A Rich Heritage of Community Involvement

It's difficult to get Vivian McLean to talk about her efforts to improve and enhance West Seattle's Delridge neighborhood. Not that she's close-lipped, quite the contrary. The gracious and affable community activist loves to talk about the progress itself, but she continually downplays her leadership in those efforts, turning the conversation back to the neighborhood she loves.

Vivian, her husband and four children moved to West Seattle from Detroit, Michigan in 1948, settling into the home she still lives in today. Except now instead of a household of children, you're most likely to find it filled with lively fundraising dinners and parties. "I just had a fundraising dinner on Friday," said Vivian.

"It's wonderful to see so many people from such diverse backgrounds coming together to work for a common goal." The dinner was a fundraiser for Cooper School, one of the many causes she is involved in today as co-founder and board member of the Delridge Neighborhood's Development Association.

While talking with Vivian, it's obvious one of the most driving forces behind her activism is social justice. Describing an incident 40 years ago, she still voices her disbelief at the intolerance she faced. "My sister and I tried to get the city to build a library here in the late 1950s.

At that time, the neighborhood was comprised primarily of immigrants and steel workers. The city told us, 'Those people don't read'," she said, incredulously. But in 2002, a brand new library was built in the neighborhood, along with new affordable housing. The library is aptly named Vivian McLean Place.

Vivian was also the leading force behind the formation of the Delridge District Council, setting up the numerous neighborhood councils that make up the district. "I enjoyed meeting with the neighborhood councils and watching them grow in strength and activity. I'm very proud of them," she said, once again taking the spotlight away from herself.

Although Vivian is 84 years old, there's no chance she'll be cutting back on her community activism anytime soon. "I'm 15 years away from my goal," she said. "I have so much more to do."