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THIS DAY IN DISABILITY HISTORYOctoberOctober 1, 1964 - The Free Speech Movement launches at the University of California, Berkeley - The Free Speech Movement (FSM) was a student protest which began in the 1964-1965 school year on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley under the informal leadership of students Mario Savio, David Goines, Bettina Apetheker, Suzanne Goldberg, and others. In protests unprecedented at the time, students insisted that the university administration lift a ban on on-campus political activities and acknowledge the students’ right to free speech and academic freedom. The seeds of change starting with the FSM fostered anti-Vietnam war rallies, civil rights rallies and a culture that would foster the birth of the modern disability rights and independent living movements. Ed Roberts would cite the FSM as a model for the independent living movement. October 2, 1919 - Woodrow Wilson suffers stroke - On October 2, 1919, Wilson suffered a serious stroke that almost totally incapacitated him, leaving him paralyzed on his left side and blind in his left eye. For at least a few months, he was confined to a wheelchair. Afterwards he could walk only with the assistance of a cane. The full extent of his disability was kept from the public until after his death on February 3, 1924. Wilson was purposely, with few exceptions, kept out of the presence of Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, his cabinet or Congressional visitors to the White House for the remainder of his presidential term. His first wife was Ellen Wilson. Meanwhile, his second wife, Edith Wilson, served as steward, selecting issues for his attention and delegating other issues to his cabinet heads. This was, as of 2007, the most serious case of presidential disability in American history and was later cited as a key example why ratification of the 25th Amendment was seen as important. October 7, 1985 - The Achille Lauro was hijacked, disabled hostage killed - four men representing the Palestine Liberation Front took control of the liner off Egypt while she was sailing from Alexandria to Port Said within Egypt. The hijackers had been surprised by a crew member and acted prematurely. Holding the passengers and crew hostage, they directed the vessel to sail to Tartus, Syria, and demanded the release of 50 Palestinians then in Israeli prisons. When refused permission to dock at Tartus, the hijackers shot one wheelchair-bound passenger – an American named Leon Klinghoffer – because he was Jewish, and threw his body overboard. The ship headed back towards Port Said, and after two days of negotiations the hijackers agreed to abandon the liner for safe conduct and were flown towards Tunisia aboard an Egyptian commercial airliner. October 11,1987 - The NAMES Project AIDS Quilt is first displayed - The AIDS Memorial Quilt is an enormous quilt made as a memorial to and celebration of the lives of people who have died of AIDS-related causes. The Quilt is maintained and displayed by The NAMES Project Foundation and was started in 1987 in San Francisco by Cleve Jones and a group of volunteers. At the time of its creation, most people who died of AIDS-related causes did not receive funerals and their remains were in fact refused by many funeral homes and cemeteries. Lacking a memorial service or grave site, The Quilt was often the only opportunity survivors had to remember and celebrate their loved ones’ lives. The Quilt was last displayed in full on The Mall in Washington, D.C., in 1996. The debut of the quilt coincided with the first March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian rights. October 11th is celebrated as National “Coming Out” day in the US, as a tribute to the event in 1987. October 14, 1964 - Martin Luther King Jr. is the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize - Martin Luther King, Jr., was one of the main leaders of the American civil rights movement, a political activist, Baptist minister, and is regarded as one of America’s greatest orators. King’s most influential and well-known public address is the “I Have A Dream” speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. in 1963. In 1964, King became the youngest man to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize He received the prize for his work as a peacemaker, promoting nonviolence and equal treatment for different races. On April 4, 1968, King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1977, he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Jimmy Carter. In 1986, Martin Luther King Day was established as a United States holiday. In 2004, King was posthumously awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. King’s actions and writings have helped other minorities to fight for their civil rights, including many in the Disability Rights Movement. October 17th, 1948 - Margot Kidder is born - Kidder was born Margaret Ruth Kidder in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, one of five children of Jill, a history teacher, and Kendall Kidder, an explosives expert and mining engineer. She was born in Yellowknife because of her father’s job, which required the family to live in remote locations. She has a sister, Annie, and three brothers, John, Michael and Peter. Kidder’s niece, Janet Kidder, is also an actress. She is an actress, best know for her role as “Lois Lane” in the Superman movies. Kidder has bipolar disorder which led to a widely publicized manic breakdown in 1996. She is an advocate of orthomolecular medicine as a treatment for the disorder. Kidder was involved in a serious car crash back in 1990, she was unable to work for two years. As a result of the unemployability she went bankrupt. A couple years later, 1996, she was found by police in a distressed state, supposedly hiding from someone in a stranger’s garden because she was stalked and attacked. At that point, her hair was cut off and she was placed in psychiatric care. Authorities could find no proof to support her stories. According to experts, her much publicized behavior in 1996 was due to manic depression. She recently appeared on “The L Word” and “Smallville. October 29th, 1954- Denise A. Bader is born in Brooklyn , New York. Within a year Denise contracts polio. Denise survives polio, and learns to walk with braces and Canadian crutches. In 1972, Denise, one of five sisters, begins college at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York (CUNY). There she meets Pat Figueroa, Jr. who is the president of the Student Organization For Every Disability United for Progress (S.O. F.E.D U.P.). In her Junior year Denise becomes president of this on-campus organization. Denise in 1992 becomes the fourth President of the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL). It was during her tenure that NCIL hired it first Executive Director, and establishes an office with staff. She is the Executive Director of the Independent Living Center of the Hudson Valley, Inc (ILCHV), with Offices in Troy, and Hudson , New York. Denise and Pat Figueroa, Jr. have one child, currently attending college. NovemberNovember 12, 1956 - Jim Troesh is born - Jim Troesh, was born. While he was high school, he suffered a fall and became injured as a result of a spinal cord injury. Jim is a quadriplegic, and pursued acting before his injury. He continued post-injury, landing a recurring role in the early 1980’s hit show “Highway to Heaven”, as a lawyer named Scotty Wilson. He has continued acting and is also a professional graphic designer. Jim was the first quadriplegic actor on television. He is a member of the Screen Actor’s Guild, had written a feature film, and besides hosting a video podcast, he has also been known to go skydiving on occasion. November 25, 1950 - Janine Bertham is born. - Janine Bertham first gained notoriety in the 60’s as a fugitive member of the revolutionary George Jackson Brigade. She was convicted of assisting in a bank robbery and served time in prison. She later met and married Evan D. Kemp, former head of the EEOC under President George H.W. Bush. She has worked on numerous national disability issues and campaigns, is a noted leader in the Independent Living movement and spends her time at her house in the mountains of Oregon. November 26, 1986 - Susan Sontag’s The Way We Live Now was published in The New Yorker - Sontag’s literary career began and ended with works of fiction. At age 30, she published an experimental novel called The Benefactor (1963), following it four years later with Death Kit (1967). Despite a relatively small output in the genre, Sontag thought of herself principally as a novelist and writer of fiction. Her short story “The Way We Live Now” was published to great acclaim on November 26, 1986 in The New Yorker. Written in an experimental narrative style, it remains a key text on the AIDS epidemic. She achieved late popular success as a best selling novelist with The Volcano Lover (1992), and at age 67 published her final novel In America (2000). The last two novels were set in the past which Sontag had said gave her greater freedom to write in the polyphonic voice. Sontag, who identified as a bisexual was diagnosed with cancer and her struggle with the disease was documenter by her lover, Annie Leibovitz. She died in 2004 and sparked a controversy as many papers ignored the same sex relationships in her life. ### Compiled from various sources by Michael Reynolds. ****************************** — Compiled from various sources by Michael Reynolds |
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