Font ResizeSometime in the 1930s, W. Russell Chapman came to York for a funeral with a friend. But the viewing took place in a garage.
He realized that York needed a funeral home for black people.
He decided to make that happen.
In 1941, he and his wife, Mildred, moved to York from Uniontown, Fayette County, and opened the first black funeral home.
In 1967, he was appointed to the York City School Board, becoming the first black person to join the board.
He was elected to the post in 1969.
Chapman cast the deciding school board vote to make the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a school holiday.
His wife, a pharmacist, was unable to find work in York, likely because she was black.
But that didn't stop her from becoming a major contributor to the lives of the black women and girls who lived here.
In addition to helping her husband with the administrative end of the funeral business, she was the supervisor of the Women and Girls Program at Crispus Attucks Community Center.
The couple had two sons. William Russell Chapman Jr.'s wife was former prothonotary Mattie Chapman,
Mary Brabham, caretaker for Chapman Jr., and York resident Alice Bowers, who was a member of the Crispus Attucks Women and Girls Program, which Mildred Chapman directed, share their memories of this couple who helped bury and change the lives of many members of the black community.
For what are they best known?
Mildred Chapman is best known for her work as the head of the women's program at Crispus Attucks, Brabham said.
"Mr. Chapman is best known for his work with the school board and the NAACP," she said.
What makes them heroes?
"They would always put other people before themselves. Encourage others to get an education. Both of them were big on that," Brabham said.
How did they affect their profession?
"Anything that was good for people, she (Mildred Chapman) was behind it," Bowers said. "She was always pushing people to achieve as much as they could achieve."
"Mr. Chapman wouldn't turn people away," she said, even if they didn't have the money to bury their loved ones. "He taught people how to help others in spite of money," she said.
How did the couple affect the York County community?
"To my knowledge, they buried the majority of the black people, because there was no black mortician," Brabham said.
What should York County residents know about them?
"They opened up one of the first black-owned businesses in York, which was the mortuary," Bowers said.
What is something few people realize about them?
"A lot of people didn't know she (Mildred Chapman) was a pharmacist," Brabham said. "The reason why she didn't (work as one) was because she couldn't be one. No one would hire her."
What is the best piece of advice they gave?
W. Russell Chapman would say: "Great things come to those who work hard," Brabham said.
Mildred Chapman, who would take the girls in the Crispus Attucks program on trips to nearby cities and towns to make them aware of how others lived, always looked her best.
"She said, 'You can be poor, but you don't have to look bad, or smell bad. Have dignity in the way you look,'" Bowers said.
W. RUSSELL AND MILDRED CHAPMAN BIOGRAPHY
Occupation: W. Russell Chapman was a funeral director and the first black member of the York City School Board. Mildred Chapman was director of the Women and Girls Program at the Crispus Attucks Community Center.
Born: W. Russell Chapman was born in 1898. Mildred Chapman was born in 1904.
Birthplace: W. Russell Chapman was born in Uniontown, Fayette County, and Mildred Chapman was born in Oklahoma.
Children: Two sons
Died: W. Russell Chapman died in January 1971. Mildred Chapman died in January 1987.
Education: W. Russell Chapman graduated from Howard University with a bachelor's degree and from Cornell University with a master's degree. He went on to Colan's College of Embalming School in Chicago and the University of Wisconsin. Mildred Chapman graduated from Howard University with a degree in pharmaceutical chemistry.
