Dear Dolly answers disability-related questions from readers and members of the Dear Dolly listserve. 'Dolly' Hallstrom, past Illinois legislator and honorary board member of Equip for Equality, guided answers in the Dear Dolly column until her passing in 2006. Currently, a team of policy staff respond to letters that may help a large number of readers.
Write Dear Dolly at deardolly (at) equipforequality.org, or at:
Equalizer
20 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 300
Chicago, IL 60602
Dolly's Bio
Former State Representative Mary Jeanne "Dolly" Hallstrom
In her more than 50 years of public service, Dolly Hallstrom has embodied Equip for Equality's mission to promote equality and full inclusion in society for people with disabilities. In 1955, as philanthropy chair of the North Shore Junior Woman's club, she first raised the issue of education rights for children with brain injuries and organized the first national meeting of experts, teachers, and parents to address the needs of students and schools. Subsequently, she co-founded the National Association of Children with Learning Disabilities. As a volunteer lobbyist on behalf of parents of children with learning disabilities, she played a key role in the passage of state legislation mandating special education for all children with disabilities, several years before congressional action.
Dolly was a two-term State Representative and worked tirelessly on legislation for disenfranchised groups. Her early support of the Human Rights Act of 1979, led to the formation of the Human Rights Commission, on which she currently sits as the longest-running Commissioner. Dolly joined the staff of Equip for Equality as its legislative liaison in 1985 and spearheaded the passage of legislation to protect the rights of people with mental illness, physical disabilities, and developmental disabilities. Upon retirement, Dolly was elected to the Board, on which she was an honorary director until her passing on August 2, 2006.
