A Disability History of the United States

by NIELSEN, KIM E.

• ISBN13: 9780807022047
• ISBN10: 0807022047
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2013-10-01
• Publisher: Beacon Press

Summary

The first book to cover the entirety of disability history, from pre-1492 to the present

Disability is not only the story of someone we love or the story of whom we may become; rather it is undoubtedly the story of our nation. Covering the entirety of US history from pre-1492 to the present, A Disability History of the United States is the first book to place the experiences of disabled people at the center of the American narrative. In many ways, it’s a familiar telling. In other ways, it is a radical repositioning of US history. By doing so, the book casts new light on familiar stories, such as slavery and immigration, while breaking ground about the ties between nativism and oralism in the late nineteenth century and the role of ableism in the development of democracy.

A Disability History of the United States pulls from primary-source documents and social histories to retell US history through the eyes, words, and impressions of the people who lived it. As historian and disability scholar Nielsen argues, to understand disability history isn’t to narrowly focus on a series of individual triumphs but rather to examine mass movements and pivotal daily events through the lens of varied experiences. Throughout the book, Nielsen deftly illustrates how concepts of disability have deeply shaped the American experience—from deciding who was allowed to immigrate to establishing labor laws and justifying slavery and gender discrimination. Included are absorbing—at times horrific—narratives of blinded slaves being thrown overboard and women being involuntarily sterilized, as well as triumphant accounts of disabled miners organizing strikes and disability rights activists picketing Washington.

Engrossing and profound, A Disability History of the United States fundamentally reinterprets how we view our nation’s past: from a stifling master narrative to a shared history that encompasses us all.


About the Series

Beacon Press’s ReVisioning History series consists of accessibly written books by notable scholars that reconstruct and reinterpret US history from diverse perspectives.

Author Biography

The author of three books, including two on Helen Keller and one on Anne Sullivan Macy, Kim E. Nielsen is a professor of history and women’s studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. She lives in Green Bay.

Table of Contents

Introduction

ONE
The spirit chooses the body it will occupy:Indigenous North America, Pre-1492

TWO
The poor, vicious, and infirm:Colonial Communities, 1492–1700

THREE
The miserable wretches were then thrown into the sea:The Late Colonial Era, 1700–1776

FOUR
The deviant and the dependent:Creating Citizens, 1776–1865

FIVE
I am disabled, and must go atsomething else besides hard labor: The Institutionalization of Disability, 1865–1890

SIX
Three generations of imbeciles are enough:The Progressive Era, 1890–1927

SEVEN
We don’t want tin cups:Laying the Groundwork, 1927–1968

EIGHT
I guess I’m an activist. I think it’s just caring:Rights and Rights Denied, 1968–

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Notes

Index