Pioneering disability rights advocate Patricia “Pat” Clapp, who helped change the way society viewed services for people with intellectual disabilities, passed away on November 26, 2021.
A native of the Pittsburgh suburb of Wilkinsburg, Clapp served as president of the Arc of Pennsylvania and was instrumental in the effort to assure the Right to Education in Pennsylvania, and to end abuses in state-run institutions.
In addition to her collective advocacy, she was also an ardent advocate for her oldest son David, who was born with Down syndrome.
In the early 1950s, Clapp and fellow members of the Junior Section of the Wilkinsburg Women’s Club of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) raised funds for one of the first preschools for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the Pittsburgh area. The club also helped launch the National Crusade for Change to provide programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
These efforts led to Clapp’s involvement with the Arc of Allegheny County (ACC-PARC) and the Pennsylvania Arc (PARC). Clapp served as president of ACC-PARC from 1964 through 1966 and as president of PARC from 1971 until 1973. During her tenure, PARC’s lawsuit to ensure the right to education for children – PARC vs. the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania – resulted in a landmark Consent Decree in 1972 that laid the foundation for Federal Public Law 94-142, Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, which later was renamed the “Individuals with Disabilities Education Act” (IDEA).
As PARC president, Clapp advocated to end the involuntary testing of vaccines on individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in state-run institutions. She also help advance the movement to transition of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities from state-run institutions to community-based living.
Clapp’s work on disability rights in Pennsylvania continued through the late 1970s when the Clapp family moved to Virginia, and later to North Carolina. She remained involved in Arc chapters in those locations,
The Consortium and the Heinz History Center worked closely with Pat over the last years of her life to document and preserve her legacy of advocacy for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The Consortium and the Heinz History Center worked closely with Pat over the last years of her life to document and preserve her legacy of advocacy for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The Patricia Clapp Collection is housed at Heinz History Center and materials from her collection are available online at Historic Pittsburgh.
