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Center on Aging and Community
What We Do > Promoting Voice

Indiana Disability History Project

Documenting and Preserving the Experience of Hoosiers with Disabilities
Promoting Awareness of Advocacy and Leadership that Created Change

When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness. - Alexis de Tocqueville

Sponsored by:

Center on Aging and Community at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community
Indiana Governor's Council for People with Disabilities
Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services

What is the Indiana Disability History Project?
The Center on Aging and Community at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community is embarking on an exciting initiative to document highlights of the history of people with disabilities in our state. Recognizing the importance of both preserving and promoting public understanding of this history, the Indiana Governor's Council for People with Disabilities and Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services are partnering with us to carry out the project.  We will be using video, audio, and digital technology to record and safeguard memories of movement leaders and pioneers such as community activists, people with disabilities, family members, professional service providers, and public officials.

Purpose of the Project
For all Indiana residents, as well as for policy makers, scholars and educators, we aim to provide:
  • An improved understanding of the past experiences, conditions, and contributions of Hoosiers with disabilities and their advocates over the past century.
  • Increased knowledge of historical changes in cultural attitudes towards persons with disabilities and their advocates, along with associated public and institutional responses to the needs, assets and perceived threats associated with disability.
  • An opportunity to keep history alive through continuing public discussion and reflection on the subject of disability and community.
Project Outcomes
During Phase One, the Indiana Disability History Project will create an interpreted archive comprising videotaped and transcribed interviews of movement pioneers and leaders. The Project will also compile an inventory describing the content and location of artifacts related to the history of disability rights, changes in legislation and service provision, and of the everyday experience of people with disabilities in Indiana.

It is hoped that this valuable material can be made fully accessible to the public as an educational tool during future phases of the Project. The following educational products are planned:
  • An online, interactive museum of Indiana's disability history
  • A traveling exhibit designed to engage and educate Hoosiers about Indiana's disability history, increase awareness of current issues around disability and community, and stimulate conversation among families, communities, and policy makers
  • Educational and awareness materials in print and digital formats for use in classroom curricula, for public audiences, and for policy makers and other agents of change

How Can I Get Involved?
  • Inform us of existing historical records, archives, or histories.
  • Let us know about photographs, documents, or artifacts in your possession.
  • Tell your own story online at www.museumoftheperson.org

For More Information

Visit Us On The Web:

Contact Us:
Philip B. Stafford, Director
Center on Aging and Community
Indiana Institute on Disability and Community
E-mail: staffor@indiana.edu
Telephone: (812) 855-2163

If you would like this information as a downloadable brochure, click here. The format is Adobe PDF.

About The Sponsoring Organizations
The mission of the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community is to work with communities to welcome, value, and support the meaningful participation of people of all ages and abilities through research, education, and service.

The Indiana Governor's Council for People with Disabilities is an independent state agency that promotes changes in public policy leading to the independence, productivity and inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of society.

Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services was created in 1977 by state law to protect and advocate the rights of people with disabilities. It is Indiana's federally designated Protection and Advocacy system and client assistance program.