Disability History

Disability Milestones: 1950s to 1960s

  • U.S. Civil Rights Movement
  • Self-Help Movement
  • Deinstitutionalization Movement
  • Demedicalization Movement
  • Consumerism Movement

1968

  • The Architectural Barriers Act prohibited architectural barriers in all federally owned or leased buildings.
  • California legislature guaranteed that the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) would be the first rapid transit system in the U.S. to accommodate wheelchair users.

1966

  • The President’s Committee on Mental Retardation was established by President Johnson.
  • Christmas in Purgatory by Burton Blatt and Fred Kaplan documented conditions at state institutions for people with developmental disabilities.

1965

  • Medicare and Medicaid were established through passage of the Social Security Amendments of 1965, providing federally subsidized health care to disabled and elderly Americans covered by the Social Security program. These amendments changed the definition of disability under Social Security Disability Insurance program from “of long continued and indefinite duration” to “expected to last for not less than 12 months.”
  • Vocational Rehabilitation Amendments of 1965 were passed authorizing federal funds for construction of rehabilitation centers, expansion of existing vocational rehabilitation programs and the creation of the National Commission on Architectural Barriers to Rehabilitation of the Handicapped.
  • The National Technical Institute for the Deaf at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York was established by Congress.

1964

  • The Civil Rights Act, signed by President Johnson, prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, national origin and creed (gender was added later). This Act outlawed discrimination on the basis of race in public accommodations and employment as well as in federally assisted programs.

1963

  • President Kennedy called for a reduction “over a number of years and by hundreds of thousands, (in the number) of persons confined” to residential institutions and asks that methods be found “to retain in and return to the community the mentally ill and mentally retarded, and thereto restore and revitalize their lives through better health programs and strengthened educational and rehabilitation services.” This resulted in deinstitutionalization and increased community services.
  • The Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Health Centers Construction Act authorized federal grants for the construction of public and private nonprofit community mental health centers.
  • South Carolina passed the first statewide architectural access code.

1962

  • The President’s Committee on Employment of the Physically Handicapped was renamed the President’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped reflecting increased interest in employment issues affecting people with cognitive disabilities and mental illness.
  • Edward Roberts sued to gain admission to the University of California. (James Meredith sued to become the first black person to attend the University of Mississippi.)

1961

  • President Kennedy appointed a special President’s Panel on Mental Retardation.
  • The American National Standard Institute, Inc. (ANSI) published American Standard Specifications for Making Buildings Accessible to, and Usable by, the Physically Handicapped. This landmark document became the basis for subsequent architectural access codes.

1960

  • Social Security Amendments of 1960 eliminated the restriction that disabled workers receiving Social Security Disability Insurance benefits must be 50 or older.
  • Brown vs Topeka Board of Education ruled that separate but equal facilities were inherently discriminatory.

1958

  • Social Security Amendments of 1958 extended Social Security Disability Insurance benefits to dependents of disabled workers.
  • Rehabilitation Gazette (formerly known as the Toomeyville Gazette), edited by Gini Laurie, was a grassroots publication that became an early voice for disability rights, independent living, and cross-disability organizing. It featured articles by writers with disabilities.

1956

  • BCID established.
  • Social Security Amendments of 1956 created the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program for disabled workers aged 50 to 64.

1954

  • The U.S. Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ruled that separate schools for black and white children are unequal and unconstitutional. This pivotal decision became a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement.
  • Vocational Rehabilitation Amendments were passed that authorized federal grants to expand programs available to people with physical disabilities.
  • Mary Switzer, Director of the U.S. Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, authorized funds for more than 100 university-based rehabilitation-related programs.
  • Social Security Act of 1935 was amended by PL 83-761 to include a freeze provision for workers who were forced by disability to leave the workforce. This protected their benefits by freezing their retirement benefits at their pre-disability level.

1953

  • Los Angeles County provided at-home attendant care to adults with polio as a cost-saving alternative to hospitalization.

1952

  • The President’s Committee on National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week became the President’s Committee on Employment of the Physically Handicapped, a permanent organization reporting to the President and Congress.

1951

  • Howard Rusk opened the Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at the New York University Medical Center in New York City.

1950

  • Mary Switzer was appointed the Director of the U.S. Office of Vocational Rehabilitation where she emphasized independent living as a quality of life issue.
  • Social Security Amendments established a federal-state program to aid permanently and totally disabled persons.