Archives West Finding Aid

The Individualized Bilingual Instruction Project evolved from efforts in the 1960s by members of the Pullman Congregational Church to address the child care needs of migrant and seasonal farm workers in the Yakima Valley, Columbia Basin, and Walla Walla. Washington State University (WSU) alumna Beverly McConnell, Ph.D. and WSU employee Mary Stevens were among those taking leadership for the project. Initially, the project was called the Washington Citizens for Migrant Affairs. The leaders later established a bilingual preschool program known as Training Migrant Paraprofessionals in the Bilingual Mini-Headstart. This eventually became the Individualized Bilingual Instruction Project. Beverly McConnell served as the Project Evaluator and T. Louise Gustafson, who donated this collection, was the Project Manager. Project funding came from a variety of state and federal sources, as well as non-public matching funds from the Green Giant Corporation.

Many terms historically used to describe individuals and communities with disabilities are offensive and were used to dismiss, discount and dehumanize these individuals and communities. Terms often focused on a perceived impairment and not the person. MASC recognizes the harm caused by these terms. We retain the language in this finding aid to document history and preserve context.