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This photograph shows President George H. W. Bush signing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26, 1990. With him on the South Lawn of the White House are (from left to right, sitting) Evan Kemp, Chairman of the Equal Employment…

This photograph shows the “ADA Legacy” tour bus, parked at the Monroe County History Center in Bloomington, Indiana on June 19, 2015. In front of the bus is Al Tolbert, retired director of the Southern Indiana Center for Independent Living (SICIL),…

"I must be completely honest - I was not the first person to introduce the Americans with Disabilities Act," retired U.S. Senator Tom Harkin pointed out in an interview with the Indiana Disability History Project. In fact, Senator Harkin had been one…

“When I was young I knew nothing about any legislative activities or laws that would allow an individual with a disability to have any kind of civil rights because I stayed in several nursing homes and at that time, there were no patients' rights,”…

"The last thing we really want to do is -- not only do you have to adjust to your disability, but now you need to sell your farm and move to town." Ed Bell says farming is statistically one of the most dangerous occupations. Although farmers are used…

“This was not just a thing that was going to affect us,” Ric Edwards recalls, “it was going to affect our kids and our kids' kids, and many generations to follow.” The work to win support in Indiana for passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act…

“Advocating for disability issues is a broad topic. And when you advocate, you don’t advocate for people with a particular disability, your advocacy affects everyone with a disability,” Christine Dahlberg remarked in 2009. Then Deputy Director of the…

“I learned that there were more than just rights," recalled disability advocate Karen Vaughn of the era immediately after passage of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). "We had civil rights on just about every level.” After acquiring a…

“So, we ended up creating our first bus roping opportunity.” Nancy Griffin describes participating in an action protesting inaccessible public transportation. “You get a half a dozen folks in wheelchairs and somebody goes up to the door of the bus…

“Back in the '80s, we didn't think about the Independent Living movement being a civil rights thing.” With the introduction of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) legislation prior to its passage in 1990, says Al Tolbert, “the Independent Living…