A CHRONOLOGY OF THE DISABILITY RIGHTS MOVEMENTS
1930 - 1939
1932
The Treaty of London standardizes American and English braille.
Disabled American Veterans is chartered by Congress to represent disabled veterans in their dealings with the federal government.
1933
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the first seriously physically disabled person ever to be elected as a head of government, is sworn into office as president of the United States. He continues his "splendid deception," choosing to minimize his disability in response to the ableism of the electorate.
1935
Congress passes and President Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act, establishing federal old-age benefits and grants to the states for assistance to blind individuals and disabled children. The act also extends the already existing vocational rehabilitation programs established by earlier legislation.
The League of the Physically Handicapped is formed in New York City to protest discrimination against people with disabilities by federal relief programs. The group organizes sit-ins, picket lines, and demonstrations, and it travels to Washington, D.C., to protest and meet with officials of the Roosevelt administration.
1936
Passage of the Randolph Sheppard Act establishes a federal program for employing blind vendors at stands in the lobbies of federal office buildings.
1937
Herbert A. Everest and Harry C. Jennings patent a design for a folding wheelchair with an X-frame that can be packed into a car trunk. They found Everest & Jennings (E & J), which eventually becomes the largest manufacturer of wheelchair in the United States.
1938
Passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act leads to an enormous increase in the number of sheltered workshop program for blind workers. Although intended to provide training and job opportunities for blind and visually disabled workers, it often leads to exploitation of workers at sub-minimum wages in poor conditions.
