Smithsonian - The Display of a Movement | SMG

The Display of a Movement

By Joan Leotta

The National Museum of American History, a part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC has mounted a small but powerful exhibit: The Disability Rights Movement. This exhibit, which opened July 6, 2000, is exciting both for its determination to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and for its role in modeling the way to make an exhibit accessible to people with a range of disabilities. "With this exhibit we want to capture history and show what is possible in making exhibits accessible. At the same time, we are using it to learn more about what we can do to make our exhibits even more accessible," says Katherine Ott, exhibit curator. "The point of the exhibit is that this is a matter of Civil Rights—not sickness." Ott adds.

The Exhibit's Development

On May 12 and 13, 1999, the Smithsonian hosted an international meeting: Disability and the Practice of Public History. Panel discussions of mixed disciplines—historians, museum people and people with disabilities worked together to develop ideas on how to present this long-ignored portion of our history. "The conference helped educate us too," said Ott. Ott's strategy was to introduce the exhibit to coincide with the anniversary of the ADA, using it to provide a historic context for this current event. When reviewing the collection, Ott noticed that the Smithsonian Museum's collection concentrated on the medical side of disability.

She was determined to broaden both perspective and the collection itself. In addition to working with Smithsonian employees with disabilities, Ott reached out to the disability community using list serves and letters—as many avenues as she could. Some of the individuals and groups who advised her include: Justin Dart, Diane Coleman and the Not Dead Yet, National Federation of the Blind, Arc of Washington State, Leslie Young and the Center for Universal Design, and Remembering with Dignity. Using a survey, she determined which objects would be meaningful to include. After obtaining pins, booklets, stickers, photos, a wheelchair, and other items, Ott solicited input from disability groups on how to best display the objects. She also consulted them on how to make the exhibit universally appealing to both able-bodied and disabled visitors.

The Final Masterpiece

There are four small cases ("Small but mighty," says Ott). The cases can be viewed in any order. The case with the oldest object contains the numbered grave marker of Bertha Flaten, a young girl institutionalized because of epilepsy. Her name and birth/death dates have now been restored in the hospital cemetery. This first case stresses self-definition and autonomy. In addition to the grave marker it includes stark photographic images of the discrimination directed at people with disabilities. The crucial role of parents fighting for rights of their children in the 1940s and 50s is also highlighted with documents and images.

The second case addresses mobility and the assistive technology has had on all disabilities. It includes a telecaptioner, a "Braille'N'Speak", and an ultralight wheelchair soaring overhead. The third case shows the ADA and newsletters created by and for people with disabilities—highlighting the community's creative power. The fourth houses a T-shirt museum of sorts, a paean to civil disobedience. This case also contains a tactile exhibit—one-half of a handcuff. The T-shirts are momentos of various demonstrations and the half-handcuff is from a demonstrator who handcuffed herself to a fence outside of the Supreme Court to make the point that she was "Not Dead Yet," during a demonstration against physician assisted suicide. The half-handcuff is exposed so that the public can actually touch it.

"Authentic tactile objects—not props—are a scary concept for museums, "notes Ott. "We want to have something for tactile learners to remember the exhibit. But we have to be careful to select objects that can withstand handling." The height of the cases is ideal for a wheelchair user's viewing. Articles are arranged so persons with cognitive disabilities can delineate one topic from the other easily. "We survey people coming to the exhibit to find out what we can do to make the exhibit and the museum itself even more accessible," says Ott. "We are consistently learning and the meaning of accessible is changing too. What is considered accessible today is not the same as ten years ago."

Accessible Elements

Using a tactile object is just one facet of the museum's accessibility plan. The prototype kiosks are the most comprehensive accessibility element and they are the elements that are most noticed by visitors—able-bodied and disabled alike. Two kiosks, at different heights, sit in the path and draw children like a magnet. Each offers a complete virtual tour of the exhibit using touch screens. The "show" can be narrated for the blind as well. The entire exhibit is structured so a person with any disability can enjoy it - without the aid of another person, by pressing the screen or buttons, which provide an audio description of the information in the kiosk.

These kiosks are gifts from NCR Corporation and the software was developed by isSound Corporation with access technology developed by the Trace Research and Development Center, under funding from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. The Exhibit's website (www.americanhistory.si.edu/disabilityrights/) also offers a virtual tour and will remain on the Internet indefinitely according to Ott.

Microsoft Corporation provided funding for the brochures and "Kids' cards." The exhibit is scheduled for one year, but the web site and brochures extend the reach to educate others about this often-forgotten movement. The brochures are printed on heavy card stock in large print and have Braille notations on the back. Another successful feature of the exhibit is the souvenir "hang-tag." These were created to educate children about disability rights. The yellow cards offer children explanations about the dos and don'ts of the etiquette when interacting with a person with a disability. They show that children with disabilities want and do the same things as children who are able-bodied, but they go about reaching their goals in different ways. The tag's message: "Having a disability doesn't make you sick. It makes you creative." "We tested the tags with children ages 8-10 to learn the best ways to reach them," notes Ott.

The exhibit's legacy rests in the accomplishments and advocacy of many that refused to be overlooked and ignored. This effort provides people with disabilities equal status by reaching into a rich history that has, and will, impact the lives of millions of people.