All Blog Posts
Home Run for William “Dummy” Hoy
March 8, 2012
By Reid Dunlavey, Contributor
With Major League Baseball clubs reporting for spring training it got me thinking again about William “Dummy” Hoy (1862-1961). He was a baseball player who was deaf and played in four different major leagues from 1886 until 1902. He had a stint with the Cincinnati Reds and a year in Buffalo, New York playing with Hall of Fame catcher Connie Mack.
Some credit Hoy with the development of hand signals for safe and out calls because he couldn’t hear wh…
Dr. Platt H. Skinner - Early Educator, Advocate, and Abolitionist
February 2, 2012
By Reid Dunlavey, Contributor Dr. Platt Henry Skinner. Photo courtesy of Gallaudet University
Conducting research on forgotten events and people that have impacted disability history can be difficult and at the same time very rewarding. This is the case in regards to a little known educator named Platt H. Skinner. In 1858 Skinner opened his “School for the Instruction of the Colored Deaf, Dumb and Blind” in what is today Niagara Falls, New York near the Suspension Bridge that crossed the bo…
Sharing Noah's Story
January 26, 2012
By Nicole Forgione, Contributor When I was asked to do this week’s blog, I did not know what to write about at first, but a thought quickly came to mind. Since I manage the Facebook pages for People Inc. (www.facebook.com/peopleinc) and the Museum of disABILITY History (www.facebook.com/museumofdisability), it was brought to my attention the many national stories that were recently in the news about a young boy with Down syndrome who was in a Target ad. The news featured Rick Smith of NoahsDa…
Comics Enter The Fight Against Polio Part 2
January 13, 2012
By David LoTempio, Contributor (With assistance from Steven Bennett for additional research) The 1940s were a dangerous and nervous time in America, and not just because of World War II. The nation experienced cyclical and increasingly widespread epidemics of polio during this period. While most people exposed to the virus would fully recover, the disease’s dramatic ability to paralyze or kill the infected left a profound fear through the country. The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysi…
A Place in the Sun: The Story of Camp Cornplanter
January 3, 2012
By David Mack-Hardiman, Contributor Deep within the Allegheny National Forest of Northwestern Pennsylvania, lie faint reminders of the first residential camp for persons with disabilities in North America. There are pieces of stone embedded in the landscape. Some of these are pieces of a huge stone fireplace which framed the left side of the dining hall in the photograph above. Others are pieces of concrete which lay where the playground once stood. The paths, full of aromatic pine boughs, ar…
A Curator's Thanksgiving
December 14, 2011
By Doug Platt, Museum Curator A museum’s collection is a critical part of its existence, the wellspring from which its exhibits originate and the storehouse for inquisitive researchers. The Museum of disABILITY History Collection includes books, photographs, documents, newsletters, adaptive equipment, movies, toys, clothing, stamps, postcards and sound recordings all related to the rich history of individuals with disabling conditions. Strategic purchases have been made by the staff of the muse…
Kennedy’s: A Family of Advocacy
December 8, 2011
By Nicole Forgione, Contributor Kennedy family portrait, circa late 1930s. Is there an athletic program for children and adults with disabilities to compete in? Is there a national program to help people with disabilities express themselves through artwork? Is there an organization focused on friendship that fund-raises to help families with a loved who has an intellectual disability? If it was not for members of the Kennedy and Shriver family, the answers to these questions may be no. Inste…
Restoration of Institutional Cemeteries
November 29, 2011
By David Mack-Hardiman, Contributor For the past five years, employees and individuals associated with People Inc. have been engaged in the restoration of three cemeteries in the Southern Tier. More than 2,000 graves were discovered for residents of the J. N. Adam Developmental Center, The West Seneca Developmental Center and, The Gowanda Psychiatric Center. Volunteers toiled away in the summer sun, recording each grave, gently cleaning the stones, edging around the markers and, uncovering thos…