Join Us in a Dream: A National Museum of Disability History and Culture
June 22, 2022History museum, On the web
Reprint from the National Council on Public History
14 JUNE 2022 – HENRY J. KENNEDY AND NATHAN R. STENBERG
It is time for a Smithsonian National Museum of Disability History and Culture. Considering the fact that one in four Americans, or approximately 61 million people, is disabled, a national museum would acknowledge disability as an essential component of American life. This is the largest minority group in the United States. The disability community consists of people with a wide variety of disabilities, and it intersects with all ethnic identities, class backgrounds, genders and sexual orientations, and cultural beliefs, sharing strong ties with the other Smithsonian national museums. The museum would highlight disability’s contemporary resonance in public policy and legislative and judicial decision-making, as well as providing a site for historical and educational opportunities. It would recognize the disability community for its often-forgotten or unrecognized contributions to U.S. history and culture, celebrating our accomplishments and acknowledging our struggles. A primary example of this combination of struggles and accomplishments is the Capitol Crawl of 1990, when approximately 60 disability activists out of several hundred left [...]