Missouri History Museum celebrates ADA 20th anniversary with exhibit

From West End World:

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Missouri History Museum has opened an exhibit that tracks the changes over the past 20 years in the life of people with disabilities.

The ADA, considered the most vital civil rights legislation for people with disabilities, was signed into law July 26, 1990, by President George H.W. Bush.

The free exhibit The Americans with Disabilities Act: 20 Years Later opened to the public June 26 and remains on display through June 6, 2011. The 1,000-square-foot gallery explores life before the ADA was passed and examines progresses in removing obstacles since the legislation was enacted.

“The exhibit is the work and collaboration of many people,” said Robert Archibald, president of the History Museum. “It’s more about civil rights and human rights. It’s about full access to community life, the future of Americans, equality, fairness and more justice in our society.”

Sharon Smith, curator of the exhibit, said that the gallery is meant to help people understand the impact the act has made on the lives of people with disabilities.

“The exhibit begins with life before the ADA, before awareness develops of how people with disabilities live,” Smith said. “The story of polio tells about the scary polio outbreak in the 1950s.” An iron lung used by patients with polio is exhibited.

“The iconic event shows the randomness of disability and constantly reminds us that disability can come to anyone at anytime,” she said.

The early part of the exhibit also takes a glimpse into how people with disabilities were institutionalized and found barriers everywhere in society once they sought a life outside the institution.

Max Starkloff is one of those people who did not want to stay at a nursing home. He and his wife, Colleen, founded Paraquad in 1970 as part of the independent living movement.

Starkloff said that the reason for founding Paraquad came from his own experiences in the nursing home––“the isolation you feel, the control you lose; you cannot work and cannot do anything.”

“I decided to make some changes,” he said.

The couple, along with many others, worked for accessible public transportation, urging the Bi-State Development Agency (now Metro) to add bus lifts to its fleet. Other activists initiated campaigns to fight for the legislation protecting the civil rights of people with disabilities.

Then came the significant historic moment of signing the legislation into law 20 years ago. The House passed the final version of the act July 12, 1990, and the president signed it into law two weeks later. “The pen President George Bush used to sign his name to the act is on display,” Smith said.

Among the artifacts of the exhibit are political pins promoting the ADA. Featuring the slogans “Roll to the Polls,” “Not Dead Yet,” “Americans with Disabilities Vote” and “We Vote,” they were a way for supporters of the ADA to make their voices heard.

The exhibit also features artifacts from after the ADA’s passage, including the torch used in the Spirit of ADA Torch Relay, a 24-city tour celebrating the 10th anniversary of the ADA in the summer of 2000, hosted by the American Association of People with Disabilities. St. Louis was chosen to participate and kept one of the torches.

Finally the exhibit leads visitors to today. Smith said that she saw the present part as a landmark of how much society has achieved all along the way.

“Nowadays more people have become aware of curb cuts, wheelchair-accessible paths and the necessity to have captions on TV,” she said. “The public came to realize that barriers have come down whereas in the past they were everywhere.”

Smith said that the gallery gives the largest minority a venue to celebrate their achievements and make their stories visible. “For people with disabilities, they want their stories to be out there and have more presence,” she said.

“For the general public, the point is to expose them to what people with disabilities have fought for and understand how their life has been improved,” Smith said. “Most people simply don’t think about it and just take it for granted. It’s important to realize there is a need.”

Smith noted that recent years have witnessed a growing awareness of total accessibility from which everybody benefits, adding that she herself started to look at buildings and sidewalks in a different way by inspecting if they are accessible to everyone.

Another amazing difference from then to now, Smith said, is the transition from institutionalizing people with mental illness —as one artifact, a page from the admission book from a lunatic asylum, illustrates — to involving them in society.

“At that time, people with depression were put in insane asylums. Today, those with mental illness live in society, which is good for their recovery,” Smith said.

Starkloff described the changes he has experienced in the post-ADA period as “tremendous” and said that the ADA has enforced their benefits. “In the community, curb cuts are everywhere and public transportation is accessible. We are now enjoying the freedom we have fought for,” he said.

Archibald explained that the exhibit is one chapter of the theme concerning expansion of rights among minority groups the museum has focused on and emphasized that it matters to everyone.

“The exhibit is not about others. It’s about us. For our generation, while living a longer life, more than half of the population lives some portion of their life disabled,” he said, adding that barriers are lowered, though not disappearing.

“We hope that the exhibit will give visitors a broader understanding of issues faced by people with disabilities and a greater appreciation for human rights,” Archibald said.

On June 25, before the opening of the exhibit, was a signing ceremony of proclamations of recommitment to the mission of the ADA. Five St. Louis cultural institutions — the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Missouri History Museum, St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis Science Center and St. Louis Zoo — joined together to participate in the “2010 by 2010 Campaign,” a nationwide campaign that aims to collect 2010 proclamations of recommitment in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the ADA.