On July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). On Monday the Bush Library received one of the largest private collections of memorabilia and artifacts related to the history of the disability rights and independent living movement in the United States. The collection belonged to Professor Lex Frieden of the University of Texas, who was among the leaders in developing the ADA. Frieden is now leading a national research study to evaluate the impact of the ADA and to identify population group disparities related to employment, transportation, housing and community living.
Click HERE for more information from the Bush Library website.
Details of Monday’s presentation courtesy of Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston:
One of the largest private collections of memorabilia and artifacts related to the history of the disability rights and independent living movement in the U.S. will be signed over in a ceremony Monday to be housed at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum at Texas A&M University.
Lex Frieden, Professor of Biomedical Informatics and of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and an adjunct Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine. Mr. Frieden also directs the ILRU–Independent Living Research Utilization Program at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston. He was also recently appointed as the University of Texas System Chancellor’s Health Fellow on Disability. Mr. Frieden has served as chairperson of the National Council on Disability, president of Rehabilitation International and chairperson of the American Association of People with Disabilities. He is recognized as one of the founders of the independent living movement by people with disabilities in the early 1970s and was instrumental in conceiving and drafting the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Mr. Frieden is currently leading a national research study to evaluate the impact of the ADA and to identify population group disparities related to employment, transportation, housing and community living.
Mr. Frieden will sign over to the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum one of the largest private collections of memorabilia and artifacts related to the history of the disability rights and independent living movement in the U.S. The collection includes rare photographs and videotapes as well as previously obscure legislative drafts, briefing papers and original manuscripts that reveal the making of the ADA.
After they have been sorted and cataloged, materials from the collection will be available in the library archives by appointment for reading, review and reference purposes. Certain artifacts from the collection may be on public display in the museum.