Eva Mae Behn Chapline family papers
Collection area: Arizona and Southwest
Collection dates: 1910-1979
Materials within this collection have been separated into three separate series. Series I includes correspondence, a majority of which is from Eva Mae Behn Chapline to her daughter, Ridgely Chapline. Series II consists of photographs and photograph albums from the Behn/Chapline family. Series III is made up of various documents about different family members, newspaper clippings, USS Arizona mementos, and personal diaries.
Eva Mae Behn was born January 14, 1895, in Prescott, Arizona to parents Henry Kay Behn and Marion Christiansen Behn. She was a photographer, traveler, presented travel lectures, and eventually worked at the US Forest Service with her husband.
Behn notably christened the USS Arizona in 1915 in New York.
On December 7, 1921, Eva married William Ridgely Chapline. The couple had two daughters, Barbara Ruth Chapline (1925-2016) and Eva Ridgely Chapline (1930-2003).
Eva Ridgely Chapline graduated from Wellesley College in 1951 with a degree in geography. She traveled the world, bought shares in a travel company, and later married Richard A. Peterson. The couple had one daughter, Martha, and later moved from Tucson, Arizona to Lander, Wyoming. The Petersons retired to Weiser, Idaho.
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