History
•People with Disabilities and War
With the coming of World War II, the fight for jobs among people with disabilities began to fade, and people formerly considered “unemployable” found themselves in demand. In June of 1942, Crippled Child Magazine published an article on “The Physically Handicapped on the Industrial Warfront.”
•The League of the Physically Handicapped
Not all was going well for the person with a disability in the early-to-mid 1930’s. Jobs were short, and in contrast to President Roosevelt’s message only four years earlier, people with disabilities were having a hard time making a “come back.” Frustrations grew, and on May 29th, 1935, a Wednesday, three young women and three young men entered the Emergency Relief Bureau in New York City; they were there to see the director of the program, one Oswald W. Knauth.
•President Roosevelt Addresses Cripples
The need for assistance to enable cripples did not disappear, as the hospital-schools did, and President Roosevelt, on February 18th, 1931, gave a radio address concerning a program of assistance for the crippled. He talked about the reasons he felt it paid to “do things” for crippled children and adults.
Efforts to assist people with disabilities changed over time, and by the turn of the twentieth century, disability was being redefined in America. Around 1890, some of the first institutions perhaps best referred to as “Hospital Schools”, as well as the first vocational programs for the training of “cripples” emerged, along with the approach known as rehabilitation.
•The New York Asylum for Idiots
As time progressed there were other attempts made to work with and assist people with disabilities. The New York Asylum for Idiots worked to bring “idiots” up to a productive or socially acceptable standard. It was a new effort for them, and they were answerable to the state senate. After their first year, they sent in a report.
•Thomas Gallaudet Gives a Sermon
In an attempt to gain support for the disabled, and help to erase some of the ignorance of disability during their time, Thomas Gallaudet delivered a sermon. In 1824, Thomas Gallaudet gave a sermon at Burlington and Montpelier in Vermont; in Portland, Maine; and in Concord, New Hampshire.
•Disability History in America
The history of people with disabilities in America is a rich one that has not always been acknowledged. For most of our shared history, people with disabilities have been marginalized and invisible; there are a couple of reasons why this may be so.
