All Blog Posts
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, a…
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 mus…
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. Inst…
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 tho…
Early State Schools of New York
November 16, 2011
By Thomas Stearns, Contributor Our publications department at the Museum of disABILITY History is currently in the midst of several fascinating projects. One of which is a book that explores the history behind the first publicly funded institutions of New York State that provided care and education for people with intellectual and cognitive disabilities. *During the era when these institutions were established (1851 – 1912), people with intellectual and cognitive disabilities were generically…
Comics Enter the Fight Against Polio
November 9, 2011
By David LoTempio, Contributor (All images researched and provided by Steven Bennett) Polio—scourge of children and microscopic hidden enemy of parents—was a frequent national health issue in America through the first 50 years of the twentieth century. The virus killed 2000 children in New York City alone during the 1916 epidemic and left thousands more paralyzed across the United States. Epidemics during the summer were an annual event. In response to the epidemics plaguing the country, Pre…
Did you know...
November 2, 2011
By Melissa Royer, Contributor In my quest for information regarding helping services of the past, I have learned many interesting facts relevant to disability history in New York that fuel my interest and pursuit of knowledge in long forgotten days. Did you know… …The first New York State School for people with intellectual and cognitive disabilities was opened in Albany, N.Y. at the former “Bulls Head Tavern.” The year was 1851 and it was known as the Idiot Asylum or the Asylum for Idiots. …
A glimpse into the past...
September 29, 2011
By Doug Platt, Museum Curator Curator Doug Platt shows off our newest artifact at the Museum. One of our recent acquisitions to the Museum is this artificial wooden leg, generously donated to us by the Niagara County Historical Society. The prosthetic leg was found along the shores of Lake Ontario in Hartland in 1984 and dates back to the late 1800’s. The leg is now on display as part of the Museum’s “War and Disability” exhibit, as the prosthetic is identical to those used by soldiers who …