life
1924-2006

Photo of Dolly Hallstrom

It is with deep sorrow that the Board of Directors and staff of Equip for Equality mourn the passing of our dear friend, colleague, and lifelong disability advocate, Mary Jeanne "Dolly" Hallstrom. Dolly passed away on August 2, at home among her family and friends, after battling non-Hodgkins lymphoma for many years.

Born in East Orange, New Jersey on December 21, 1924, Dolly moved to Evanston where she met her future husband Gordon Hallstrom. During World War II, Gordon served in the Naval Air Force as a pilot and flew many missions off a naval cruiser. While stationed at the air base in Norfolk, VA, he and Mary Jeanne were married. She became known by all as "Dolly," a name her husband gave her. Both became deeply involved in Evanston community affairs. Shortly after marriage, Dolly began more than a half-century of advocacy for people with disabilities, starting in 1955 on behalf of a close friend whose son was found to have a brain injury and needed funds to attend a special school.

In 1957, she founded the Fund for Perceptually Handicapped Children and served as its president until 1963. In the 1970s, she served as the Illinois chairperson of the White House Conference on Children, Illinois Commission on Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities and worked with the State Board of Education on behalf of children with low-incidence disabilities.

In 1978, Dolly had a stroke, paralyzing her left side and affecting her speech. Despite this impediment, that same year she successfully ran for the Illinois House of Representatives from Evanston. During her tenure as a state representative, she was voted one of the 10 best legislators for the greatest number of bills introduced and passed.

In 1979, she worked for passage of the Human Rights Act, which protects individuals in Illinois from discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation and several other circumstances. Dolly's legislative agenda also included legislation affecting children and adults with disabilities, special education, licensing of health professionals, higher education and women's issues.

After serving in the legislature, Dolly joined Equip for Equality (then Protection and Advocacy Inc.) in 1983, where she advocated for the rights of people with mental and physical disabilities. Dolly secured state legislation to implement the federal protection and advocacy laws in Illinois and to provide Equip for Equality with the statutory authority to fulfill its mandates. She also educated policymakers about issues of importance to people with disabilities and how various policies would impact their lives. She advocated for improvement of the state systems to investigate and prevent institutional abuse and neglect and for the creation of a state system to provide intervention services for people with severe disabilities who are victims of domestic abuse and neglect. Dolly provided technical assistance and support to others who were seeking public policy solutions to disability-related problems.

Following her retirement from Equip for Equality, she continued to serve the organization by joining its Board of Directors and was subsequently appointed a lifetime member of the Board. In 1990, Dolly was inducted into the Chicago Senior Citizens Hall of Fame, and a year later she was appointed to the Illinois Human Rights Commission, where she served until her death.

Dolly was known for never giving up on something or someone she believed in. One of the issues that Dolly never gave up on was banning the execution of individuals with severe mental retardation. In 1989, she successfully shepherded a bill through the Illinois House of Representatives to prohibit the imposition of the death penalty in cases involving defendants with severe mental retardation.

Although the bill was initially defeated in the Illinois Senate, Dolly would not admit defeat. She talked to senators until they reconsidered the bill, passed it and sent it to the governor. Unfortunately, the governor amendatorily vetoed the bill, eliminating the prohibition and making mental retardation only a mitigating factor to be considered in sentencing. Every year thereafter Dolly urged another attempt to address this issue. Finally, last year, she was able to rejoice when the United States Supreme Court banned the death penalty for individuals with severe mental retardation. She immediately called the original sponsors of the 1989 bill to congratulate them on having the foresight to introduce legislation that was now law throughout the United States.

Everyone who had the privilege of knowing Dolly Hallstrom loved and respected her. Whatever the task before her, she approached it with dedication, integrity and perseverance. Dolly treated everyone — supporter or opponent — with respect and kindness. There are no words sufficient to describe how profoundly she will be missed. We extend our deepest sympathy to her family.

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Dolly Hallstrom: A Dedicated Life 1924-2006

Dolly Hallstrom: A Dedicated Life
1924-2006