Anna Marie Stonum (October 14, 1958 – February 6, 1999) was an American artist and

disability rights activist The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all disabled people. It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advocates, around t ...

based in Chicago.

Early life and education

Stonum was from

Granite City, Illinois Granite City is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States, within the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. The population was 27,549 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the third-largest city in the Metro East and S ...

, the daughter of Robert Stonum and Julia Sedej Stonum. Her father worked at a steel mill and was mayor of

Glen Carbon, Illinois Glen Carbon is a village in Madison County, Illinois, United States, northeast of St. Louis. It is part of the St. Louis metropolitan area. The population was 13,842 at the 2020 census. History In 1801, Colonel Samuel Judy received a milita ...

; her mother worked at a Granite City Army Depot. Stonum was a

Girl Scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organization ...

, in her mother's Brownie troop. She attended Granite City's North High School, and earned a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

degree (BFA) at

Mundelein College Mundelein College was a private, independent, Roman Catholic Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. Located on the edge of the Rogers Park, Chicago, Rogers Park and Edgewater, Chicago, Edgewater neig ...

in Chicago.

Career

Stonum was a founding member of the Chicago chapter of

ADAPT ADAPT (formerly American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today) is a United States grassroots disability rights organization with chapters in 30 states and Washington, D.C. History The Atlantis Community was started in Denver, Colorado, in 1975, ...

, a disability rights organization then known as American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit. She was on the board of the Disability Arts and Culture Center at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

, and served on the boards of several advocacy organizations. She helped to lead protests against the

MDA Telethon The ''MDA Labor Day Telethon'' was an annual telethon held on (starting the night before and throughout) Labor Day in the United States to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). The Muscular Dystrophy Association was founded in ...

hosted by

Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian, with a career spanning seven decades in film, stage, television and radio. Famously nicknamed as "Th ...

. In 1988, she was part of a group of American disability activists who visited Cuba and met

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

. In 1994, Stonum and two other activists sued the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

for the inaccessibility of the wheelchair seating area at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a ballpark on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charl ...

. The suit was settled in 1996, with the Chicago Cubs agreeing to increase the number and accessibility of wheelchair seating spaces, parking, restrooms, and concessions at the ballpark. Stonum owned and ran a graphic design company, Design for All. Her t-shirt design featuring an evolutionary diagram with the caption "Adapt or Perish" is part of the

National Museum of American History The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center is a historical museum in Washington, D.C. It collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and m ...

's collections on the disability rights movement. The same graphic by Stonum was featured in the 2018 show "Chicago Disability Activism, Arts, and Design: 1970s to Today" at the

University of Illinois Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

Personal life

Stonum had

Friedreich's ataxia Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is a rare, inherited, autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder that primarily affects the nervous system, causing progressive damage to the spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and cerebellum, leading to impaired ...

, a degenerative neuromuscular condition, and used a wheelchair in adulthood. She married fellow activist Mike Ervin in 1987. Artist

Riva Lehrer Riva Lehrer (born in 1958 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American painter, writer, teacher, and speaker. Lehrer was born with spina bifida and has undergone numerous surgeries throughout her life. Her work focuses on issues of physical identity and h ...

painted "Mike & Anna", a portrait of Ervin and Stonum, in 1998. Stonum died in 1999, at the age of 40, in Chicago.

References

External links

"A Story in a Box"
''Women and Leadership Archives'' (February 20, 2015),; a blog post by a graduate student at

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...

, about the papers of Anna Stonum
Mike Ervin Papers
The Newberry Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Stonum, Anna 1958 births 1999 deaths American disability rights activists People from Granite City, Illinois American graphic designers American women graphic designers American wheelchair users Mundelein College alumni American activists with disabilities