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The President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities
vol.2, No. 4, April 1990
(This article continues on 519 but is transcribed here for reading ease.)

The Civil Rights March of 1990

On March 12, hundreds of people from across the United States joined a march for the Americans with Disabilities Act that would give America's 43 million people with disabilities rights that other minorities have had for years.

Beginning at the White House and ending at the United States Capitol, the demonstrators marched the 19 city blocks chanting ”Access is our Civil Right" and other slogans in favor of ADA’s immediate passage with no weakening amendments. The procession moved slowly in the 89-degree heat as individuals with disabilities and advocates made their way along the streets of the Nation's Capital.

Aside from many demonstrators in wheelchairs, banners, handmade signs and colorful tee-shirts made the procession a media extravaganza, as representatives of national, local and many independent news services from around the country covered the event. Camera crews kept focus on the demonstration well after arrival at the Capitol, where a brief ceremony was held.

Mike Auberger, an ADAPT organizer and leader of the march, introduced Justin Dart, Chairman of the Task Force on the Rights and Empowerment of Americans with Disabilities and Chairman of the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. He gave a rousing address, followed by remarks from Evan Kemp, Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Congressman Major Owens (D-NY), who marched in the rally, Representative Patricia Schroeder (D-CO), Dr. I. King Jordan, President of Gallaudet University, Jim Brady, former Press Secretary and Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, and Bob Silverstein, Staff Director of the Senate Subcommittee on Disability Policy.

Following the formal ceremony, activists in wheelchairs crawled up four flights of stairs to the Capitol building in a dramatic display of commitment to their cause. Each carried with them a copy of the "Disabled People's Bill of Rights”, a document generated by American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT).

PHOTO (on 527) - Three people in wheelchairs (Joe Carle, Walter Hart, and Mike Muehy)

PHOTOS: Photo 1(on 519) (by Monica Hall): A crowd of people covers the plaza between the two staircases on the side of the Capitol facing the mall. In the distant background you can see House office buildings.
Caption reads: Ceremony Assembly at Capitol.

Photo 2 (on 519) (by Monica Hall): A small throng of people, many in wheelchairs, head over to the rally area from the march. In the background the Capitol building rises majestically. In the foreground Wade Blank hugs Patty Leffingwell who wears a baseball type cap. Caption reads: After the March.

Photo 3 (on 519): Julie Farrar and Jennifer Keelan climb the Capitol steps as about 10 people watch. They are 5 steps from the top. Jennifer who is about 8 years old is crawling on her hands and knees while Julie is doing the backwards scooch up step by step on the butt maneuver. There is a man walking beside Jennifer with a box that appears to be a camera and at the top of the steps there is a person holding a professional mike, like a film crew would use. Julie and Jennifer are carrying scrolls.

BULLETIN:
Executive Director Jay Rochlin announces his retirement. Story page 3

Created on

Friday 12 July 2013

Posted on

Monday 29 June 2015

Tags

ADA, ADAPT, Bobby Silverstein, civil rights, Congressman Major Owens, Congresswoman Pat Schroeder, EEOC - Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Evan Kemp, I King Jordan, Jay Rochlin, Jim Brady, Joe Carle, Justin Dart, march, Mike Auberger, PCEPD - President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, Senate Subcommittee on Disability Policy, Walter Hart

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