An Independent Man: Ed Roberts and the Fight for Disability RightsThe first biography of one of the founders of the disability rights movement, An Independent Man chronicles the life of an activist who reimagined the meaning of equality and inspired generations of reformers. Before Jonas Salk's vaccine, polio was a social death sentence. The disabled were expected to disappear into their limitations, pitied by those around them. This might have been the story of Ed Roberts, paralyzed and consigned to sleep in an iron lung. But Roberts insisted on what all people deserve: a full life. Scot Danforth deftly captures Roberts's adventurous personality and radical vision, chronicling his life from his student activist days at the University of California, Berkeley, in the early 1960s to his career highlights of establishing the pioneering Center for Independent Living and directing California's Department of Rehabilitation. By insisting that disabled persons are valuable members of society, and by translating his ideas into action, Roberts laid the ground for the Americans with Disabilities Act and the ongoing movement for equality. |
Contents
Fight | 1 |
The Crippler | 10 |
Vegetable | 24 |
Reborn | 32 |
King of the Cripples | 41 |
Learning to Fight | 54 |
Dr Bruyns Program | 64 |
8 | 74 |
Winning | 196 |
Pride in 25 Days | 209 |
Nationwide Independence | 229 |
Vegetables Unite | 238 |
A Magical Place | 251 |
Grief and Genius | 259 |
Partners | 282 |
Men of Adventure | 296 |
Death and Renewal | 81 |
Radical Berkeley | 88 |
A New Movement | 103 |
Humblest Beginnings | 111 |
Joan | 128 |
Judy | 137 |
Im Here Were Here | 148 |
Across America | 169 |
Revolution in Sacramento | 183 |
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An Independent Man: Ed Roberts and the Fight for Disability Rights Scot Danforth Limited preview - 2025 |
Common terms and phrases
African American Bancroft Library Berkeley CIL Biscamp Brown Bruyn Califano campus Carter carton Cathy chair civil rights curb cuts David Landes dent Living Movement Disability Collection disability community disability rights movement disabled persons disabled students Don Galloway Ed’s Education Enns federal felt folder fornia Francisco State University friends funding House independent living centers Independent Living Movement Institute on Disability interview by Susan iron lung Joan Leon John Hessler Judy Heumann Kitty Cone knew leaders legislation Lex Frieden Living Movement Oral Longmore Institute Mary Lou Breslin Movement Oral History nondisabled nurse Oral History Project organization PDSP physical disabilities polio political President protest rehabilitation Rights and Independent Roberts Papers Rolling Quads Sacramento San Francisco Section 504 Senate social Susan O'Hara tion University of Cali University of California Verne wanted Washington wheelchair women York Zona Roberts Zukas