Project: Disability Rights

A Brief Overview of the Disability Rights Movement 

The Disability Rights Movement, which gained significant momentum in the mid-20th century, sought to challenge the systemic barriers and discrimination faced by people with disabilities. One of the pivotal organizations in its early development was the League of the Physically Handicapped (LPH), founded in 1935. The LPH fought for economic and employment opportunities for people with disabilities during the Great Depression, an era when individuals with disabilities were often excluded from the workforce. The League played a critical role in pushing for public recognition of the need for civil rights protections for people with disabilities, laying the foundation for the larger disability rights movement that would emerge decades later.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the movement gained further strength through the activism of groups like the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities (ACCD). This coalition worked to unify various disability organizations to advocate for broader societal and legal changes. One of the most notable events of this period was the Deaf President Now movement in 1988, a student-led protest at Gallaudet University that demanded the appointment of a deaf president for the institution. The victory of this protest symbolized a major milestone in disability rights, as it represented the power of collective action to challenge institutionalized ableism. Around the same time, legislative victories began to reshape the landscape, such as the Education of All Handicapped Children Act in 1975, which mandated that children with disabilities be provided a free and appropriate education in public schools.

The Disability Rights Movement reached a pinnacle with the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. The ADA was a landmark civil rights law that prohibited discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, public services, and accommodations. The movement’s influence also included demonstrations like the Capital Crawl, a form of protest where activists symbolically laid down in front of government buildings to demand action. These protests, alongside legal reforms, shifted societal attitudes toward disability, emphasizing accessibility, inclusion, and equality. The ADA remains one of the most significant legislative achievements in the history of the Disability Rights Movement, reflecting a broader societal commitment to the rights of people with disabilities.