“Declaration of Equality”: The Disability Rights Movement

This essay is part of a content series exploring the nations, stories, and themes included in the Museum’s special exhibition The Declaration’s Journey, presented by Griffin Catalyst, on view through Jan. 3, 2027. Click here for more information about the exhibition. 

As the exhibition The Declaration’s Journey shows, many groups of people have taken inspiration from the ideals of the Declaration of Independence over the last 250 years. Some have also taken inspiration from other movements for equality; for example, some leaders of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s in the United States followed Gandhi’s example of nonviolence in India. The disability rights movement in the United States has done both – while learning from others, they argued for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all, regardless of disability.

Seen as incapable and a burden for much of American history, disabled people were often institutionalized, and many were denied access to schools and employment. Public spaces were not accessible, and the only time that disabled people were seen in public, they were made into objects of pity, such as on charity telethons beginning in the 1950s. Early disability rights activists were often part of other movements before taking what they had learned and fighting for their own rights. For example, Judy Heumann, often referred to as the “mother of the disability rights movement” was an antiwar protester while a student at Long Island University.

After being denied a teaching certification because of her wheelchair, Heumann co-founded Disabled in Action (DIA) in 1970. Early Disabled in Action protests brought attention to inaccessible public buildings and ableist portrayals of people with disabilities in media, including the annual Jerry Lewis Telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, as well as President Nixon’s veto of early versions of the Rehabilitation Act in the early ’70s, which extended grants to states for vocational rehabilitation services, including those for people with disabilities. These early protests gained media attention because of the novelty of visibly disabled participants doing things for themselves, counter to the prevailing image of people with disabilities being helpless and dependent on others; the movement would continue to use this kind of attention.

One of the key parts of the Rehabilitation Act was Section 504, which guaranteed accessibility in all programs that receive federal funding; this was one of the first pieces of legislation that protected civil rights for people with disabilities. (An amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include disability failed in 1972.) By 1977, however, there were still no regulations or enforcement for Section 504. The American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities, which had brought together leaders from other disability organizations, like Judy Heumann, Ed Roberts, and Frank Fay, continued to push for these regulations.

The American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities organized sit-ins at Health, Education, and Welfare offices in federal buildings in cities around the country beginning on April 5, 1977. The San Francisco sit-in lasted for 26 days, making it the longest nonviolent occupation of a federal building in U.S. history. With limited access to the outside world, activists relied on each other and their own ingenuity for care; for example, after phone lines were cut, Deaf protesters signed information through the windows to supporters outside the building. With mounting media attention and public pressure, the regulations for Section 504 were finally signed.

Momentum for the disability rights movement, as well as a shift in public attitudes towards disability, had begun. The National Council on Disability, which was established in 1978, published a report in 1986 recommending a comprehensive civil rights law for people with disabilities. In March 1990, activists held the Capitol Crawl, a demonstration in which people left their wheelchairs, canes, and other mobility aids at the bottom of the steps of the Capitol building and then crawled up, visually demonstrating both literally and symbolically the inaccessibility of the government.

Months later, on July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law, calling it “a declaration of equality.” In his remarks, Bush recalled the Independence Day anniversary earlier that month, and he called the signing of this act “another ‘independence day,’ one that is long overdue.” Bush expressed hopefulness that the Americans with Disabilities Act brought the United States “closer to that day when no Americans will ever again be deprived of their basic guarantee of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

There are many parts of the Americans with Disabilities Act that we take for granted today, including accessible parking spaces and bathroom stalls, curb cuts, and equal access to public buildings. Many of these aspects of everyday life are less than half a century old, the result of tireless work by many activists dedicated to the idea that all men are created equal. As Judy Heumann herself put it, “When other people see you as a third-class citizen, the first thing you need is a belief in yourself and the knowledge that you have rights.”