From the 1950s to the 1970s, the modern civil rights movement set into motion a profound transformation of citizenship rights. This study expands on this transformation, charting the development of disability rights activism and policy through the diverse campaigns that grappled with problems of public access after WWII through the passage of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which contained the first civil rights provision for people with disabilities. Scholars have emphasized Congressional initiative, notably Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as the driving force behind providing civil rights to the disabled. My research, by contrast, synthesizes the complex relationship between the state and grassroots activism.
This study challenges the traditional narrative of the disability rights movement, placing its origins in the 1950s, rather than the late 1970s. Examining both local and national efforts, false starts, resistance, and successes, it describes a complex, contentious debate in American society that engaged student activists, federal and state bureaucrats, politicians, and corporate philanthropists. What emerged was a unique rights discourse that centered on the problem of physical access to public spaces and that contested common definitions of discrimination and disability. This study traces the development of activist networks and the social roots of political activism from rehabilitation centers, summer camps, and college campuses in pursuit of federal civil rights legislation.