The Western Pennsylvania Disability History and Action Consortium’s survey committee met recently to continue their ongoing work of locating, cataloging, and encouraging preservation of archives, collections, and artifacts related to disability history in Western Pennsylvania.
Among the topics discussed:
• The Consortium is coordinating donations of relevant media to Heinz History Center’s archives, including:
• A copy of the Voices of our Region oral history project
• A copy of the From Wrongs to Rights video
• A copy of the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf’s book on their history
• A collection of photos from Paul Dick, a notable local disability activist.
• A copy of Small Differences, a locally-produced film about inclusion of people with disabilities
• Sierra Green, archivist at the Heinz History Center’s Detre Library and Archives and Consortium steering committee member, shared some disability history resources recommended at a session at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC):
• The 2013 book A Disability History of the United States by Kim E. Nielsen
• A public disability history website that presents blog posts and articles on disability topics from around the world.
(A more extensive report on the MARAC conference can be found on the Consortium website.)
• Angela Harris, Chief Social Rehabilitation Executive at Torrance State Hospital in Westmoreland County, spoke about the facility’s 100 year anniversary commemeration in 2019 and their plans to open a historic museum in the former superintendent’s house. See full story elsewhere in this newsletter.
• Ongoing outreach to help other Western Pennsylvania organizations preserve and share their historical items.
