Left: Hugh Gallagher; his boss, Senator Bob Bartlett;
and Senator George McGovern, 1968 Courtesy of Hugh Gallagher and Janine
Bertram
Right: Ed Roberts, founder of the independent living movement and a director
of rehabilitation services for the State of California, pictured with Governor
Jerry Brown in 1975 Courtesy of World Institute on Disability
|
“In 1968, Hugh Gallagher and Bartlett [Senator
Bob Bartlett, D-Alaska] cooked up the Architectural Barriers Act which
stated that all buildings ‘designed, built, altered, or leased
with Federal funds’ would be required to have ramps, curb-cuts
and access to all facilities. It was their radical view that accessibility
was a basic civil right for all.”
—Lorenzo Wilson Milam, 2004
“Before Mom found an opportunity to go down
to the grade school office to register me, three members of the school
board came to visit us …. ‘It has been brought to my attention
that you folks have a son in a wheelchair. It is our duty to inform
you he will be unable to attend school….’”
—Don Kirkendall, 1973 |
|
Americans with Disabilities Act
Passed in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, is a landmark
civil rights legislation that creates broad legal protections for people
with disabilitiies. |
“On April 5, 1977, disability rights activists
occupied federal offices around the United States. They demanded implementation
of Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act … that mandated ‘No
otherwise qualified handicapped individual … shall … be
excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected
to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial
assistance.’”
—Paul Longmore, 2003
|
Button and bumper sticker supporting 504
Left: Justin Dart (far right) at the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act by President George Bush, 1990
Courtesy of Yoshiko Dart
Right:
Piece of street curb broken from a Denver intersection by activists from the
independent living center Atlantis Community in protest of the lack of curb cuts,
1980
Courtesy of Atlantis Community, Denver
