The Western Pennsylvania Disability History and Action Consortium is expanding its advocacy efforts within the disabled community, while also delving into the history of people of color with disabilities, according to project director Cindy Leonard.
The ongoing “Intersection of Race and Disability” project highlights the stories of 12 pioneers of the Disability Rights Movement such as Henry Bell of the Hill District who was deaf and the first student at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, graduating in 1880. The project also features Aurelia Carter, a Black woman who advocates for inclusive practices, and Dr. Diego Chaves-Gnecco, a pediatrician and founder of the Salud Para Niños program at UPMC Children’s Hospital.
The consortium received a grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in July, coinciding with Disability Pride Month.
The consortium’s mission is preserving disability history and finding ways to use that history for current advocacy, according to Leonard.
“Historically, narratives around disability have predominantly focused on the experiences of white individuals, while discussions on race often neglect to consider the many challenges faced by people of color with disabilities,” she said.
Josh Stahlman, archivist at the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, said the microgrant program Empowered History began from conversations that emerged from the Community History Dialogue that started in 2020. The dialogue was very successful, according to Stahlman. In the discussions, they heard from Bhutanese refugees about collecting and preserving their history and heritage.
The grant, which awarded $1,000 to the recipients, was intended to help them preserve and share their history.
“It could be for small community groups who are in the beginning of starting their archives or people who want to start an archive,” he said.
“It will allow us to work further on our ‘Intersection of Race and Disability’ project,” Leonard said. The project, which launched in 2022, was originally funded by FISA Foundation and the Mellon Foundation in New York.
“This initiative documents and disseminates stories of people of color with disabilities,” Leonard said. Those experiences are often marginalized. For example, people of color with disabilities tend to have a lack of access to treatment. Black disabled people are disproportionately impacted during natural disasters because their needs are not considered during emergency preparedness, according to the World Institute of Disability.
In a recent statement regarding Cultural and Historical Support Grants, executive director Andrea Lowery of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission said, “Museums and historical organizations connect visitors with people, places, events and ideas from our collective past, imparting the wisdom learned through hardship and perseverance for future generations.”
The grant is considered a regrant, federally funded by the National Historical Publications & Records Commission state board. There was $20,000 available to provide to recipients. Initially, Stahlman said, they expected to receive between 50 and 60 applications, but they received 139. According to Stahlman, in the past they had issues with programs reaching the audiences they wanted to target. For this grant, they were looking for underserved communities and those that are historically underrepresented in the archival field, and they wanted to eliminate the barriers to funding.
The staff, internally along with two people from the State Historical Records Advisory Board, reviewed the applications and funded 22 out of the 139.
“We are not only honoring the contributions of the community, but we are providing resources for future disability advocacy,” Leonard said.
The intersection of race and disability often gets overlooked because of a combination of factors that include a general lack of awareness and systemic biases.
“There is a dual marginalization,” Leonard said.
The project challenges these oversights by highlighting the compounded discrimination.
“This is continued work,” Leonard said.
The partnership with the Heinz History Center allows them to catalog and preserve items that require physical preservation. After the item is archived, they post all the material online.
“We are really excited and grateful,” she said.