Kate Cheney Chappell (born 1942) is an American businesswoman, artist, and manufacturer. She co-founded personal-care product manufacturer
Tom's of Maine
Tom's of Maine is a U.S. manufacturer of natural personal care products. Tom's of Maine has been a majority-owned subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive since 2006. The company was founded in 1970 by Tom Chappell and Kate Chappell (née Cheney) in Ma ...
in 1970
as well as wool clothing manufacturer Ramblers Way in 2010 with her husband
Tom Chappell.
Biography
Katherine Pope Cheney was born in 1942 in
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
. Her parents were George Wells Cheney, Jr., an insurance executive, and Mary Frances Pope, a trained artist.
She is descended from the founders of Manchester's
Cheney Brothers Silk Company, brothers
Ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
, Rush, and Frank. It became the largest silk mill in the country at the time, and the family opened other textile mills including one for velvet.
The Cheney family included accomplished artists;
John Cheney was an engraver, and
Seth Wells Cheney created portraits. A number of Seth's works were donated to the
Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. The Cheney home was turned into a museum which is managed by the Manchester Historical Society.
Chappell is a 1963 graduate of
Oxford School in West Hartford, Connecticut. She attended
Chatham College and
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...
before she and her husband,
Tom Chappell, moved to
Kennebunk, Maine
Kennebunk is a town in York County, Maine, York County, Maine, United States. The population was 11,536 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Kennebunk is home to several beaches, the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, the 1799 K ...
in 1968 to raise their family. As of 2010, Kate and Tom share a summer home on
Monhegan, Maine
Monhegan () is an island in the Gulf of Maine. A plantation, a minor civil division in the state of Maine falling between unincorporated area and a town, it is located approximately off the mainland and is part of Lincoln County, Maine, United ...
.
Chappell became the vice president of Tom's of Maine, starting the business jointly with her husband after they developed a
saccharine
Saccharin, also called saccharine, benzosulfimide, or E954, or used in saccharin sodium or saccharin calcium forms, is a non-nutritive artificial sweetener. Saccharin is a sultam that is about 500 times sweeter than sucrose, but has a bitter or me ...
-free, natural toothpaste for their children. It was the first natural toothpaste to receive the
American Dental Association
The American Dental Association (ADA) is an American professional dental association. Established in 1859 and with over 159,000 current members, ADA is the world's largest and oldest national dental association. The organization lobbies on behal ...
's seal of acceptance. Her artistic skills were used in overseeing the packaging, advertising and media for the company.
She also attended the
Sorbonne and the
University of Southern Maine
The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a public university with campuses in Gorham and Portland, Maine, United States. It is the southernmost university in the University of Maine System. It was founded as two separate state universities, Go ...
, where she graduated ''
summa cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
'' in 1983 with an A.B. degree in Communications after an 18-year hiatus from college.
Chappell founded the Kate Cheney Chappell '83 Center for Book Arts at the University of Southern Maine, which was launched in 2008, and serves as Chairwoman on the Advisory Board. Her teacher, professional book artist and USM faculty member Rebecca Goodale, was chosen to be the program coordinator. The Center provides an area for workshops, exhibits, and discussions by artists from across the United States regarding artwork pertaining to the illustration of books.
In 2006, a controlling 84% stake in Tom's of Maine was purchased by
Colgate-Palmolive
The Colgate-Palmolive Company, commonly known as Colgate-Palmolive, is an American multinational corporation, multinational consumer products company headquartered on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company specializes in ...
for $100 million in 2006.
[Reidy, Chris (March 22, 2006)]
Colgate will buy Tom's of Maine.
''Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
''
In 2010, Chappell and her husband founded
Ramblers Way, an
organic wool apparel company. The clothing is made from American-raised
Rambouillet sheep
The Rambouillet is a breed of sheep (''Ovis aries''). It is also known as the Rambouillet Merino or the French Merino.
History
The development of the Rambouillet breed started in 1786, when Louis XVI purchased over 300 Spanish Merinos (318 ew ...
wool, silk thread, and vegetable dyes, and spinning, weaving, and knitting is done in East coast states to keep the sourcing local and sustainable. The silk thread used is a reminder of the Cheney mills, which Chappell recalled still functioning in her youth when she would go to the Cheney Hall remnant room with her mother.
Recognition
In 2009, Chappell was one of five women to receive the Deborah Morton award from the
University of New England University of New England may refer to:
* University of New England (Australia), in New South Wales, with about 26,000 students
* University of New England (United States), in Biddeford, Maine, with about 6,000 students
See also
* New England Coll ...
that year. It is presented to "outstanding women who have achieved high distinction in their careers and public service or whose leadership in civic, cultural or social causes has been exceptional".
Artwork
Chappell's artwork has been acquired and exhibited by a number of institutions, including the
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...
, the
Portland Museum of Art
The Portland Museum of Art, or PMA, is the largest and oldest public art institution in Maine. Founded as the Portland Society of Art in 1882. It is located in the downtown area known as The Arts District in Portland, Maine.
History
The PMA use ...
,
and the
New Britain Museum of American Art
The New Britain Museum of American Art is an art museum in New Britain, Connecticut. Founded in 1903, it is the first museum in the country dedicated to American art.
A total of 72,000 visits were made to the museum in the year ending June 30, 20 ...
, where her piece "Explosion of Amphibian Deformities" was selected by Director Douglas Hyland for inclusion in the "Director’s Favorites: 1999–2015" showing.
The
Kingswood Oxford School
Kingswood Oxford School is a private school located in West Hartford, Connecticut instructing day students in grades 6 through 12 with a college preparatory curriculum. Originally two separate schools, Kingswood School and Oxford School for boys ...
commissioned a sculpture from her called "All Life Interrelated", and it was installed at their science building in September 2015.
References
External links
Official siteKate Cheney Chappell Art Space
Tom’s of Maine founding history with packaging artwork by Kate
history, from the Manchester Historical Society
Ramblers Waywebsite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chappell, Kate
1942 births
Living people
Sarah Lawrence College alumni
University of Paris alumni
University of Southern Maine alumni
American manufacturing businesspeople
20th-century American painters
Chatham University alumni
Place of birth missing (living people)
People from Kennebunk, Maine
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American businesswomen
21st-century American women painters
American expatriates in France
21st-century American painters
20th-century American women painters