Introduction

In 1954, with the Brown v. Board of Education decision, the Supreme Court struck down the “separate but equal” doctrine that had perpetuated segregated schooling for Black students; this is one of the events that sparked the Civil Rights Movement. Almost two decades later, the legacy of Brown was evident in 1972, when parents of children in the Willowbrook State School, an institution for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, on Staten Island, New York, filed a class-action lawsuit against the State of New York, after television reporter Geraldo Rivera documented the deplorable and inhumane conditions at Willowbrook in his expose Willowbrook: The Last Great Disgrace in that same year. This lawsuit resulted in a 1975 Consent Decree, which ensured adequate treatment, humane conditions, and increased access to community living. Willowbrook eventually closed in 1987. These events were part of the Disability Rights Movement, during which the Rehabilitation Act, an anti-discrimination law, was passed in 1973, and the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, which mandates an appropriate education in the least restrictive environment) was passed in 1975. These legal events, along with others, marked a sea change for people with significant disabilities, leading to deinstitutionalization / desegregation, community living, and inclusive education. 

Syracuse University, in particular the special / inclusive education faculty in the School of Education, has been at the forefront of these movements for people with intellectual disability. In 1967, Burton Blatt and Frank Kaplan published Christmas in Purgatory, a photographic essay that documented the abuse and inhumane conditions in four institutions in the Northeast United States. Two years later, in 1969, Burton Blatt joined the Special Education faculty in the School of Education. In 1971, Dr. Blatt, along with doctoral student Douglas Biklen, founded the Center on Human Policy (CHP), which was, and remains, a Syracuse University School of Education center dedicated to national advocacy for the rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities with an emphasis on community living and participation. Both Dr. Blatt and Dr. Biklen served as Dean of the School of Education. 

This exhibition serves as a platform to explore the rich history of disability advocacy and activism at Syracuse University and beyond through artifacts of the Syracuse Libraries Special Collections Research Center (SCRC). We have organized the artifacts around advocacy and action related to the history of eugenics and institutions, particularly in New York State; court cases and other legal actions related to deinstitutionalization and inclusive education; the impact of self-advocacy; the representations of disability in media; and issues of intersectionality and race on institutionalization and special education. 

As you navigate through the exhibition, we invite you to not only reflect on the progress resulting from advocacy efforts but also be mindful of the work still to be done related to ensuring full participation in the community and in schools for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and confronting and resisting the systemic racism that perpetuates the disparities in healthcare, community living, and education for people of color with disabilities. 

A note about the materials represented in this exhibition: Historical records are evidence of the time in which they were created and may contain language and images that are racist, homophobic, sexist, ableist, or otherwise derogatory and insensitive. These materials are presented for their historic and research value. Viewers may find some content objectionable.