From the
BBC:
In a new ten-part radio series, journalist Peter
White (pictured) uncovers new historical sources revealing what life was like for
those with physical disabilities in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Disability:
A New History, starting on BBC Radio 4 on 27 May, is the first major
series to explore the history of disability before the 20th century. It
draws on a wealth of new research by historians across the country from
sources including letters, diaries, advertisements, even jokes – all of
which reveal what daily life was like for those with disabilities. This
was an age before political correctness, and although some of the
language used is robust, attitudes were often surprisingly
compassionate.
The series sets out to challenge modern-day
attitudes to disability, and the archive sources provide direct access
to voices from the past. Throughout the series a rich variety of voices
is heard: a man who complains he is the ‘only dwarf in Liverpool’; deaf
children writing home from institutions; a wounded soldier, struggling
to walk with a wooden leg; a society beauty disfigured by smallpox;
‘freaks’ who exploited their extraordinary bodies on the streets of
London – and made a fortune. Dr David Turner from Swansea University is
the academic advisor to the series and an expert in disability history.
He provides academic insights throughout, in addition to a number of
historians from across the country.
Elizabeth Burke, Producer,
says: “The great thing about radio is that we can bring these voices to
life, and give listeners a chance to hear first-hand sources – many of
which have not yet been published. Some of these accounts are very
funny, some are moving and inspiring. This is cutting-edge historical
research – it amounts almost to a new historical movement. We wanted to
explore what daily life was like for people with physical disabilities,
but also to look beyond that, to ideas of beauty and deformity, wider
concepts of what it means to be ‘able-bodied’ - which had an impact on
real people, then as now."
For presenter Peter White there is a
strong and genuine sense of personal discovery. As a blind man he has
always wondered, where were people like him in the past? “I never
realised disabled people had a history. History was what happened to
everyone else,” White says.
Gwyneth Williams, Controller BBC
Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra, says: “I am so pleased that Peter White, one
of our most distinguished presenters, has decided to take up this
unexplored area of history. I am looking forward to a challenging and
original series which adds to Radio 4’s proud history coverage.”
Notes for Editors
Disability:
A New History runs for 10 consecutive weekdays at 1.45pm over a
two-week period from Monday 27 May, with an hour-long omnibus edition on
Friday nights at 8pm. It was commissioned by Jane Ellison for BBC Radio
4. The producer is Elizabeth Burke for Loftus.
Academic Advisor:
Dr David Turner of Swansea University, who recently published the first
book-length study of physical disability in 18th-century England,
Disability In Eighteenth-Century England: Imagining Physical Impairment.
Historians
featured: David Turner, Stephen King, Joanna Bourke , Judith Hawley,
Amanda Vickery, Tim Hitchcock, Julie Anderson, Irina Metzler, Naomi
Baker, Chris Mounsey, Vivienne Richmond, Caroline Nielsen, Mike Mantin,
Selina Mills.
Actors bringing life to the archived first-hand
accounts: Gerard McDermott, Euan Bailey, Emily Bevan, Jonathan Keeble,
Madeleine Brolly.
