West Seattle mural Easter egg (probably) – a real teacher named Mabel Chilberg who taught 100 years ago

At California Ave & Oregon St in West Seattle, on the wall of Chase Bank, there is a mural of a teacher with a class full of students and the message “TODAY IS BANK DAY” written on the chalkboard. It was painted around 1990 by Alan Wylie, and then restored by muralist Bob Henry (not the “Henry” murals guy, that’s Ryan Henry Ward) in 2020. (Here is a picture from 2019 showing the mural start to fade before the restoration.)

“BANK DAY” refers to a thrift-teaching custom in American schools in the 1920s, in which students would bring cash to school, the staff would collect it, and it would be deposited in the student’s name in a real account with the local bank.

In the mural, the teacher’s name “Miss Chilberg” is written on the blackboard. I couldn’t find any source explicitly confirming that’s based on a real person (and the muralist doesn’t seem to have a public artist page, otherwise I would have asked him), but members of the prominent Chilberg family moved to Seattle in the 1800s. Googling “chilberg” “seattle” “teacher” led to https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/upheaval-on-spring-street-ca-1909/ (paywalled) which says: “In 1908, the Chilbergs, with their daughter, Mabel, a teacher at Seattle High School, left their pioneer corner and moved farther up the hill.” So it seems likely that that’s her.

She was also the sister of the most prominent Chilberg at the time, John Edward Chilberg, who was president of the 1909 Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition. And that guy’s grandson was John Edward Chillberg II, who was the art director for Star Trek III.

Thank you for your service Mabel!