UCLA Library Committee On Diversity

TIMELINE

Early 20th Century

The end of World War I brought many veterans with disabilities home. Never before had so many wounded soldiers survived to return to civilian life with disabilities.

1918 - Soldiers Rehabilitation Act provides for training for injured returning veterans for new jobs.

1920 - Rehabilitation Act proves so successful it is expanded to include civilians.

1921 - Franklin D. Roosevelt contracts polio.

1928 - Mrs. Dorothy Harrison Eustis establishes first school for guide dogs in the United States.

1920s - Deaf players on the football team at Gallaudet College invent the football huddle to prevent opposing teams from being able to read their signals.

1930s

The 1930s brought the first major organizations of and for people with disabilities.

1935 - League for the Physically Handicapped is formed to protest discrimination against workers with handicaps by the Works Progress Administration.

1938 - National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis formed; the March of Dimes raises 2,800,000 dimes.

1940s

With World War II, the 1940s saw many more disabled veterans returning home as medicine continued to improve survival rates for those with major injuries.

1943 - The Rehabilitation Act of 1943 expands opportunities for disabled workers and for the first time includes provisions for treatment in some cases.

1942 - Guide Dogs for the Blind opens in Los Gatos, California

1943 - First successful trial of Salk Vaccine.

1947 -"Best Years of Our Lives" wins the Academy Award- for best picture; Harold Russell wins two Academy Awards-; first for best supporting actor and the second an Honorary Award, "For Bringing Hope and Courage to his Fellow Veterans Through his Appearance in ‘Best Years of Our Lives’".

1949 - Jane Wyman wins an Academy Award- for best actress for "Johnny Belinda".

1950s

Medical advancements continued during the 1950s, new vaccines start to lessen the toll of diseases that had been feared for generations.

1954 - The Rehabilitation Act of 1954 for the first time funds research and college training programs in vocational rehabilitation.

1960s

Deinstitutionalization begins during the 1960s bringing a move towards community based services and smaller group homes. Unfortunately, these services are never fully funded.

1961 - Sabin oral vaccine adopted to prevent polio.

1964 - Patty Duke wins best supporting actress Oscar® at the Academy Awards- for "Miracle Worker".

1967 - National Theater of the Deaf founded.

National Amputee Skiers Association (now Disabled Sports USA) founded by Vietnam veterans.

1968 - First Special Olympics held at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois

1970s

"Civil Rights for People with Disabilities" and the "Disabilities Rights Movement" are organized.

1970 - The "Rolling Quads" form the "Disabled Students Program" at the University of California at Berkeley.

"Midnight Cowboy" wins Oscar® for best picture.

1971 - The Center for Independent Living Foundation opens in Berkeley.

1973 - The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 expands services and for the first time includes the right to appeal decisions.

1974 - Individual with Disabilities Education Act passed.

1975 - Legislation to implement the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act promotes mainstreaming as the preferred model for education of children with handicaps.

1977 - A group of people with disabilities stage the longest occupation of a federal building to date when they take over the San Francisco offices of Health, Education and Welfare for a month to protest the lack of progress on promised regulations to implement the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

1980s

The work of the Disabilities Rights Movement continues as the public becomes aware of disability issues.

1980 - Jon Voight wins Oscar® for best actor for his work in "Coming Home".

"Masterpiece Theater" becomes first major television program to use closed captioning.

1983 - Fight for accessible public transportation (ADAPT) begins at the American Public Transit Association Convention.

1984 - "Terms of Endearment" wins Academy Award- for best picture.

1987 - Marlee Matlin earns best actress Oscar® for her performance in "Children of a Lessor God".

Jim Abbott, who was born without a right hand wins the Sullivan Award as the nation’s outstanding athlete. He later pitched in the 1988 Olympics and played for the California Angels.

1988 - Dr. I. King Jordan is chosen as first deaf president of Gallaudet University.

1989 - The Secretary of Transportation mandates lifts on public buses.

1990s

The 1990s see some major gains with the passage of ADA, however court battles over implementation continue.

1990 - Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) passed.

Daniel Day-Lewis wins Academy Award- for best actor for work in "My Left Foot".

1993 - Passage of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Al Pacino wins Oscar® for "Scent of a Woman" performance.

1994 - Heather Whitestone is the first Miss America who is hearing impaired.

1995 - "Forrest Gump" wins best picture at Academy Awards-; Tom Hanks gets best actor Oscar® for his performance in the movie.

National Sports Center for the Disabled and Winter Park Recreational Association establish the National Disabled Ski Hall of Fame.

1996- The Atlanta Olympics are the first to be fully accessible for those with disabilities.

1997 - The Senate passes resolution which for the first time allows guide dogs, wheelchairs, interpreters or other aids to those with disabilities on the Senate floor.

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