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Home / Albums 332
Creation date / 2013 / July / 11
- ADAPT (149)
The Washington Post: AROUND THE REGION, November 1st, 1984 [Headline] Disabled Protesters Block Bus at Transit Meeting Site About 15 handicapped protesters, most of them in wheelchairs, blocked a chartered bus in front of the Washington Hilton Hotel yesterday, the site of an American Public Transit Association convention, to protest the lack of access for handicapped persons to buses nationwide. The hour-long demonstration was the second staged here in the past four days by a group called the American Disabled for the Accessible Public Transit. On Thursday, a dozen protesters stopped rush-hour traffic in front of the White House by blocking seven Metrobuses. Yesterday, the protesters encircled a charter bus that was to take about 50 spouses of conventioneers on a tour of the city, according to convention speaker Albert Engelken. He said that the bus remained in front of the hotel's T Street NW entrance for about an hour while police negotiated with demonstrators. About 2 p.m., the riders disembarked and went back into the hotel. Engelken said. He said the demonstrators dispersed soon afterward. - ADAPT (151)
[Headline] A Wheelchair Protest Blocks Access to Transit Convention (AP) Photo: A man in an old style motorized wheelchair (Mike Auberger) with long hair sits a half a body length above several people standing on the ground. His mouth is open in a yell and his arms are flung wide. Caption reads: A wheelchair-bound protester is arrested and put aboard a lift-equipped van by Washington DC police. The unidentified man was among some 20 people arrested for blocking entry to the convention center where the American Public Transit Association meeting opened yesterday. Article reads: Public transit officals, opening their annual convention yesterday, were greeted with a wheelchair protests by about 100 disabled demonstrators who demanded that more be done to provide them access to buses, trains, and subways. About 20 people were arrested for breaking police lines after the protesters, linking wheelchairs blocked two entryways to the convention center where the meeting of the American Public Transit Association was under way. Jean Stewart of Poughkeepsie N.Y. who parked her wheelchair with others at the convention door, said they were trying to demonstrate that “disabled people across the country have a civil right to public transportation. As the protesters chanted outside the hall, Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole, addressing the transit officials inside said she is confident “we can meet our responsibility toward our disabled citizens” and “provide the mobility they require and deserve.” Last year the Transportation Department begin developing new regulations to allow local authorities to provide alternative transportation such as door-to-door van service- instead of modifying buses or train to accommodate the handicapped. - ADAPT (152)
Rocky Mountain News 5-18-84 PHOTO (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID CORNWELL): A large meeting room in a business or hotel type setting. In the foreground a tough looking protester in a wheelchair holds a sign in front of him and looks sideways at the camera. Behind him more protesters in wheelchairs and men in suits stand around not looking at each other. Behind them is a table with 5 other people in wheelchairs sitting at it. Caption reads: Protesters meet with McDonald's representatives, standing from left, Joe Hill, Don Fowler and Dennis Morris. [Headline] McDonald’s officials, disabled to confer by Arnold Levinson, Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer A group of people who have threatened to block selected McDonald's restaurants around the country will meet with the company’s national executives to demand that the chain improve access for handicapped customers. The agreement to hold higher-level discussions was reached Monday in a wheelchair-packed room of the Denver Holiday lnn, where two dozen disabled people bargained for several hours with regional officials of the fast-food company. Both sides said afterward that the McDonald's national marketing and construction directors, as well as the vice president for store licensing, would attend the next meeting, which isn't scheduled yet. The outcome of Monday's meeting suggested that McDonald's is taking seriously the demands - and the threats — of ACCESS, a small, loosely knit coalition of handicapped-advocacy groups nationwide. Last week ACCESS members, most in wheelchairs, picketed two McDonald's restaurants in Denver. Led by members of the Atlantis Community, ACCESS vowed to begin a campaign against McDonald’s in several cities unless certain demands were met. “They can stop this thing from spreading today, or they can stonewall us and it will spread,” the Rev. Wade Blank, Atlantis Community leader, said Monday before the meeting. Jim Parker, a 38-year-old quadriplegic from El Paso, Texas, said afterward that ACCESS wants McDonald’s to promise that: * Entranceways,‘bathrooms and seating in all future outlets be “fully accessible" to the disabled. * Handicapped people appear in 10 percent of the company's advertisements. * The company make restaurants handicapped-accessible within a period yet to be agreed upon. McDonald’s regional officials declined comment Monday beyond saying that negotiations will resume within 30 days to address "the issues brought to our attention today." The regional office oversees operations in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and part of Arizona. The company's national media office failed to respond to a request for information about McDonald's policies toward the handicapped. Behind the decision by ACCESS to target McDonald's are several factors, said Blank, not the least of which is the ripple effect that could occur if an accord is reached with a large, visible symbol of industry. If you can beat the big ones," said Blank, “the others will fall in place.” McDonald’s inaugurated the fast-food industry and leads competitors in the world market. Blank said the move on McDonald’s, which he called “symbolic of free enterprise," also represents a decision to take on the business sector after winning gains, such as bus lifts and curb ramps, from government. He acknowledged that last week's demonstrations were timed to coincide with the presence in Denver of about two dozen disabled people who arrived May 1 to study at the ACCESS Institute. The Atlantis Community uses the institute to teach its methods of advocacy. Alongside these political considerations is criticism of McDonald’s policies toward the handicapped, particularly what Blank called delays in remodeling older stores. “My daughter is in a wheelchair, and I can’t get her to a table," he said of one local McDonald's outlet “The only place she can eat is in the restroom, because it’s accessible." - ADAPT (153)
Rocky Mountain News Denver, Colo. Sat. May 12, 1984 PHOTO by Bryan Moss, Rocky Mountain Staff: Woman in white dress with puffy short sleeves stands with her arm extended to the door. Man in a manual wheelchair (David Sheckles), with his arm apparently in a cast, faces her. Both of their faces look determined. Through the darkened interior of the McDonald's and between them you can make out the face of Bob Conrad and the body of another protester behind him. [Headline] Patron ignores protest by handicapped Caption reads: Woman enters McDonald’s at East Colfax Avenue Pennsylvania Street despite demonstration by David Sheckles, right, and Bob Conrad. STORY. ANOTHER PHOTO PAGE 6. - ADAPT (154)
[Headline] 7 Arrested as Handicapped Protest at Fast-Food Outlet By Jim Kirksey Denver Post Staff Writer Denver police arrested seven persons – six of them handicapped – during a demonstration at a near-downtown Denver McDonald’s Restaurant Thursday. Wheelchair-bound demonstrators from Denver’s Atlantis Community Inc., which represents disabled people in the area, blocked entrances to the parking lot at the McDonald’s at East Colfax Avenue and Pennsylvania Street beginning about 11:0 a.m. to protest the lack of access to the restaurant for the handicapped. All of the arrests were based on traffic-obstruction charges. Police estimated there were about 20 demonstrators, but leaders of the demonstration estimated the number at 30 to 50. Richard Male, an organizer with the Community Resource Center, said the protesters want three things: access for the disabled to McDonald’s current restaurants, such access to be constructed at all new McDonald’s restaurants, and for the fast-food company to advertise its welcome and accessibility to the disabled. Joe Carle, 45, a community organizer at the Atlantis Community and one of the leaders of Thursday’s demonstration, said the point at issue is what he termed McDonald’s failure to live up to agreements made by the company in negotiations last month. He said McDonald’s officials met in Denver with members of the Access Institute, a national organization for the handicapped with which Atlantis is affiliated, following similar demonstrations at two McDonald’s restaurants in Denver in May. Organizers said McDonald’s agreed at that time to a June 19 meeting in Denver with a negotiating team from the institute. Carle said McDonald’s agreed to pay the costs of the Access Institute negotiators to return to Denver and to send a restaurant official with the authority to make an agreement. Now, according to the leaders of the local disabled group, McDonald’s says it won’t pay the transportation costs of the group’s members and won’t confirm that a representative with the authority to make an access agreement with the group will attend the meeting. The manager at the restaurant refused comment and a corporate spokesman for McDonald’s in Chicago didn’t return a telephone call to comment on the demonstration and the allegations. Sgt. Roy Clem of the Denver police said those demonstrators who were arrested had refused to get out of East Colfax Avenue, and they were arrested for obstruction of traffic. The one non-disabled person was arrested when she jumped in front of a car to block its path in support of the demonstration, Clem said. Detective George Masciotro identified those arrested as: Lori Eastwood, 26, of 1222 Pennsylvania St., who isn’t disabled; Donna Smith, 32, of 236 S. Elliot St.; Robert W. Conrad Jr., 35, of 750 Know Court; George Roberts, 36, of 1255 Galapago St.; Lawrence Ruiz, 30, also of 1255 Galapago St.; Terri Fowler, 28, of 3202 W. Gill Place; and Michael William Auberger, 29, of 1140 Colorado Blvd. Masciotro said they were booked into jail, then released on personal recognizance bonds. - ADAPT (155)
Rocky Mountain News PHOTO by Steve Groer, Rocky Mountain News Staff: person in a manual wheelchair sits holding a sign that reads "Make Public Transit Public." In front of her people move suitcases from the sidewalk to a vehicle. [Headline] Access to buses is Demanded A member of a group called ADAPT, or American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, picks downtown Hilton Hotel where the American public Transit Association is meeting. ADAPT is demanding wheelchair access to all U.S public buses, and their motto is, “No taxation for Transportation”. - ADAPT (156)
Rocky Mountain News Tues. Oct. 2, 1984 Denver, Colo. PHOTO (AP LASER PHOTO): A protester in a manual wheelchair and a puffy coat (Renata Conrad), screams as police force her arms behind her back. One uniformed officer stands behind her forcing her forward. One stands in front, his arms stretched in front. The third stands watching with his notebook in his hand and his pen or maybe a cigarette in his mouth. Caption reads: Washington police restrain wheelchair-bound women during protest at transit conference. [Headline] Disabled Denverites held at D.C. protest By JOSEPH B. VERRENGIA Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer WASHINGTON — Fourteen wailing handicapped protesters, including some from Denver, were arrested here Monday when they used their wheelchairs, crutches and limp bodies to briefly blockade a national meeting of transit executives. Among those arrested were Mike Auberger, Bob Conrad, Mark Ball and Glen Damen, all of Denver. Richard Male of Denver, an able-bodied demonstrator, also was arrested, as were nine other protesters from New York, Texas, Illinois and Connecticut. The 14 were among more than 35 people who converged on the annual meeting of the American Public Transit Association at the Washington Convention Center. They were fined $50 apiece for blocking a public building. ADAPT, a Denver-based militant handicapped rights group, raised an estimated $30,000 this year to send the protesters to Washington and to train disabled groups nationwide in political demonstration and lobbying techniques. Two of the protesters who were arrested and fined were treated at a local hospital for minor injuries and released. "The police got pretty physical,“ said ADAPT spokesman Wade Blank of Denver. "We had been causing civil disobedience all week. We expected it (the arrests) to happen. It was just a matter of when." Monday's arrests capped a year of growing tension between handicapped activists and transit officials over the issue of accessibility to the handicapped. “This is not something that we are especially proud of,"said ADAPT member Mark Johnson, as he pounded on the plexiglass door of the convention center with a wooden crutch. "We are here because there has been a resistance to us," said Johnson, who ran unsuccessfully for the RTD Board of Directors in 1980. Johnson said ADAPT is demanding that the transit convention vote to make all public transit systems accessible to the handicapped, that those systems only purchase buses equipped with wheelchair lifts, and that the Federal Government reinstate a regulation mandating accessibility. Convention officials said the demonstrators delayed their program for a few minutes, but caused no damage. Last year, RTD hosted the annual transit convention. Although handicapped activists picketed the meeting, their protests were less forceful. In addition, the protesters last year were allowed to address the convention, a privilege refused them this year. "They requested a slot, but we already had everything filled," convention spokesman Albert Engelken said. "There have been some problems. They (protesters) have been pretty aggressive." The demonstrators suddenly appeared at 10 a.m, just as hundreds of transit executives arrived at the convention center on a convoy of shuttle buses from their hotels. Washington police tried to block the advancing wheelchairs. However, they quickly became entangled with the front line of handicapped men and women and were outflanked by the rest of the demonstrators. Chanting "we will ride. it's our right," the protesters wedged their wheelchairs between the doors of the convention center. Many of them threw themselves out of their chairs and sprawled on the sidewalk to block the doors. Monday's demonstration was the third in a series of protests organized by ADAPT. On Thursday, a dozen protesters blocked seven Washington Metro buses in front of the White House during the evening rush hour. On Sunday, another contingent blocked a chartered bus carrying the spouses of 50 transit executives who were touring the nation's capital. After being trapped for an hour, the spouses finally crawled over the crippled protesters to get to their hotel. The protest overshadowed the speeches to the packed convention by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole and New York City Mayor Ed Koch. Dole abandoned much of her highly partisan prepared speech, choosing instead to repeat the Reagan administration's compromise offer for accessible public transit. "Transit authorities receiving federal funds would be required to make at least half of their peak hour bus fleet accessible, provide para-transit for special services or offer some combination of these options," Dole said. Both sides are cool to the proposal. Transit executives complain it will cost too much considering that only 5 percent of the country's transit passengers are disabled. Many disabled groups, meanwhile, reject Dole's offer because they say it endorses separate but equal service. - ADAPT (157)
The Washington Times 10-2-84 PHOTO 1 (Photos by Richard Kozas, The Washington Times): A mass of ADAPT protesters block the entire sidewalk. Some are in wheelchairs, some are on the ground. In front of them are five or six police officers. Behind the protesters is a mass of people standing. (Among the protesters on the line: Mike Auberger, George Cooper?, Mickey Rodriguez.) Caption reads: Police use a barricade to try to keep protesting wheelchair activists from charging the front entrance of the Washington Convention Center yesterday. PHOTO 2: A protester (Tom Pugh), his face filled with passion, is up against a barricade. Someone appears to be lying across his lap. Behind him you can see other protesters (including George Cooper?) Caption reads: Wheelchair protesters, members of the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit, finally crash the barricades. They blocked the convention center entrance to dramatize their plea tor access. [Headline] Disabled protest at Convention Center The Washington Times About 100 wheelchair-bound activists seeking greater access to public transportation yesterday broke through police barricades and blocked the main entrance to the Washington Convention Center, where the American Mass Transit Association Expo is being staged. Chanting, “Access. Access. We want access," members of the Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transit said they were protesting the "historic resistance" mass transit systems around the country have exhibited toward the disabled, said ADAPT spokeswoman Jane Stewart of Poughkeepsie. N.Y. She was one of the demonstrators who parked her wheelchair outside the center. As the protesters shouted outside the hall, Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole, addressing transit officials inside. said she is confident “we can meet our responsibility toward our disabled citizens." The Department of Transportation last year modified its rule on how transit authorities should deal with the disabled after transit officials protested the high cost of equipping all buses and trains with handicapped lifts. Subsequently, DOT provided an option whereby transit officials can meet the requirements of the handicapped by establishing van service exclusively for the handicapped. But protesters yesterday compared the “segregation“ of mass transit today to that of schools in the era of separate-but-equal. "I am personally committed to the principle of providing excellent transit service for all the people of this region, and that includes our handicapped community," Carmen Turner, Metro transit‘s general manager, responded in a prepared statement. “For most of the handicapped, the bus and rail system provides a lifeline of mobility second to none. The Metrorail system is completely accessible to the handicapped," she said. She added that Metro has already spent $50 million on aids for the handicapped on Metrorail, and said the lifts on buses for the handicapped are “expensive to purchase and maintain. . . Our last two purchases of new buses have included lifts, and we intend to continue to increase the number of lifts in our fleet as we make new purchases. “We do feel it is better to operate the lift service we have efficiently than to expand it at great expense at some risk to reliability." — Amy Stromberg - ADAPT (158)
Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colo Saturday, May 12, 1984 PHOTO (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS STAFF PHOTOS BY BRYAN MOSS): In front of a McDonald's, two people in wheelchairs (Mike Auberger and a woman) talk with a man in a suit and tie. The arches appear over his head as someone holds up a sign behind him. A man stands beside Mike looking down at his hands, which are out of sight. Caption reads: Dennis Morris, McDonald's Denver operations manager; talks with people protesting lack of accessibility to the handicapped. A large quote beside the picture reads: "This McDonald's (at East Colfax Avenue and Pennsylvania Street) is one of the most inaccessible." Bob Conrad, protest leader Handicapped demand break from McDonald's By JERILYNN BLUM, Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer Waving protest signs and shouting “We want access," 35 handicapped people in wheelchairs Friday blocked the entrances to a McDonald’s restaurant on East Colfax Avenue. The demonstration was the second this week at a Denver McDonald's restaurant, both of them launched by ACCESS, a group concerned with building access for the handicapped. ACCESS claims the McDonald’s chain doesn’t provide wheelchair ramps or other fixtures needed for handicapped access. The demonstration Friday was joined by handicapped people from five states, who are training in the ACCESS Institute in Denver for activities to expand privileges of the disabled. The conflict between ACCESS and McDonald’s began Tuesday, when members of the group picketed the restaurant at 200 16th St. Spokesman Bob Conrad of Denver said the group had targeted McDonald’s because the chain is not responsive to the needs of wheelchair bound people. “This McDonald’s," he said, referring to the restaurant at East Colfax Avenue and Pennsylvania Street, “is one of the most inaccessible because you have to step up to get on the sidewalk and then it's impossible to get in the bathroom in a wheelchair." Members of the demonstration carried signs that read "Ronald McDonald, stop clowning around and make your stores accessible," and “We deserve a ramp today at McDonald’s." Conrad said members of the group decided to go ahead with the protest, even though they had been negotiating with McDonald‘s Denver operations manager Dennis Morris, because McDonald‘s management was “stonewalling." Conrad said ACCESS requested a meeting with McDonald's officials and a letter authorizing Morris to make decisions for the restaurant. The letter didn't arrive by Friday. Morris confirmed he offered to give ACCESS a letter but said he was “shocked” when the members insisted on having the letter before the Monday meeting. “They have been changing the rules of the game the last two days," said Morris. “I was under the understanding everything was set for Monday." Many lunch patrons at the East Colfax McDonald's Friday were sympathetic but disgruntled by having to step over the protesters. “I'm sure they have a legal gripe but I don’t think they have the right to block the doors," said Ray Cook, a Denver businessman. Morris said that ACCESS wanted a meeting Wednesday, which he explained was impossible. He said ACCESS members then chose Friday but eventually agreed to Monday. “We are looking forward to meeting to clarify the facts of what McDonald's has been doing all along to meet accessibility needs of the handicapped," said Morris. Morris and Bob Keiser, media relations spokesman at the McDonald's corporate offices in Oakbrook, Ill., said McDonald's has been complying with building codes that allow for accessibility for the handicapped. - ADAPT (159)
Colorado Springs Sun PHOTO (by Mary Kelley): Close up of protester Beverly Furnice's angry face as she reclined in her wheelchair, holding a poster in her fists, which reads "Accessible Bathrooms Now!" Caption reads: Beverly Furnice holds a sign explaining one of the reasons she and other disabled people were picketing a local McDonald's Restaurant Friday. [Headline] Officials Defends McDonalds' Record By Ken Warren, Colorado Springs Sun McDonald’s Restaurants is the industry leader in providing barrier-free access to the disabled, a top official of the corporation said Friday. Robert L Keyser Ill. national director of media relations, rejected as “false" and “inappropriate" charges made by a group of wheelchair bound protesters that McDonald's discriminates against the handicapped. “We think we're the leader in the industry in barrier-free accessibility”, but there are always things we can learn, " Keyser said, watching protesters picket the McDonald's Restaurant at 207 N. Wahsatch Ave. As discussed, six weeks ago, he said, McDonald's plans to meet next week with representatives of the Denver-based Access Institute to discuss their concerns. “We want to listen. We also want them to learn a little more about McDonald's because we're committed to the community." Asked about the potential impact of the second protest against McDonald's in as many days on upcoming talks, Keyser said, "It's certainly not a sign of the good faith" in which we’ve been trying to deal with them in Denver." "He suggested "that the group had targeted McDonald's because of its size and visibility. “We clearly think it's not appropriate, but "they've done it, and we're going to speak proudly about our record." Keyser said ‘McDonald's had been striving since the 1960s to meet the needs of the disabled with ramps, drive-through lanes and other special accommodations. Robert Conrad, a protester confined to a wheelchair because of cerebral palsy criticized McDonald's for failing to do more to make their 6,400 restaurants accessible to the disabled. “We've tried to negotiate with McDonald's, but all they want to do is dialogue," he said. - ADAPT (160)
Denver Post PHOTO by Fred Nelson, The Denver Post: Disabled people form a line as they picket. 3 face away, one of whom has an ADAPT NOW! sign on the back of his wheelchair. Facing forward, a man with a very short haircut wearing a baseball type jacket and necktie, has a sign that reads "Let us USE tokens, not BE tokens. Accessibility Now!" caption reads: Kent Jones of Chicago travelled to Denver to participate in this week's demonstration urging accessibility to public transit for the handicapped. [Headline] Handicapped Seek Change in Public Transit By George Lane, Denver Post Staff Writer Several dozen wheelchairs jammed the sidewalk of the Denver Hilton Hotel on Sunday afternoon as disabled activists from throughout the country urged public transportation be made more accessible to the handicapped. The rolling demonstration took place in front of the Hilton because the hotel is the headquarters for about 3,000 U.S and Canadian transportation officials attending the national meeting of the American Public Transit Association. Representatives of the group, the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit, are scheduled to speak to the transit officials Wednesday, but a spokesman said they were on the sidewalks Sunday “to let them know they were serious.” Bob Conrad, an executive of Denver Atlantis Community Inc. and one of the wheelchair-bound demonstrators, said the purpose of attending the transit convention was to call the need for accessible public transportation to the attention of transit officials and bus manufacturers. “California has had a law for about 12 years saying all buses purchased must be accessible to all person, including riders in wheelchairs,” said Lew Nau of Los Angeles. “Michigan is the only other state I know of with a similar law.” Nau and his wife, Yvonne, both in wheelchairs, said they have devoted all their efforts since retirement to the issue. The couple said that during the Carter administration all public transit agencies were subject to a regulation that said 50 percent of all buses purchased had to be accessible to handicapped people. “The (regulation) was our civil rights act,” Mrs. Nau said. “Now Reagan has in effect rolled it back.” - ADAPT (161)
Patricia Schroeder, 1st District, Denver, Colorado Washington Office: 2410 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515 (202) 225-4431 District Office: 1767 High Street, Denver, Colorado 80218 (303) 837-23 Armed Services Committee Post Office and Civil Service Committee Judiciary Committee Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues, Co-Chair Congress of the United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 October 5, 1983 Wade Blank, Michael Berger [sic] Atlantis Community 4536 E. Colfax Denver, Colorado 80220 Dear Wade and Michael: I wrote to Secretary Dole to encourage her to meet with you before addressing the APTA conference later this month. In addition, my aide Maureen Maxwell called Judd Swift at Department of Transportation. He informs us that Mrs. Dole’s scheduling people are working on setting up the meeting. Please let me know if I can be of further help. Sincerely, Patricia Schroeder, Congresswoman PS/mm Encl. - ADAPT (162)
PROCLAMATION Federico Pena, Mayor City and County of Denver City and County Building - Denver, Colorado 80202 Area Code 303-575-2721 Whereas, It is imperative that citizens who use wheelchairs for mobility to be able to use public transportation if they are to participate equally in society; and Whereas, The technology is available to make buses accessible to wheelchairs; and Whereas, A number of cities have made their buses accessible and found the program to be highly successful; and Whereas, Offering only special transportation to disabled people further segregates and alienates them, underscoring the truth that "separate is not equal"; and Whereas, The American Public Transportation Association represents almost all transit authorities and has the power to encourage its members to make their systems accessible as well as to encourage bus manufacturers to design and build accessible buses: Now, therefore, I, Federico Pena, Mayor of the City and County of Denver, Colorado, by virtue of the authority vested in me, do hereby proclaim that: 1) The American Public Transportation Association goes on record calling for 100% accessibility by all public transit systems, 2) The American Public Transportation Association serves notice on all manufacturers that its members will buy only wheelchair accessible buses, and 3) The American Public Transportation Association urges the federal government to reinstate the 504 regulation mandating that all public transit system buses be accessible; and LET'S MAKE PUBLIC TRANSIT PUBLIC! In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of the City and County of Denver this 18th day of 1983. signed by Federico Pena, Mayor [And there is a dark seal in the corner of the proclamation, but details are not visible.] - ADAPT (163)
LA Times, Oct 2 1984 Public transit officials, opening their annual convention in Washington, DC, were greeted with a wheelchair protest by about 100 disabled demonstrators who demanded that more be done to provide them access to buses, trains and subways. About 20 persons were arrested for breaking and police lines after the protesters, linking wheelchairs, blocked two entryways to the convention center where the meeting of the American Public Transit Assn. was under way. - ADAPT (164)
The Washington Times Tuesday, October 2, 1984 PHOTO by Richard Kozak, The Washington Times: In a high contrast picture, three police men stand forming a kind of line. The center man seems to be pushing someone away and stepping over a crutch on the ground. The policeman on the left is holding a protester, an African American man, up by his shoulder and maybe his hip. The protester, Greg Dougan, looks like he is erupting through the line of officers. He hovers in mid-air grimacing, his arms extended hands almost in fists. [Headline] Disabled Protesters Greg Dougan tries crossing police barricades as members of Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transit protest the American Mass Transit Association Expo at the Washington Convention Center. Story on 7D