Salon One:

Good evening. My name is Bryan Dooley. I am a journalist, amateur historian and a

local disability advocate active locally, statewide and nationally. Katherine Foster invited

me to discuss a major part of US and world history that not many people know about,

which is the history of people with disabilities. I have talked to many people and they

acknowledge that disability can happen to anyone at any time, and yet they do not know

anything about it. This makes it unique, as a minority. People with disabilities make up

the largest minority in the United States. Disabilities do not discriminate. You can find

people with disabilities in every socio economic status, every race, every political party,

every age, every gender, every sexual orientation, every religion, and the list goes on.

As a historian, it is very interesting to study the variety of viewpoints and the diversity

represented in disability. However, the lack of awareness about disability history is also

very frustrating to me as an advocate. Each person is or will be affected, but few are

taught the history.

I was born into a large and supportive Irish Catholic family in nineteen ninety, a very

important year. When I was 9 months old, two of my aunts, who are doctors, noticed

that I was not hitting developmental milestones at the same time their children were.

They convinced my mother to talk to a doctor. I was then diagnosed with Mixed

Cerebral Palsy. Nineteen ninety was slightly before the internet was a household name,

so my mom and my aunts had to go to the library to research Cerebral Palsy. Back

then, there were no online support groups or instant access to information. The first

place I went for help was Amos Cottage. Winston was fortunate to have such a place;

other towns were not as lucky. Somehow, my mother heard about The Childrens

Center, but initially, she did not want me with all those handicapped kids. She had a

variety of jobs, but after my diagnosis she decided to become a nurse, so she could

better help me. From ages 1 to 2, my aunt took care of me. In nineteen ninety two, at

age two, my mother enrolled me in the Childrens Center. That was the best place for

me at that point in time. They opened doors like assistive technology for me and trained

me to use a wheelchair. I was given many different therapies and I learned very basic

academic things like the alphabet and numbers. I have been told that this is where I

began to tell stories and was very creative. I stayed there until I was six, when they

called my mother in and told her that I was showing too much academic ability to stay

there. We still joke that they threw me out.

In nineteen ninety six, I went to Bolten Elementary School and continued with my

therapies outside of school. Bolten had a relationship with the Childrens Center, so I

attended programs there and knew a few of the staff people, before I actually enrolled in

Bolten.  

In third grade, I had major surgery on each leg. I experienced some setbacks, but

eventually rallied.

In the late nineties, I became one of the first riders at Riverwood Therapeutic Riding

Center.

I am lucky to have had very fitting teachers throughout my education. This started at

Bolton. This is when I had my first experience with one on one assistants, which were

provided by the school, as part of the I.D.E.A. laws. One of my personal care assistants

(p.c.a) from elementary school, wound up marrying my mother and the other one, I still

communicate with. I feel lucky to have good relationships with my p.c.a. .No one ever

wants to leave. It must be my striking good looks.

I attended Meadowlark Middle School in Lewisville and yes, I was slapped by the

Bishop. There was also a major controversy when the woman assigned to be my

teacher refused to have me in her class. Apparently, she had a negative experience

with another student with cerebral palsy. She felt that we were all alike.  I was removed

from that class and placed in a different classroom. I wound up with a great teacher.

Thankfully, it all worked out well. I continued with outside therapies, as well.

There was one major difference in middle school. I shared a space with another boy

with more severe disabilities than I had. I was mean to him and made fun of him. I’m

actually still mad at myself about that. At some point, I apologized to him and we

became friends. I began advocating for him. During seventh grade, I met my first

mentor, who also had Cerebral Palsy. He was in law school at the time and is now

practicing law in Winston. He inspired me to use academics to open up opportunities for

myself. Back then, people thought I might make a good lawyer, as I had similarities to

him. After that point, I did not make any grades lower than an A, until college.  This was

a good thing and a bad thing.

Fast forward to high school in two thousand and five. I knew I needed something to do

outside of classes, besides being actioned off as an eligible bachelor. Since, I was good

at writing, I wanted to try the high school Journalism class. I got an A in the class, but

when it was time to sign up for the actual newspaper, the teacher took me aside and

told me that I could not be a staff writer on the paper. She said that because it was more

than writing, there are pictures, making corrections, and setting up the print for the

paper. Looking back, my family, and I should have fought them on the grounds of the

Americans with Disabilities Act. Instead, I wrote an article over Christmas vacation to

prove the point that I could produce good work. The teacher loved the article, and my

column, “Observations from Below”, became one of the most popular parts in the

newspaper. Because of my column, a lot of people started to talk to me, and I

developed friendships. If I had not been stubborn, I probably would not have written my

first column, and I would not be writing today.    

While I am on the subject of high school, I should mention I was discouraged from

taking A.P. classes, despite the fact that I only made As in high school.  I graduated

from high school as a member of the Honor Society, and went on to Guilford College. In

college, I had a very supportive first year English teacher. I happened to show her a

collection of my high school writings. She encouraged me to join the newspaper.

Because of the things that my high school journalism teacher said, it took me two years

to build up enough confidence to join the paper. For the teachers in the room, please be

careful what you tell students. It can stick with them longer than you realize, both the

positive and the negative. I joined the newspaper and loved the experience.

Newspapers have different levels. There are staff writers, who are on the lowest level,

and then in the case of my college paper, there are Senior writers and editors, and the

Editor in Chief, who is the student in charge. Just like everyone else in the class, I

began as a staff writer. I impressed my professor and editors. Soon I was appointed a

Senior writer. I still think this is one of my biggest successes, because the professor is

not the one that makes the choice of senior writers. It was other students, who had the

power to pick me.  

Imagine if I had listened to that high school teacher, who I should point out, meant well.

I wouldn’t be giving commencement speeches or writing for the Camel City Dispatch

and Huffington Post today, and I would not have had the major impact on Guilford that I

was able to have through mainly the newspaper.  In addition to the paper, I was in

student Government and served on many important school committees. Each of these

activities took time, and I had to keep working hard, and I met my goals. I graduated

with many scholarships and honors, as well as a 3.88 G P A. I would not have had any

of these accomplishments without a very big village of family and friends, who continue

to support me. I come from a large Irish family. I type very slowly myself. I talk and other

people write it down for me. My aunt did most of the college typing. My mom and

grandparents advocated for me and provided personal care. I also had a host of other

assistants.

I consider myself lucky to have been born in nineteen ninety, after the A D A was

signed.  My predecessors were not as lucky.

There has always been a dichotomy of both negative and positive belief systems

regarding disability. Unfortunately, the negative has been more prominent and is better

known.

Most of my presentation comes from Parallels In Time: A History of

Developmental Disabilities and books like No Pity: People with Disabilities Forging a

New Civil Rights Movement and A Disability History of the United States (ReVisioning

American History).

According to documents gathered by Partners in Policymaking, the earliest recorded

reference to disability dates back to fifteen fifty two B.C., by the Egyptian Papyrus of

Thebes. Ancient Greek and Roman civilizations also thought negatively about people

with disabilities. Some of the most famous philosophers that our society still respects,

such as Aristotle and Plato, were also some of the most disparaging. Aristotle believed

there should be a law against rearing deformed children. Rome had an abandonment

law. Children with deformities were left with their feet bound to die in the woods or

thrown in the river to drown. Plato advised that those with disabilities be put away “in

mysterious unknown places,” according to (Goldberg & Lippman nineteen seventy four).

Enter the Ships of Fools. Platos allegory of a ship without a pilot, taken over by the

deranged, frivolous and oblivious without any knowledge of where they were going. On

the contrary, early Christianity viewed people with disabilities as pure and full of grace.

Sadly, this changed and they were then viewed as possessed. The bible states that one

cannot be a priest if they are disabled (Leviticus). They do not tell you that in Sunday

School. Because these attitudes still persist, there are only a few priests with

disabilities. The negative view was more pervasive and represented and is now referred

to as the Religious model of disability.

During the Middle Ages, people with disabilities were looked upon with indifference,

negligence and fear. According to Parallels in Time, a project the Minnesota Governors

Council on Developmental Disabilities, the first Asylum was founded in seven hundred

eighty seven. A.D. by Datheus, archbishop of Milan. The Roman Catholic Church began

establishing hospitals, homes for the blind and aged and orphanages. “Idiot Cages”

were placed in the townsquare to “keep the people with disabilities out of trouble.” They

served as entertainment.  Some even became court jesters or the Kings fools. Ships of

Fools became a reality. People that were deemed a burden on society were loaded onto

ships and taken to other ports where people paid to view them, eventually they were

abandoned and left to fend for themselves.

The seventeenth century began a time period that historians called the Enlightenment.

Also, known as the Age of Reason, the ideas that created America came from this time

period. We think of it as positive. However, it was more of a mixed bag for people with

disabilities. The focus on science led to more treatments and less focus on the idea that

disabilities were punishments for sins.

Thomas Hobbes (fifteen eighty eight to sixteen seventy nine), John Locke (sixteen thirty

two to seventeen oh four) and Jean Jacques Rousseau (seventeen twelve to seventeen

seventy eight) all theorized about human nature. One main idea was that people were

ideally blank slates and it was society that corrupted them. There were several

successes at teaching both deaf and blind people, and a famous success in teaching

Victor, the Wild Boy of Aveyron, also known as the Wolf Boy. This paved the way for

educating other people with disabilities.

In seventeen hundred ninety eight, Thomas Malthus (seventeen sixty six to eighteen

thirty four, a British clergyman and economist, published the "Essay on the Principle of

Population." He argued that population multiplies geometrically and food arithmetically.

Therefore, the population will outstrip the food supply. In addition to cutting the birth rate

by sexual restraint and birth control, Malthus advocated that all people "defective" in any

way, who look, behave or function differently than the rest of society, should be

identified and eliminated. Therefore, only those who are "normal," who can make the

greatest contribution to society, would survive.

The idea that one must look "normal" or make a specific contribution to society in order

to live is not new with Malthus. This "Return on Investment Syndrome" recurs

throughout history, stating the ability to be productive and repay society for what one

receives, rather than what one can contribute, determines that persons worth.

Despite Malthuss ideas, people with disabilities took part in key events in American

history. One significant example is Governor Steven Hopkins, despite some form of

muscular disorder, signed the Declaration of Independence. He was noted to have said,

as he signed, “My hand trembles, my heart does not." 

There were places where disability was considered a normal part of life. According to

author Nora Ellen Groce, “From the seventeenth century to the early years of the

twentieth, the population of Marthas Vineyard manifested an extremely high rate of

profound hereditary deafness. In stark contrast to the experience of most deaf people in

our own society, the Vineyarders who were born deaf were so thoroughly integrated into

the daily life of the community that they were not seen—and did not see themselves—

as handicapped or as a group apart. Deaf people were included in all aspects of life,

such as town politics, jobs, church affairs, and social life.”  

With the industrial revolution of the 18th century, vast amounts of people flooded into

cities. Children represented a large portion, often working twelve to sixteen hours per

day. Pauper children were often contracted to factory owners for cheap labor. To rid

themselves of "imbecile" children, parish authorities often bargained with factories to

take one "imbecile" with every twenty children.

In the mid eighteen eighties, the famous PT Barnum began beauty pageants and in

turn, to show contrast, he collected “freaks” and the freak show was born. Rosemary

Garland Thompson and others wrote about freak shows. Barnum offered people with

disabilities jobs. This was a double edged sword. It gave them incomes and made them

famous, but they had little other choice. One of Barnums greatest attractions was

General Tom Thumb. Thumb stood only twenty five inches tall and weighed only fifteen

pounds. Barnum made a spectacle of Thumbs wedding to Lavinia Warren, also a tiny

person. Thumb rose to celebrity status and great wealth, but only out of his own

exploitation.

Generally, people with disabilities in the early nineteenth century lived in harsh

conditions, especially in industrial areas. These people often were put into

poorhouses, or almshouses. Wealthier parents tended to keep their children with

disabilities at home.

 Warning Out was common nineteenth century for individuals with disabilities and

others considered deviant. Warning out was informing an unwanted newcomer that

he or she was not welcome in the town. "Passing on" was another popular practice.

This entailed loading people onto a cart and dropping them off in the next town.

America had its own practice of this at Ellis Island. According to The A M A Journal Of

Ethics, authorities conducted their own medical screenings. which consisted of

marking people getting off the boat. After a brief examination, if a disability was

suspected, the authorities marked that person with chalk. People who had been

chalked were turned back. There were situations where every other family member

was admitted, except for the person suspected of disability. So much for your huddled

masses.

In the nineteenth century Jean-Etienne Dominique Esquirol (seventeen eighty two to

eighteen forty), a famous psychiatrist in France, provided the first major change

regarding the concept of intellectual deficiency. Esquirol divided intellectual deficiency

into two levels: idiocy and imbecility. He defined "imbeciles" as "generally well formed,

and their organization is nearly normal. They enjoy the use of the intellectual and

affective faculties, but in less degree than the perfect man, and they can be developed

only to a certain extent."

Esquirol defined "idiots" as persons with little or no intellectual functioning: "Incapable of

attention, idiots cannot control their senses. They hear, but do not understand; they see,

but do not regard. Having no ideas, and thinking not, they have nothing to desire;

therefore, have no need of signs, nor of speech." Esquirols concept, though limiting,

provided some consistency to the terminology used to describe persons with disabilities.

By the middle of the nineteenth century, society was much more aware of persons with

disabilities. In an era of scientific and economic progress, social reformers alerted

society to the often horrible living conditions of its many outcasts.

The Romantic poets Wordsworth, Keats, Byron, Shelly, and Coleridge, were influenced

strongly by Rousseaus call to return to nature and celebrate the worth of the individual.

The poets praised the restorative potential (clean air, fresh water, open spaces) of living

a simple rural life. This rationale may have later justified locating institutions in the

countryside.

An increased interest in persons with disabilities in the early part of the nineteenth

century found its way to social practice by eighteen fifty. At this time, social reformers

such as Dorothea Dix were advocating for better services for all persons with

disabilities, many of whom were living in appalling conditions.

Dix spent her early years teaching children. Later in life, while teaching Sunday

school at a Massachusetts house of corrections, she was appalled by the living

conditions of the women inmates. As a result, Dix spent the next two years visiting

jails, almshouses, poorhouses, and asylums across the United States. According to

Parallels in time, she observed: "More than nine-thousand idiots, epileptics, and

insane in these United States, destitute of appropriate care and protection. Bound

with galling chains, bowed beneath fetters and heavy iron balls, attached to drag-

chains, lacerated with ropes, scourged with rods, and terrified beneath storms of

profane execrations and cruel blows; now subject to jibes, and scorn, and torturing

tricks, now abandoned to the most loathsome necessities or subject to the vilest and

most outrageous violations."

Since a woman could not address Congress in eighteen forty eight, Dix had Samuel

Gridley Howe, a well-known social reformer, present her speech. Her specific appeal

that the United States set aside five million acres of land throughout the nation to

accommodate persons with disabilities was passed by both houses of Congress but

vetoed by President Pierce. Through her passionate appeals, and with only the best

intentions for persons with disabilities, Dix helped to prepare the way for public

institutions.

During this time, several other countries established training schools for children with

disabilities paving the way for institutions there as well.

If by chance someone with a disability did make it into this country, or was born here,

they were often put in these institutions, because they made other “normal” people feel

uncomfortable. During this time, there were also constitutional laws called Ugly Laws,

from the eighteen sixties all the way to the nineteen seventies, that stated that if you

acted or looked differently and were out in public after a certain time, your punishment

ranged from fines to being thrown in jail.

Everyone with disabilities was forced into the same place whether they had a

physical, mental health or learning disability. This was the beginning of what we now

call the Medical model of disability. Even though these places were created by well-

meaning doctors and other professionals, the conditions were terrible. This model

viewed the people with disabilities as the problem and the medical community with the

idea that they should all be fixed.

Here are some pictures of the inside. Notice they are not as beautiful as the outside.

Who in this room has a dog or cat? Have they been “fixed”? What if I told you that

around the same time as institutions were popular, there was a very famous fake

science called eugenics. I will briefly describe it as forced sterilization of people with

disabilities. In reaction to the often unproven theory that disabilities would automatically

be passed on to future generations there was an infamous Supreme Court case in

nineteen twenty seven called Buck vs. Bell. One of Americas most respected Supreme

Court Justices, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., wrote an opinion, which approved laws

allowing states to perform surgery in order to prevent "feebleminded and socially

inadequate" people from having children. The Buck case was the first and only time in

Supreme Court history that an intrusive medical procedure - involuntary sterilization -

was endorsed as a tool of government eugenic policy, which can be found on the

internet buckvbell.com.

How does it make you feel when I tell you, America, France, and Britain were

leaders in the world in this science? In addition, when I tell you Hitler sent doctors to the

United States to learn how the science worked. A quick note about North Carolina, NC

was third behind Virginia and California in the number of sterilizations. The program in

NC did not end until nineteen seventy six. Today there is a ten million dollar fund to pay

to the victims in NC.

When eugenics was not enough for Hitler, he turned to killing people with

disabilities. This happened before the Holocaust when Hitler began rounding up and

killing Jews.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, The T-4 Program, also called T4

Euthanasia Program, the Nazi German effort—framed as a euthanasia program—to kill

incurably ill, physically or mentally disabled, emotionally distraught, and elderly people.

Adolf Hitler initiated this program in nineteen thirty nine, and, while it was officially

discontinued in nineteen forty one, killings continued covertly until the military defeat of

Nazi Germany in nineteen forty five.

In contrast, the President of the United States at the time had a disability, just as

many other presidents. The most obvious example is Franklin Delano Roosevelt (F D

R), who contracted Polio at the age of thirty nine. Given his severe disability, it is

interesting that F D R and the people around him, did not fully accept his disability.

There were almost no pictures of F D R taken while using his wheelchair and only two

well-known instances where he allowed the extent of his disability to be visible, once at

a military hospital and the other time was at a historically black college. In contrast,

Eleanor Roosevelt gives the experience with polio credit for his empathy for people

during the Great Depression. F D R founded a special place called Warm Springs, for

“old polios” and “new polios” to receive treatment. He felt a sense of comradery with the

“polios.” This is an early example of what would become the social model of disability.

Patients began to realize that their disability wasn’t much of a problem, given a few

simple accommodations. F D R did a lot to help people with polio by starting the March

of Dimes. They had yearly birthday celebrations for F D R to raise money for the

organization, which eventually led to the cure for polio being discovered.

While American society went out of its way to downplay F D Rs disability, one of the first

grassroots disability groups called The League of the Physically Handicapped was

engaged in demonstrations and civil disobedience to highlight the lack of jobs and other

issues for people with disabilities. None of the founders of this organization were

wheelchair users, but they all had some other kind of disability. I found this text which

came from one of the Leagues pamphlets. Other than the word choice, it could have

been written today.  The same issues still exist. We have come a long way, but we have

so far still to go.

The nineteen fifties ushered in a grassroots movement of parents. Parents began to

come out of their shells and seek support from other parents who were experiencing the

same things. They formed organizations that still exist today, like the Arc and UCP. It

helped that well-known individuals, like the Kennedys, were also coming forward.  They

wrote essays and began the push for community services. The Parents Movement laid

the groundwork for many of the civil rights legislation. Brown verses Board of Education,

Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children et al. verses Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania et al., Mills verses Board of Education and Wyatt verses Stickney, were prominent cases.

Fast forward to the nineteen sixities. People with disabilities finally had enough and

began fighting for their civil rights using the same techniques as African Americans,

women, lesbians, gays, and Native Americans.

This man, Ed Roberts, sued U C Berkeley and won, so that he could attend school

there. He helped start the first campus group of students with disabilities and the first

Center for Independent Living (CIL) in Berkeley, California. He is known as the father of

Independent Living.

Vocational Rehabilitation told him NO “You are too crippled to work.” Roberts

attended college at UC-Berkeley. While at college, Roberts started a group of students

with disabilities called the Rolling Quads. Eventually, he established the first Center for

Independent Living.

After leaving the CIL, California Governor Jerry Brown appointed Roberts Head of

the VR program. This was the same program that told him NO many years before. As a

person who studied Roberts, I think of him as similar to Martin Luther King, Jr. for his

ability to give speeches and motivate people.

I think of Judy Heumann as being similar to Rosa Parks because she is famous for

her actions. Heumann is from New York. Even though she contracted polio in her youth,

she attended Long Island University. While there, Heumann served on the Student

Government and trained to be a teacher. A friend advised her to tell VR that she wanted

to be a speech pathologist because they had better accommodations than teachers did.

Heumann completed her degree and began the requirements to become a licensed

teacher. She passed the two main requirements, but failed the required physical task.

The examiner thought she would be a fire hazard because she would not be able to get

the children out in a fire. In response, Heumann sued the school system and won the

case. As a result, she went into more advocacy work. Heumann founded a group called

Disabled in Action in NY. The group used aggressive techniques and, because of their

success, Heumann caught the attention of Ed Roberts. He asked her to become the

Assistant Director at the Berkeley CIL.

During this time, President Nixon signed into law the Rehabilitation Act of nineteen

seventy three that protects qualified individuals from discrimination based on their

disability. The discrimination requirements of the law apply to employers and

organizations that receive financial assistance from any Federal department or agency,

including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). These

organizations and employers include many hospitals, nursing homes, mental health

centers, and human service programs.

Nineteen seventy five was a watermark for important legislation. Both the Disability

Assistance and Bill of Rights Act and the Education for all Handicapped Children Act,

which later became the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, were passed. They

dramatically changed the legal landscape and increased opportunities for people with

disabilities. The DD Amendments recognize that "disability is a natural part of the

human experience that does not diminish the right of individuals with developmental

disabilities to enjoy the opportunity to live independently, enjoy self-determination, make

choices, contribute to society, and experience full integration and inclusion in the

economic, political, social, cultural, and educational mainstream of American society"

(Section 101). State Developmental Disabilities Councils are required to conduct

"systemic change, capacity building, and advocacy activities" (Section 124).

In nineteen seventy three, Nixon accidentally signed one of the most powerful

pieces of the law into effect. It was a few sentences, folded into the end of a law, that he

did not read before signing. Under the law, no program receiving federal funds could

discriminate against people with disabilities. Section five o four forbids organizations

and employers from excluding or denying individuals with disabilities an equal

opportunity to receive program benefits and services. It defines the rights of individuals

with disabilities to participate in, and have access to, program benefits and services.  It

is suspected that a democratic staffer who stuck it in there. We need more civil rights

heroes, even accidental ones!

The mid nineteen seventies ushered in the social model theory of disability.

Heumann helped organize the largest sit-in of a Federal building in San Francisco to

force regulations of Section five o four. The sit in was the longest and most peaceful

occupation of a federal building ever. This was necessary because four years after the

law was signed, the Secretary of Health Education Welfare, had not yet written any

regulations to go along with the new law, which basically made the law null and void.

Heumann achieved her dream of having an impact on education by becoming an

Assistant Secretary of Education under President Clinton. Today, Heumann works in

the State Department where we have exchanged emails.

The A D A began in nineteen eighty six under Ronald Reagan following the Civil

Rights Restoration Act (CRRA) in nineteen eighty four. Reagan vetoed the CRRA citing

that it allowed for too much government interference in private businesses, however,

Congress overruled his veto. The bill overturned a previous Supreme Court ruling that

said that only those departments and programs that received federal funds were

required to comply with civil rights laws. The new law would restore the provision that if

one part of a business or organization received federal assistance then the entire entity

would have to comply with all civil rights laws, including Section five o four. Many people

with disabilities realized the importance of the legislation, and arrived in Washington to

observe, and put pressure on the politicians to vote to override the presidents veto. In

their presence, the presidents veto was overridden by a large margin. The late nineteen

eighties seemed to be a pivotal time for disability rights. The A D A was in its first stages

of drafting, and Congress overrode President Reagans veto of the CRRA.

Curiously after vetoing the CRRA, Reagan appointed thirteen people to a committee

he named the National Council on the Handicapped. The A D A would go on to become

one of the most powerful pieces of Civil Rights legislation in the history of the United

States. Realizing the opportunity that the Council had presented, the disability

community began organizing and informing politicians, people with disabilities, their

friends, and families about civil rights protection.

Like both President Nixon, and Carter before him, Ronald Reagan had a mixed

legacy in regards to disability rights. His early actions attempted to weaken disability

rights policy, but at the same time, the A D A was being conceptualized by a committee

within his administration. As in many other areas of his policies, Reagan tried to

deregulate the governments control of businesses in terms of accessibility. If not for the

many letters from advocates, parents, and other officials, Section five o four could have

possibly lost its legal power when other parts of businesses were deregulated. In

addition to being a law, Section five o four could be seen as a government regulation of

business. The main figure associated with the A D A was a polio survivor named Justin

Dart.

Dart was a leader in many of the civil rights movements. He founded several

businesses in Mexico and Japan with the intent to hire women and people with severe

disabilities in nineteen fifty six. Dart, whose family was close friends with Reagan,

strongly opposed Reagans attempts to deregulate Section five o four in the early

nineteen eighties. Reagan selected Dart to be a vice-chair of the National Council on

the Handicapped. Dart and his wife Yoshiko traveled around the country, visiting

activists in each state. Because of his travels, he and the others on the Council began

drafting what would become the A D A. The A D A was based on the Civil Rights Act of

1964 and helped to strengthen the Section five o four.

Also, during the late nineteen eighties, Dart took part in a very important initiative,

which included another nationwide trip encouraging people with disabilities to document

their experiences with discrimination and inaccessibility in “discrimination diaries.”

These journals “served not only as testimonials of discrimination, but also to raise

consciousness about the barriers to daily living, which were simply tolerated as a part of

life.”  These documents inspired and educated the American public and politicians.

Another poignant illustration of barriers was the Capitol Crawl in March nineteen ninety.

Sixty activists abandoned their chairs and other A D Aptive equipment and dragged

their bodies up the steps of the Capitol building in an attempt to get congresses

attention. Some people believe it to be the thing that made Congress finally sign the A D

A into law.  On July 26, nineteen ninety, with Justin Dart sitting beside him on the

podium, President George Herbert Walker Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities

Act into law. The bill was sponsored by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA).

In nineteen ninety five, Justin Dart founded Justice for All (JFA) an E-newsletter in

association with American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD). Advocates

from across the country are educated and called to defend the rights of people with

disabilities by contacting their individual congressional representatives. Members of the

AAPD continued what Dart started. “As founding member Justin Dart said, ‘AAPD gives

us the opportunity for harmonious unity and will help create the strong voice needed to

overcome thousands of years of attitudinal and physical barriers.”  In nineteen ninety

eight, Justin Dart was awarded the nations highest civilian award, The Medal of

Freedom, by President Bill Clinton.

To put things into perspective, I was eight years old. My generation, along with those

before me, continues to fight for expanded opportunities. I implore you to join us in the

fight. It has always taken a village. I hope you will consider sharing what you have

learned with others. Education is the key.

I will talk more about the laws and discuss some key local disability groups and

organizations in my next Salon. I hope you will join me.

Thank you for coming.