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Western Pennsylvania Disability History and Action Consortium

Western Pennsylvania Disability History and Action Consortium

Honoring the historic struggle of Western Pennsylvanians with disabilities to attain human and civil rights.

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A crowd holding up a banner that says "Injustice anywhere is a treat to justice everywhere" by MLK

Photo credit: Tari Hartman Squire. Used with Permission.

USING DISABILITY HISTORY TO ENSURE DISABILITY RIGHTS

The Western Pennsylvania Disability History and Action Consortium preserves and shares the historic struggle of Western Pennsylvanians with disabilities to attain human and civil rights.

We educate the public about disability history in order to improve community access, participation and equal opportunity, and to ensure disability rights through existing and new policies and laws. We join stakeholders across Pennsylvania to advocate on policies that ensure the civil rights of people with disabilities.

A group of black people at a disability fundraising event wearing matching purple shirts

INTERSECTION OF RACE
AND DISABILITY PROJECT

A group of people, one using a wheelchair, holding an ADA 25th anniversary banner

STATEWIDE COLLABORATION FOR
DISABILITY HISTORY

A group of women in an old black and white photo, including a nurse and residents of an institution for people with disabilities

HISTORIC RESOURCES

The back view of a man using a wheelchair, a sign on the back of the chair reads disability rights are civil rights.

ADVOCACY

WPDHAC BY THE NUMBERS

12+

New collections & materials advanced to repositories.

11

Long-form oral histories recorded.

11

“Intersection of Race and Disability” stories
collected and told in 2022-2023.

FEATURED PROJECT: VOICES OF CHANGE

Voices of Change, Uncovering Stories of the Western Pennsylvania Disability Movement

Paul O’Hanlon, Kathleen Peer Kleinmann, and Brenda Dare – disability rights advocates and childhood residents of the Memorial Home for Crippled Children

in an era when children with physical disabilities received care and therapy in residential facilities, such as Memorial Home for Crippled Children, located in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Squirrel Hill. In this interview, the three share their childhood memories of “the Home” in the 1950s through 1980s.

The Memorial Home for Crippled Children was founded in 1902. The organization was renamed The Children’s Institute in 1998, and continues to provide services to children with disabilities. It is no longer a residential facility.

Watch Memorial Home for Crippled Children interview on YouTube
Download Memorial Home for Crippled Children
interview transcript

NEWS


North Star of the North Side: The Advocacy of Aurelia Carter

Press Release: Western Pennsylvania Disability History and Action Consortium (WPDHAC) Awarded Grant to “Gather for Change” in 2023-2024

“Transforming Community Living” Event Recording and Resources

The Intersection of Race and Disability Project: Paul Lee

View More News

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NOTE TO WEBSITE VISITORS

The language and terminology used in historical materials on this site reflect the context and culture of the interviewee(s), and may include stereotypes in words, phrases, and attitudes that were wrong then and are wrong now.

Rather than remove this content, Western Pennsylvania Disability History and Action Consortium wants to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it, and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together.

Copyright by Western Pennsylvania Disability History and Action Consortium. All rights reserved.
Website development by Cindy Leonard Consulting.