Americans with Disabilities Act turns 20

There are a lot of people in town this week for the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. And being Washington, along with the parties, receptions, and congratulations, there are serious policy symposia, workshops, and advocacy events. It is a lovely thing to witness and of course my history-minded thoughts turn to all the people who got us here, from the anonymous citizens caught in snapshots stored in our collections, to the revered leaders no longer with us, like Justin Dart, Ed Roberts, and Helen Keller.

We have been gathering and collecting images of people with disabilities, especially those from decades ago. They are in their chairs at school graduation, standing on an artificial leg in a field feeding a foal, surrounded by friends and family on a porch, or doing their equivalents of ADL’s (Activities of Daily Living).

Early 20th century postcard.

It is relatively easy to document events. You can collect buttons, photographs, ephemeral literature, and furniture used or clothing worn at the time. But how do you collect feelings? The history of the ADA is wrapped with so many feelings. Such as the present happiness, hope, and promise of continued inclusion and opportunity. There are also the feelings of exhaustion from the struggle to get laws in place that protect people in the workplace and the community, ensure kids get an education, and stop abuse and discrimination. And the feelings of belonging that arise from finding your place in the world, making up with friends, raising children, and passing on your wisdom or your old assistive device. And there is also the despair of being stuck in poverty because no one will venture outside of their comfort zone and hire you or the righteous anger built from barrier after barrier that has blocked your basic civil rights.

Graduation photograph, c. 1925-35.

I have been working on the history of disability for quite a while and we have a pretty significant collection of objects. Yet I look at the old photographs and wish I knew what they were feeling on the day their picture was taken, with their body moving however it moved, people staring or not, and what material thing in their life expressed their emotion at that moment. (We’re lucky that intern Meecha Corbett was willing to share her feelings about working at the museum on disability history below.) 

You can feel the excitement in the air this week but in what material form can it be captured?

Katherine Ott is a curator in the Division of Science and Medicine at the National Museum of American History.

Wow, it is the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act! The ADA covers so many things—like employment, housing, public accommodations, education, transportation, communication, recreation, institutionalization, health services, voting, and access to public services. I am a summer intern and as I was researching, I was thinking about what life would be like if these laws were not in place.

Intern Meecha Corbett

I am seventeen, so life with the ADA seems completely normal. You get to see your parents yelling at companies or businesses when something is wrong with their access or services. In those situations, I try to blend into the background but it doesn’t always work—you have to know my mom.

Without the ADA, there might be no integration in schools or employment. The disability community might be banished and treated like a burden to society. We might be confined to our houses or institutions. Some of the nastier laws might still be in place, like the ugly laws prohibiting unwanted people on the streets, in the public eye. Or the sterilization laws that gave medical authorities the right to sterilize people in institutions. Euthanasia might be legal. After I thought about this for a few days I realized I would have no life.

 Then I found this quote from Senator Ted Kennedy on the fifteenth anniversary of the ADA, five years ago today. “Today we celebrate the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, one of the greatest civil rights laws in our history.” I agree with this statement. Let’s celebrate the hard work that people have done before us.

Meecha Corbett is an intern in the Division of Medicine and Science at the National Museum of American History.

Comments

[Tampa Disbility Lawyer]

ADA is something that we all need to know about and this article does a great job of telling its story.

[Scott]

It's hard to believe that ADA is already 20 years old. I was only 9 years old when it became law, so I can relate to your article because I grew up with it as well and can't imagine how our country would be without it.

[Hope for Health and Equal Rights for the Disabled]

Back in the 1980's my Karate teacher, along with our Karate dojo, was working on teaching Karate to the disabled, as well as the able-bodied. We taught them how to use what they had rather than to focus on what they couldn't do.

My teacher became a close friend of Ed Roberts and invited him into the dojo to train with us and to learn Karate/self-defense. They went to many meetings together to talk about, and speak for, the passage of the ADA.

Ed had a terrific sense of humor even though he was a quadriplegic. I spoke with him several times and he made me feel totally at ease with him. He knew that I couldn't "fix" his disability, but that I could help to teach him what I knew as one of the senior Karate students.

My teacher taught him how to use his motorized chair for self-defense, since he could not move his limbs, and Ed became very proficient at it, I might add!

My heart ached when he passed, but I also thought about what he had accomplished during his "not-at-all-easy" life.

[K. Brigance]

I'm glad to see that museums across the nation are recognizing the anniversary of this landmark piece of legislation. Here in St. Louis the Missouri Museum of History recently opened an exhibit on just that topic. They also launched a website to accompany the exhibit. If you are in Missouri you should stop by and see the exhibit which was designed to be fully accessible to people of all ability levels.

Link to the website: http://actionforaccess.mohistory.org

Information about the exhibit:
http://www.mohistory.org/node/4336

[Mike Richards]

This was truly a landmark, I really appreciate the post!

[Ralph]

The Americans with Disabilities Act is a piece of a piece of Legislation no other country in world comes close too regarding
a continued inclusion and opportunity to achieve anything you want regardless of health.

Thank you America for being America, I love you.

Ralph

[lors]

I always have a soft heart for those people with disabilities especially young children. I am not American so I praise this 20-year old American with Disabilities Act. Keep up the good deed guys!

[Maggie]

We have come "A LONG WAY BABY" with this important legislation. Having worked in retail during this time and living in the community, it has been wonderful to see the evolution of these rights inacted making a tremendous difference in the lives of people with disabilities.

[steven cooper]

the ada came a long way since 1990
but there is a lot more to do

[attorney]

growing up in a family struck by polio, and witnessing my sister in an iron lung (does this take us wa-ay back?), and years of experimental surgeries, braces and finally wheelchair, i thank god for the ADA and the work they are doing.

[Roger]

There is LOTS more to do. You would think after all this time....business would conform to the ADA. It amazes me every time I go somewhere I find places hard to enter myself and I am of good health. Also when you go to large establishments it always appears during rush times the scooters/carts that are for the disable person are no where to be found or they are all in use.

[chris]

Being a double amputee myself I noticed several local business's making things easier for people with disabilities to be able to be in the job force and be productive. Now if we could only get closed minded people to accept those who are disabled.