This collection consists of archival materials compiled by National Museum of American History Curator Katherine Ott, on numerous subjects relating to disability and the rights of the disabled.
Scope and Contents:
The Disability Reference Collection represents a range of research materials acquired by curators Audrey Davis (1967-1996) and Katherine Ott (2002- ) and Janice Majewski (1978-2001), the first director of the Smithsonian's Accessibility Program in support of their collecting and exhibition work in the Division of Medicine and Science at the National Museum of American History.
Material includes scholarly and popular articles, advertisements, product literature, clippings, schematics, photographs, audio, video, and ephemera. Some materials were sent to Davis and Ott by members of the general public who heard about their work; others were purchased by Ott at flea markets and on e-Bay.
Combined with associated Archives Center collections and objects housed in the curatorial divisions at NMAH, this collection constitutes one of the largest and most significant sources on American disability history. It is especially strong in accessibility policy documents from the early days of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and its implementation, and product trade literature of the 1980s and 1990s. The collection also has a rich selection of newsletters and magazines published for various disability sectors, such as the Toomey J Gazette on polio and Mainstream.
Each series represents a subject or type of material. Researchers should look across all series when examining a topic or type of material. For example, trade literature items for the disabled person are found not only in the dedicated series, but also in series specific to a particular disability (i.e. Blindness: Aids and Appliances). Another example is material on polio. Researchers should look in the dedicated series, but also in Series 9: Edna Hindson's Scrapbooks and Series 8: Ron Mace.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into seventeen series.
Series 1: Blindness, 1945-2001
Series 2: Hearing, 1855-2009
Series 3: Polio, 1925-2008
Series 4: Universal Design, 1962-2006
Series 5: Subject Files, 1863-2008
Series 6: Americans with Disabilities Act: 1968-2015, undated
Series 7: Brody, Lee/TTY, 1941-2001
Series 8: Mace, Ron, 1950-1990
Series 9: Hindson, Edna R., 1946-1954, 1991, 2003
Series 10: Lindahl, Lisa, 1988-2002, undated
Series 11: Wheelchairs, 1853-2007
Series 12: Arizonans for Safe and Equal Access to Transportation, 1987-1992
Series 13: Printed Material, 1959-2013
Series 14: Trade Literature, 1971-2013
Series 15: Newspaper Clippings, 1973-2000
Series 16: Ephemera, 1866-2011, undated
Series 17: Audio Visual Materials, 1979-2005
Historical Note:
The Disability Reference Collection represents a range of research materials [primarily] acquired by curators Audrey Davis (1967-1996) and Katherine Ott (2002-) in support of their collecting and exhibition work in the Divison of Medicine and Science at the National Museum of American History (NMAH). The collection also contains material acquired by Janice Majewski (1978-2001), the first director of the Smithsonian's Accessibility Program. Additional materials have been added since the collection was transferred to the Archives Center.
Audrey Davis (1934-2006) was a NMAH curator from 1967 to 1996. Her interest and expertise in rehabilitation medicine, including prosthetics and orthotics, led to important three-dimensional collections in the Division of Medicine and Science. Davis did a series of showcases on such topics as hearing aids, artificial noses, and a large exhibition in 1973 entitled Triumph over Disability: the Development of Rehabilitation Medicine in the U.S.A., for the 50th anniversary of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. The exhibition was dedicated to Mary Elizabeth Switzer, an influential figure in the field. Katherine Ott joined the Division in 2001 as a permanent curator and broadened research to include pan-disability issues. Ott led exhibitions on the history of maxillofacial surgery (About Faces, 1998), The Disability Rights Movement (2000-2002), polio (Whatever Happened to Polio?, 2005-2006), HIV and Aids Thirty Years Ago (2011-2012); general disability history (EveryBody: An Artifact History of Disability in America, 2013), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA25, 2015). Ott received a grant in 2000 from NMAH's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation to study the history of Universal Design; this included the collection of supporting materials.
Janice Majewski was the first director of the Smithsonian's Accessibility Program. Her tenure lasted from 1978 to 2001. She gathered background on museums and accessibility, followed current events, consulted on museum projects around the United States, and received a constant flow of product literature from vendors hoping for a Smithsonian contract. Most of the assistive technology brochures, policy papers, and gray literature on accessibility came from her office.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
Kevin M. Tuohy Papers (NMAH.AC.0317)
Milton S. Wirtz, D.D.S., Artificial Eye Collection (NMAH.AC.0501)
Van Phillips Video Oral History and Papers (NMAH.AC.0859)
Safko International, Inc. Records (NMAH.AC.0911)
Hariett Green Kopp Papers (NMAH.AC.1130)
Division of Science, Medicine and Society HIV/AIDS Reference Collection (NMAH.AC.1134)
Collection of TTY (text telephone) equipment, business records, posters, and awards relating to telecommunications pioneer Lee Brody. TTY phones allow the deaf, hard of hearing, or speech-impaired to use the telephone to communicate.
Gallaudet University Library Deaf Collections and Archives
The Harry G. Lang Collection on Early TTY History, 1947-1999
Collection of correspondence, news clippings, technical data, and other materials documenting the invention and first 15 years of the phone teletypewriter for the deaf.
North Carolina State University Libraries
Ronald L. Mace Papers, 1974-1998
Collection of correspondence, project reports, architectural drawings, videos, and publications.
Provenance:
The core of the collection was assembled by curators Audrey Davis (1967-1996) and Katherine Ott (2002-) in support of their collecting and exhibition work in the Division of Medicine and Science at the National Museum of American History. The collection also contains material acquired by Janice Majewski, the first director of the Smithsonian's Accessibility Program. Additional materials have been added since the collection was transferred to the Archives Center.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The collection documents Bill Nye's early life, his Science Guy persona and its development for his television program Bill Nye the Science Guy.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents Bill Nye's early life, his Science Guy persona and its development for his television program Bill Nye the Science Guy. Included in the collection are patents, awards, speeches, subject files, correspondence, email, fan mail, photographs, scripts and promotional materials for television shows, and video recordings.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into eight series.
Series 1: Personal Materials, 1964-2014
Series 2: Subject Files, 1971-2009
Series 3: Scrapbooks, 1981, 1987-2003
Series 4: Bill Nye the Science Guy, 1989-1998
Series 5: The Eyes of Nye, 1998-2003
Series 6: Fan Mail, 1995-2001
Series 7: Photographs, 1969-2000
Series 8: Press Clippings, 1973, 1988-2004
Biographical / Historical:
William Sanford "Bill" Nye, (November 27, 1955-), was born in Bethesda, Maryland to Edwin D. Nye and Jacqueline B. Jenkins. Nye graduated from Cornell University (1977) with a degree in mechanical engineering and moved to Seattle to work for Boeing as a mechanical engineer (1977-1985). Nye also worked stand-up comedy and in 1985 joined Seattle's local comedy show Almost Live! During a 1987 episode of Almost Live! Nye wore a science lab coat and conducted an experiment launching the "Bill Nye the Science Guy" persona. From 1993-1998 Nye hosted Bill Nye the Science Guy. The show aired on PBS and was later syndicated to local television stations.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
Mr. Wizard Papers (AC1326)
Separated Materials:
Artifacts related to Bill Nye are located in the following curatorial divisions: Division of Home and Community Life; Division of Work and Industry; Division of Culture and the Arts (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) and the Division of Medicine and Science.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Bill Nye, April 28, 2016.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Reference copies for audio and moving images materials do not exist. Use of these materials requires special arrangement. Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives.
Social Security numbers and other personally identifiable information has been rendered unreadable and redacted. Researchers may use the photocopies in the collection. The remainder of the collection has no restrictions.
Rights:
Reproduction restricted due to copyright or trademark. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The papers of Matthew Shepard (1976-1998) a gay man who was a victim of a hate crime in Laramie, Wyoming October 1998 resulting in his death. His death gained national and international attention leading to the formation of the Matthew Shepard Foundation and eventual passage of federal hate crime legislation (The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act), signed into law in October 2009.
Content Description:
Papers relating to the life of Matthew Shepard, his beating, death, and its aftermath, leading to the passage of anti-hate crime legislation named for him and James Byrd, Jr. The papers include items from Shepard's early life, his school life, elementary through college, and personal material. The collection includes material from his recycling campaign. It also includes items from theater productions in which he participated. There is correspondence both written and received as well as notebooks and his passports. Travel and general ephemera are also included.
The papers related to the aftermath of his beating and death include funeral memorabilia, programs, flower cards, and photographs of floral arrangements. The bulk of the material consists of condolence cards and letters, expressions of sympathy and condolence, and material from memorial events thoughout the United States. These include not only written correspondence, but graphic and artistic tributes (drawings, poetry, screenplays, and musical compositions.)
There are screenplays, correspondence, and photographs relating to the television motion pictures, Anatomy of a Hate Crime (2001) and The Matthew Shepard Story (2002) starring Stockard Channing, Sam Waterston, and Shane Meier.
The papers have been utilized prior to their donation to the Archives, National Museum of American History by filmmaker Michele Josue and Zeina Barkawi for the award winning documentary, Matt Shepard Is A Friend of Mine (2015). The material was also researched by representatives of Ford's Theater, Washington, DC when Ford's mounted a production of Moises Kaufman's The Laramie Project in 2013.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in three series.
Series 1, Shepard, Matthew, Personal Papers, 1976-2018, undated
Subseries 1.1: Education and Schooling, 1981-1998, undated
Subseries 1.4: Assorted Papers and Ephemera, 1976-1999,undated
Subseries 1.5: Funeral and Celebration of Life, Estate, 1998 October-2018 October 26
Series 2, Shepard Family and The Matthew Shepard Foundation, Papers and Correspondence Received, 1998-2013, undated
Subseries 2.1: Papers, 1998-2003, undated
Subseries 2.2: Correspondence Received, 1998 October-2009 September
Series 3, Tribute, Vigil, Memorial Services, Memorabilia, and Inspired Works, 1998-2008, undated
Subseries 3.1: Tribute, Vigil, and Memorial Services, 1998, undated
Subseries 3.2: Memorabilia and Inspired Works,1973-2008, undated
Subseries 3.3: Anatomy of a Hate Crime, 1999-2001
Subseries 3.4: The Matthew Shepard Story, 1999-2004, undated
Biographical / Historical:
The life and death of Matthew Shepard have been documented in numerous biographies, motion pictures, and newsprint.
Matthew Wayne Shepard was born on December 1, 1976 in Casper, Wyoming to Judy Peck and Dennis Wayne Shepard. Shepard's early life was spent in Casper, where he attended elementary school, junior high, and high school till the tenth grade. While living in Casper, he participated in local productions at theater companies based in Casper. One of his school projects involved bringing awareness to recycling. He was so successful that he was appointed as the young adult representative to the governor's initiaive on state-wide recycling. In his junior year of high school, Shepard left Casper to attend The American School in Switzerland (TASIS). At that time his mother Judy and younger brother Logan joined Dennis Shepard in Saudi Arabia where Dennis was employed by SAUDI ARAMCO.
While attending TASIS on a school trip to Morocco Shepard was raped by one or more unknown assailants. Although the crime was reported, the perpetrators were never apprehended. This emotional and physical trauma stayed with Shepard the remainder of his life. After graduation from TASIS, Shepard briefly attended Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina. After leaving Catawba he moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, and then returned to Casper, where he enrolled in Casper College, the local community college. He briefly moved to Denver, Colorado, before deciding to enter the Universty of Wyoming in Laramie, his parents' alma mater. He was admitted for the 1998-1999 school year to the University of Wyoming.
It was while living in Laramie on the evening of October 6, 1998 that Shepard crossed paths with Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson at the Fireside Lounge. McKinney and Henderson later drove him to a location outside Laramie, where they tied Shepard to a split-rail fence, robbed, and beat him senseless with the butt of a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver. After beating him they stole his shoes and left him in the near-freezing temperatures.
Shepard was discovered 18 hours later by Aaron Kreifels. He was first transported to Ivinson Hospital in Laramie, and upon the discovery of the severity of his injuries he was transferred to the Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado. His parents immediately flew from Saudi Arabia and were with him when he died in the early morning hours of October 12, 1998.
McKinney and Henderson were arrested and charged. They maintained what is known as a "gay panic defense" claiming Shepard had made sexual overtures to one or both of them. This was ultimately not allowed. Henderson pleaded guilty to the charges of felony murder and kidnapping. McKinney went to trial also facing charges of felony murder and kidnapping. When found guilty, McKinney faced the possibility of the death penalty, but upon the Shepard family's request he received two consecutive life sentences, as had Henderson.
The death of Matthew on October 12, 1998 resulted in an unprecedented national and international outpouring of sympathy and reflection from the public at large. Cards, letters, and donations to what became the Matthew Shepard Foundation were received from not only the United States but the world. The response was overwhelming, many writing, "to express their concern and sorrow about what had happened to Matt and to us as his parents," in the words of Dennis Shepard. Shepard's Celebration of Life was held at the family's home church, St. Mark's Episcopal, in Casper, Wyoming. Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church picketed the funeral.
Over a ten-year period, Judy Shepard and the Matthew Shepard Foundation fought for national hate crime legislation. It was not until 2009 that Congress passed The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, also known as the Matthew Shepard Act, on October 22. President Barack Obama signed the act into law on October 28. The Foundation continues to this day bringing good from evil, empowering individuals, ". . . to embrace human dignity and diversity through outreach, advocacy and resource programs," and, ". . . to replace hate with understanding, compassion and acceptance."
Shepard's ashes were inurned at the Washington National Cathedral in October 2018.
Source
Shepard, Judy. The Meaning of Matthew, My Son's Murder in Laramie and a World Transformed. New York, New York: Hudson Street Press, 2009.
Matthew Shepard Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
St. Mark's Episcopal Church website: http://stmarks.diowy.org/ accessed August 2018.
Matthew Shepard Foundation website: https://www.matthewshepard.org/ accessed August 2018.
Separated Materials:
Objects relating to Matthew Shepard are held in the Division of Medicine and Science.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Dennis and Judy Shepard in 2018.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The World AIDS Institute (WAI) Collection contains correspondence and publicity material of the WAI as well as educational materials, pamphlets, publications, and ephemera collected by them, "to document and preserve the global history of AIDS."
Scope and Contents:
The World AIDS Institute Collection contains correspondence and publicity material of the WAI as well as their collection of educational material, pamphlets, publications, and ephemera.
This collection is arranged into five series.
Series 1, Correspondence, 2001, undated, contains correspondence related to WAI as well as the HIV and AIDS community. It includes correspondence between the White House and DECAIDS, a committee created to fund a proposed AIDS Museum. It also includes a copy of a 2001 letter from George W. Bush to the HIV and AIDS community that was published in Numedx.
Series 2, World AIDS Institute Publicity Materials, 2012, undated, contains materials generated by WAI in support of their mission. These include programs, fundraising materials, bookmarks, and a publicity brochure for the AIDS 2012 Reunion.
Series 3, Teaching Materials, 1987-1993, undated, contains material expressly developed to teach about HIV and AIDS, including teaching aids for junior high and high school from a variety of sources.
Series 4, Publications, 1986-1996
Series 5, Audiovisual, 1999
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into five series.
Series 1, Correspondence, 2001, undated
Series 2, World AIDS Institute Publicity Materials, 2012, undated
Series 3, Teaching Materials, 1987-1993, undated
Series 4, Publications, 1986-1996
Series 5, Audiovisual, 1999
Biographical / Historical:
The World AIDS Institute (WAI) provides direction to AIDS organizations, assisting them in securing their own AIDS history. One of their core missions is preserving the history of the HIV and AIDS epidemic and the lives it has touched. The WAI motto is "Behind every statistic is a story."
From the WAI website: "The Mission of the World AIDS Institute is to document and preserve the global history of AIDS. As each day passes, establishing a comprehensive record of the fight against AIDS becomes more difficult, and more individual stories of personal devastation and triumphs of the human spirit are lost to us forever. The World AIDS Institute is dedicated to creating innovative projects designed to preserve that history. A substantial part of our commitment is to ensure the stories of those who led the fight against AIDS and the stories of those who we lost are never forgotten."
The World AIDS Institute (WAI) was founded by David Purdy and Chad Johnson. WAI's corporate entity, originally called the Friends of the AIDS Museum received it's 501(c)(3) status on June 5, 2001. WAI was re-launched on June 7, 2011--commemorating 30 years of AIDS (June 5, 1981 was the first government publication). Purdy, co-founder and chief executive officer dedicated over twenty years to educating about and destigmatizing AIDS. Purdy successfully fought his own battle with HIV while championing new science and technology protocols. During the 1980's Purdy led the global campaign to encourage the acceptance of anabolic steroids as treatment for the AIDS-Wasting Syndrome along with Dr. Walter Jekot, with a focus on hormone therapies using anabolic steroids. Hormone testing and treatment is now standard care for all patients living with HIV. Purdy also created the magazine NUMEDX covering nutrition, medicine, exercise and alternative therapies. The magazine circulated to more than a half a million subscribers worldwide.
Chad Johnson, co-founder, chief operating officer and general counsel of WAI during the past 22 years, worked in a variety of capacities, including work for not-for-profit, political, and legal organizations, to promote social justice. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Johnson served as a federal law clerk and later as an attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLC. He served as co-chair of the board of directors of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN); acted as national general counsel for the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), and AIDS PAC. In the 1990s, he volunteered at the Legal Aid Society of D.C. and the Whitman-Walker Clinic, Washington D.C.. Johnson served as the deputy national director for business leader outreach and deputy national director for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) issues for the presidential campaign of Vice President Al Gore. He was the executive director of the national LGBT Democrats organization, National Stonewall Democrats.
Reference: WAI website, accessed February and March 2012
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
John Manuel Andriotte Victory Deferred Collection, 1901-2008, undated (AC1128)
Division of Science, Medicine, and Society, HIV and AIDS Reference Collection, 1979-2006, undated (AC1134)
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Collection, 1942-2012, undated (AC1146)
Helping People with AIDS Records, 1989-2004, undated (AC1283)
Provenance:
Donated to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian, by the World AIDS Institute in February 2012.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research use. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with cotton gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Original videos documenting Curt I. Civins's discovery of the cell surface protein that makes stem cell selection possible; and interviews with Kenneth Kinsler and Bert Vogelstein.
Arrangement:
1 series.
Biographical/Historical note:
In the 1970s when Civin began stem cell research, little was known about progeniters, the cells of all other blood lineages. Civin thought that stem cells had their own identifying surface proteins. To test this, he immunized mice with leukemia cells, some of which he supposed might have that peculiar protein and then harvested the resulting immunoglobulins and reproduced them as monoclonal antibodies. In 1981, Civin discovered an antibody that bound to 1% of marrow cells.
Related Archival Materials:
Prototype of stem cell selector instrument housed in Division of Science and Medicine and Society (now Division of Medicine and Science).
Provenance:
Created by the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, National Museum of American History, 1997.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the original videos are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions. Signed releases in file.
