Disability advocates across the country are mobilizing to help create understanding and celebrate the history of individuals with disabilities! Since West Virginia passed the first…
The Museum of disABILITY History
1970
Judith Heumann establishes Disabled in Action in New York City. The organization demonstrates against unfair hiring practices and uses litigation for disability rights.
1971
The Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children brought about a lawsuit, on behalf of retarded children, against the state of Pennsylvania. The association was persuaded by Dr. Gunnar Dybwad, a very active advocate for the right of the disabled, to go ahead with the litigation in United States District Court. PARC versus Pennsylvania resulted in the establishment of rights for disabled children to access free and equal public education.
1970's
The concept of deinstitutionalization was popular during this decade. A focus on the eventual return to the community of individuals with disabilities was what guided this movement. Deinstitutionalization endorsed the closing of state institutions and promoted the establishment of community living.
1972
Center for Independent Living established at the U of C Berkeley.
Disabled in Action, National Paraplegia Foundation and other advocacy groups protest the veto of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 by Richard Nixon. Demonstrations are held in Washington, D.C.
Geraldo Rivera does an expose on the Willowbrook State School that leads to an immediate federal inquiry. The deplorable conditions of the facility for the mentally retarded were televised and Willowbrook became national news.
1973
In 1973 the first self-advocacy conference was held in Victoria Island, British Columbia Canada. The conference was titled "First Convention for the Mentally Handicapped in North America." Three residents and two staff members from Oregon's Fairview Hospital attended the convention and founded People First the next year.
The passage of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act is a large victory for the disability rights movement. The discrimination of the handicapped is addressed for the first time especially in Section 504. Qualified persons seeking employment could not be discriminated against based on their disability. This law would provide the outline for the future Americans with Disabilities Act.
1974
People First, the nation's largest and first self-advocacy organization, was founded in 1974 by the 5 who attended the Canadian conference. The first convention is held that same year in Salem, Oregon.
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