Page Introduction
Welcome to the disABILITY in Media timeline. Here you will find a descriptive timeline on the history of disABILITY in the media from 1831 to 1990.
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disABILITY in Media Timeline
The media has played a role in shaping the perception of people with disabling conditions throughout time. Media images of people with disabilities have been used as a metaphor for the human condition throughout history. Sometimes the disability is the focus in an attempt to sway the viewer to a certain opinion, positive or negative. Sometimes the portrayal is in conjunction with a celebrity to emphasize society's efforts to raise the down trodden helpless individual up to a point where he or she can function, raise funds for research to eliminate that particular condition, or marvel at the unique talents possessed by a "savant" with a singular brilliance. Most often, the individual with a disability is used to allow society to reflect on itself, its own good deeds, its own worth, its own safety. The media is perhaps the one arena that equalizes the individual with a disability and any other individual, as it reduces them to "symbol." Here are some examples of disability themes in print, movies, radio, and television.
1831
"The Christian Register" runs an uplifting story about a deaf, dumb, and blind girl named Julia Brace who lived at the Hartford Asylum.
1857
Blind Tom (1849-1908) plays his first public performance and became a media sensation even gaining high praise from Mark Twain. Blind Tom would today be labeled an "autistic savant."
1866
Harper's New Monthly Magazine prints an article on Blackwell's Island Lunatic Asylum. Blackwell's Island, in New York City's East River, is now called Roosevelt Island. The Lunatic Asylum, designed by noted architect Alexander Jackson Davis, opened in 1839 and featured and octagon tower.
1868
"The Prisoner's Hidden Life" or "Insane Asylums Unveiled," was an expose on the insane asylum system written by Mrs. E. P. W. Packard. Mrs. Packard was wrongly placed in an asylum by her husband and then went on to write of the experience.
1932
Tod Browning releases the film "Freaks" with a cast of disabled performers. The movie opened to criticism for its depiction of the disabled and the general public's perception of the disabled.
1934
The film "Tomorrow's Children" is released. The movie had a eugenic plot that centered on a family of degenerates, cripples, and mentally disabled individuals that are offered welfare-for-life if they agree to sterilization.
1938
The March of Dimes is created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to help fight polio. The organization started by using a radio campaign to raise funds and over the years has used the media for public awareness and fundraising.
1939
The "Wizard of Oz" opens in theaters with a large cast of "munchkins."
1940's (1943)
"Little Moron" books become popular with their "jokes" at the expense of the Little Moron and his low IQ.
1940's
"Moron Gulch" cartoon depicting "backwoods-men" of several mental capacities.
1946
Bedlam 1946 a photo essay from Life magazine that exposes the abuses at American mental hospitals written by Albert Q. Maisel
1946
"The Snake Pit" is published in 1946 and becomes a national best-seller. Written by Mary Jane Ward, the book is the account of a woman who goes insane but is later able to get better and return to her husband. The book was later made into a popular movie of the same name.
1953
March of Dimes advertisement for public awareness of polio epidemic found in Look magazine.
1953
March of Dimes record featuring Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians as well as other performers as part of a media blitz to call attention to the growing problem of polio.
1957
"The Singing Cowboy" Roy Rogers is featured in a Coloring Contest sponsored by the March of Dimes as a fundraiser and to promote public awareness. Other celebrity endorsements for causes like these would follow.
1958
Bugs Bunny pin "Help Crippled Children." Even cartoon characters joined the cause to promote public help and health.
1958
"Cavalcade of Stars" celebrity fundraiser for the Shield of David, Institute for Retarded Children. Celebrities included Dick Clark, Tony Randall, and others.
1960's
Johnny Carson at the Celebrity Parade for Cerebral Palsy. As television became more available to the public its celebrities also joined in disability awareness events.
1960's
Kingston Trio album for March of Dimes public awareness. Popular musicians were also part of the effort to promote the March of Dimes.
1965
John F. Kennedy was a staunch advocate for disability awareness and research, specifically dealing with mental retardation. He could be found doing several public announcements for the cause like this advertisement in Look magazine which was published 2 years after Kennedy's assassination in 1963.
1965
Senator Robert F. Kennedy visits Willowbrook State School and labeled the deplorable conditions a "snake pit." His visit lead to several published articles on the problems at the school in the Staten Island Advance. Seven years later Geraldo Rivera televised the dilapidated school.
1965-66
"Mental Retardation Campaign" public service announcements from the President's Committee on Mental Retardation with personal appeals from Lyndon B. Johnson, Dr. Spock and Roy Rogers among others. These announcements were played on the radio.
1966
The first Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon for Muscular Dystrophy is aired on television. The telethon has helped to raise over $2 billion dollars and is still televised every Labor Day weekend.
1968
Henry Fonda in a United Cerebral Palsy awareness and fund raising advertisement with the poster child Kenny Cunningham.
1970
The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped begins to publish a braille version of Playboy magazine.
1970
Beetle Bailey comic book, a complimentary copy to promote awareness for the Cerebral Palsy Association.
1971
Barbara Streisand as the National Association for Retarded Children National Chairman.
1972
Sonny and Cher at the height of their fame are named Cerebral Palsy National Celebrity Chairmen. Further promoting fundraising and public awareness through the vehicle of celebrity.
1972
"The National Tattler" newspaper with a cover story titled "Testers Inject Retarded Children has Hepatitis," about an experimental program at the Willowbrook State School in New York.
1972
Geraldo Rivera does an expose on the Willowbrook State School that leads to an immediate federal inquiry. The deplorable conditions of this facility for the mentally retarded were televised and Willowbrook became national news.
1980
John Ritter in a fund raising advertisement for the Cerebral Palsy telethon in association with Schlitz Beer. Ritter, whose brother had cerebral palsy, was the telethon chairman for many years.
1981
Weekend with the Stars Telethon for Cerebral Palsy, including John Ritter, Paul Anka, Frank Sinatra.
1982
"The disABILITY Rag" magazine for and by the disabled community was first published in 1980. This magazine is now available on the world wide web and is now known as the Ragged Edge.
1988
"Kids Like These" movie is made for television starring Tyne Daly.
1988
"Rain Man" starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise about the relationship of an autistic savant and his brother.
1990
Mouth magazine publishes its first issue. The bi-monthly magazine considers itself the voice of the disability nation.