Letters, memoirs, Sunday School chapbooks, postcards, photos, annual reports, cartoons and more!
Search or Browse our Collections to discover a broad range of records that have shaped the lived experiences of people with disabilities. More about the Library
"Playing Polio," The Polio Chronicle, 1933.
Bring disability history topics into US History survey, civics, and literature course work.
Teach with primary sources! Stand alone professional development! Our education sampler, Educating the Senses and The Campaign for Moral Treatment consider the disability issues engaging Americans from 1820 to 1860. More about Education Porgrams
Laundry Room, Willard Asylum, circa 1880.
Beyond Affliction: The Disability History Project is a lively, award-winning radio series, produced by Laurie Block with Jay Allison (available for purchase in CD format). The exhibits here feature audio interviews, images, audio clips and background essays for each program. Slide shows will be added soon. Listen, look about, and consider how disability experiences matter to you and your community.
From Tiny Tim to the March of Dimes, the poster child was and still is central to charitable fundraising. Buy Inventing the Poster Child NowTime Period: 1921
Meet some of the disability rights movement's key advocates and consider why they came to demand civil rights not just social welfare supports. Hear them tell how they sat in, marched and organized to create a better future for themselves. Buy The Overdue Revolution NowTime Period: 1960