ERIC ED461577: Iowans with Disabilities.

35 Pages·1997·1.3 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
SO 029 605
ED 461 577
Ruth, Amy, Ed.
AUTHOR
Iowans with Disabilities.
TITLE
Iowa State Historical Society, Iowa City.
INSTITUTION
ISSN-0278-0208
ISSN
1997-00-00
PUB DATE
34p.; Published quarterly. Theme issue.
NOTE
State Historical Society of Iowa, 402 Iowa Avenue, Iowa
AVAILABLE FROM
City, IA 52240-1806 ($3). Tel: [phone]
Serials (022)
Collected Works
PUB TYPE
Goldfinch: Iowa History for Young People; v19 n1 Fall 1997
JOURNAL CIT
MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
*Disabilities; Elementary Education; Health; Hospitals;
DESCRIPTORS
*Local History; Sign Language; *Social Studies; *State
History
*Iowa
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
"The Goldfinch" is a magazine aimed at introducing young
people to Iowa history. Each issue has a different topic which is discussed
in detail throughout that issue. There are articles which describe different
aspects of the topic. The topic for this particular issue is "Iowans with
Disabilities." Featured articles from this issue include: "Learning about
Disabilities"; "Caring for Iowans with Disabilities"; "Voices from Glenwood";
"Helping Technology"; "Andrew Clemens"; "Learning the Manual Alphabet"; "Rose
Quinn"; "yorking on the_Railroad"; "Hattie Voeklers"; "Kurt Kehrli"; "It's
the Law: Serving People with Disabilities"; "The Polio Epidemics"; and
"Living with Polio." Regular features include "Dear Diary" and "Be a Diary
Detective." .(RH)
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
Iowans with Disabilities
Amy Ruth, Ed.
The Goldfinch: Iowa History for Young People
Volume 19 Number 1 Fall 1997
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Educational Research and Improvement PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS
CENTER (ERIC) BEEN GRANTED BY
al
This document has been reproduced as
D. Gore
received from the person or organization
originating it.
U Minor changes have been made to improve
reproduction quality
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
Points of view or opinions stated in this
document do not necessarily represent official
OERI position or policy.
2
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
IMMO
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0
63
NY"
Gadalth
,sentimg shour daishNKsa
disability is a condition,
Volume 19, Number 1
Fall 1997
either permanent or
Member, Educational Press
Association of America
temporary, which keeps
EDITOR: Amy Ruth
people from doing something
PUBLICATIONS DIRECTOR: Don Drake
such as joining a sports team,
FICTION EDITOR: Steven Blaski
EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS: Lin Ly and Jeff Reid
driving a car, or living alone.
PUBLICATIONS INTERN: Shana Wingert
ILLUSTRATION: Mary Moye-Rowley
One in every five
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Douglas C. Baynton,
Americans has a disability.
Assistant Professor, History and American Sign
Language, University of Iowa, Iowa City; Robert
And at some point in their
Burchfield, Iowa City; Adrienne Drapkin, Director,
lives, almost all Americans will
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Medical
Museum, Iowa City; John Ten Pas, Consultant,
experience a temporary
Iowa Commission of Persons with Disabilities,
Des Moines
disability, whether it is a
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Millie K. Frese, Jennifer
broken limb or temporary
Go lay, Judy Hoit, Jennie Morgan, John Williams-
Searle
memory loss.
EDUCATORS' ADVISORY BOARD: Betty Arndt,
For the historian, learning
Greenwood Elementary School, Des Moines; Gary
Coffelt, Central Decatur Elementary, Leon; Linda
about disabilities in the past is
Vandeventer, Harrison Elementary School,
not always easy. Many people
Davenport; Karla Willoughby, Hanawalt
A young Sabula, Iowa, girl in a
Elementary School, Des Moines
in the past believed that those
wheelchair or baby carriage,
CHILDREN'S ADVISORY BOARD: Sarah Frese,
with disabilities should be
Danville; Muriel Huckins, Council Bluffs; William
around 1905.
SHSI (Iowa City)
Martin, Waterloo; Nina Moeller, Iowa City
hidden away. They were rarely
SPECIAL THANKS TO: Johnathan Buffalo,
photographed or included in social
events. In some ways, the lives
Mesquakie Tribal Historian, Tama; Ed Foss, Iowa
School for the Deaf; Senator Tom Harkin; David
of past Iowans with disabilities remain a mystery.
Hoenig; Judy Hoit; Diane Hussinger, Iowa Braille
School; Nancy Jennings; David Leschz and the
In this issue of The Goldfinch you will meet a few Iowans who
staff of the Hospital School, Iowa City; Larry
Pezley and the staff of the Woodward State
lived with disabilities in the state's past. Their lives
were recorded
Hospital School, Woodward; Jennie Morgan, SHSI,
Des Moines
in photographs and other historical documents that survive today.
CREDITS: The characters Wild Rosie and Goldie
by SHSI exhibit designer Jerry Brown. The articles
Learn how their disabilities affected their lives, and the lives of
on pages 8 and 9 were adapted from an article by
Sharon E. Wood, published in the The Palimp-
their families and read about changing attitudes towards people
sest, Spring 1989. Photos on page 4 and 12 from
"Gleanings from our Past." The research on page
with disabilities. Once viewed as incapable of contributing fully to
24-25 was conducted by Gina lie Swaim, Editor,
SHSI, and published in The Palimpsest, Spring
society, people with disabilities have fought to be accepted for
1994
what they can do, not what they can't.
The Goldfinch (ISSN 0278-02081 is published quarterly by
the State Historical Society of Iowa, 402 Iowa Avenue,
As you read this issue, you will notice that we sometimes used
Iowa City, Iowa 52240-1806 (319/335-3916). Second-
class postage paid at Iowa City, Iowa. Subscriptions are
some out-of-date terms to describe people with disabilities. Words
$10 for four issues.
Postmaster: Send address changes to: Carol Carey,
such as "moron," "feeble-minded," and "deaf and dumb"
were
subscriptions coordinator, The Goldfinch, State Historical
Society of Iowa, 402 Iowa Avenue, Iowa City, Iowa 52240-
used in Iowa's past but are not appropriate today. MI
1806.
State Historical Society of Iowa, 1997. No
portion of The Goldfinch may be reproduced without prior
The Editor
permission except for classroom use.
4
2 The Goldfinch
ConS2Ms
20
Working on the Railroad
2
Learning about Disabilities
22
Hattie Voeklers
4
Caring for Iowans with Disabilities
23
Kurt Kehrli
Helping Technology
7
24
Serving People with Disabilities
8
Voices from Glenwood
25
The Polio Epidemics
10
Dear Diary
27
Living with Polio
12
Two State Schools
28
Fiction: A Place for Caleb
14
Andrew Clemens
31
16 The Roost
Learn the Manual Alphabet
Back Cover
18
Old Places
Rose Quinn
VISIT THE EXHIBIT!
knue madam
SecrAng
Adjustments,
N2CofgeJusy
exhibit
Iowans
about
550
al
Since 1994, The Goldfinch magazine has also been available
disabilities,
CI;
ezOR
cd1110
on cassette tape for the blind, the visually impaired, the
Grout
display
al@
EJR
physically disabled, and the learning disabled. For more
Waterloo
ITSO-s@aou Cou
throug
information contact the Iowa Department for the Blind,
&Recap
h
ASc,
1998.
informatio
n,
1-800-362-2587. Or write to the Iowa Department for the
Poe
2,34-6'357
@di gggD,
Blind Library, 524 4th St., Des Moines, Iowa 50309.
covey
U.D8
r7:74
I
iIL
i
Judy Hoit of Coon Rapids,
11_
Iowa, sews a leather pouch
during an occupational
.4
therapy session at a polio
clinic in Georgia, 1956.
Judy contracted polio when
she was four years old.
I
Read more about Judy's
[
experiences on page 27.
Cover photo c-ourtesy Judy Hoit
The Goldfinch 3
[gab° Mae,
1876. Feeble-minded was a
broad term used to describe a
variety of mental disabilities,
including mental retardation.
A 1910 newspaper article
reported a colony was needed to
prevent "epileptics from min-
gling in society and propagating
their kind." In 1917, the Wood-
ward Colony for Epileptics
opened in Woodward. It became
common in the late 19th and
20th centuries to discourage
people with disabilities from
id,t44
marrying and having children.
-46
Institutional living in the 1800s and early 1900s offered little privacy. Sometimes adults with disabili-
ties were operated on so they
How are these sleeping quarters different from your bedroom at home?
could not have children.
n the 1800s, people with
"different." Those with mental
When Glenwood became
mental and physical
overcrowded, Woodward
disabilities were called "mental
disabilities began to be
changed its focus and admitted
defectives" and were thought to
segregated from society more
"feeble-minded" children.
have "brain diseases" or "mania."
and more. As cities grew, and
A person with a physical disability
In the 1800s and early 1900s,
work moved from farm and
most state schools like
was "lame" or "deformed."
home to factory and office,
After the Civil War, Iowa
Glenwood and Woodward ran
people with disabilities found it
opened institutions for people
large farms where residents
harder to participate in the
with disabilities. Some were
helped raise food needed to
workplace. Many people even
schools that provided education
support the institution. The
believed that those with disabili-
and training for life outside the
Woodward farm raised corn,
ties should not mingle with
institution. Others were little
wheat, cattle, hogs, and a variety
more than warehouses where
"normal" people.
of fruits and vegetables.
People with disabilities were
people were forced to spend
Hospitals for "insane" adults
rarely photographed and not
their entire lives. The Institution
opened in Mount Pleasant in
given many opportunities
for Feeble-Minded Children
1861, Independence in 1873,
because they were seen as
opened in Glenwood, Iowa in
Clarinda in 1888, and Cherokee
4 The Goldfinch
Disabift in the Mesqualte Tribe
I
"There was always something
'1-
.
/0
for them to do
- -
,
/1
.
. .
.!"11. .00OO6
I'
O
0
O" 61
66
8'
O
O O
O
.
tribe, 'Deo*
I n the Mescaaki
-.
6'11 '
.6
I
6
with disabilities are sacrell
16
.6
1
0 O
I
1
O
.
"This is a Mescaake teaching,"
" .
I
.
.
o
I
said Johnathan Buffalo, Mescluake
"I.
I
.
tribal historian "Peopie who are
.
I I
0'
11"11
1
I
handIcapplesi are blessed They are
i
'
'4
s.
-4
.
.
1 I
I I
1
at
watched over by our gods
If ystu do
61
-
1
0
something to them, mu are doing
..1
Of
O'
O.
6 1
.
something to the goAs
4-
Mesquakie with disabilities are
OO.
1"418 '
O'
O.
0
O S
6
O
I
valued members of the tribe "There
1.8' I'
I
O
55
was alwayis something of value fox
55
5
them to do said Buffalo
If their
-NET
To
hands were still working, they could
make bowls
Because everyaike in the tribe is
considered a relative, it is the
resimitsibility of all members to look
out for people with disabilities
Mesquake
In the
18®®s,
children were sometimes Rut in
schools and tauglEt EuropLe_art-
American wows Because they didn't
spaak EnglIsIi very well and had a
hard tome adapting to the school,
they were sometimes mislabeled as
mentally retarded, said Buffalo
:19
- .
-
'"
II
Today, the Mesquake continu
'6
.6
'0
0
0
'
6 6
'
0 .
to teach new geikeAakorts to resract
I
SOO '
"0
I
I
all members of the tribe, regaralass
-
oo
GF AR
of abilitv or disabilitv
5
As with many disabili-
ing. Those in charge realized
that separating people with
ties, there was no
"cure," and these
disabilities from society was not
remedies probably had
necessarily the best treatment.
little effect.
The movement towards inde-
Wars increased
pendent living began. New
awareness and services
training programs were estab-
for people with disabili-
lished so that all people were
ties. As war veterans
given jobs they could enjoy and
returned home without
complete, no matter what their
limbs or with severe
ability. At Woodward, residents
head wounds, families,
(often called "clients") manufac-
After wars, many soldiers, like the
one above,
communities, and
ture and package a variety of
returned home with disabilities.
SHSI
(Iowa City)
governments struggled
items, such as snacks and
cells resembling prisons or
to reintegrate them into work
garbage bags, run a recycling
confined to restraints.
and social life. Iowa veterans
plant, and build and refinish
furniture.
Having a family member with
with disabilities were sent to
a disability in the 19th century
training centers where they
Better care and services, as
was a source of shame for many
learned how to live with a
well as medications, have
disability One Iowa soldier, who
people. At Woodward, many
decreased enrollment at the
relatives did not want their
had been a farmer before losing
state's institutions. At its peek,
his right arm during World War
family names associated with
Woodward housed as many as
the institution. When residents
I, was retrained to work as a
2,000 people. Enrollment in
died, they were buried in
bookkeeper.
1997 averaged 280.
gravestones marked with
Today, the goal of most of
The 1960s and 1970s were a
numbers instead of names.
time of social upheaval in the
Iowa's institutions and indepen-
For people with disabilities
United States as women and
dent living centers is to help
minorities lobbied for equal
who lived at home, there were
people with disabilities live
few opportunities for education
rights. People with disabilities
independent and productive
and work. To care for their
also demanded better education
lives, and to educate others to
relative, a family might rely on
value them for their abilities
and services. In the 1970s, the
questionable home remedies.
instead of discriminating against
U.S. Congress passed several
An 1890s book offered remedies
them for their disabilities. rEgl
laws to better serve people with
for various ailments, including
disabilities.
Amy Ruth
epilepsy, hysteria, and apoplexy
Institutions were also chang-
6 The Goldfinch
8
11
11
in the 1880s, helped
deaf people create ways
Dae
to be more indepen-
cft.ochno
I-1
dent. Instead of door
bells, deaf people use door lights
by Amy Ruth
that flash when the button is
with special thanks to
pushed. Their alarm clocks use
Doug Baynton
flashing lights or vibrating pads
to wake them up.
War II, when many soldiers came
There are many examples
home with disabilities. Often,
of inventions that were created
however, people with disabilities
to help people
I
were not consulted in the design
with disabili-
and manufacturing of wheel-
hroughout history, tech-
ties that now
chairs. In the 1970s, wheelchair
nological advances have
benefit all
design improved even more when
generally made life easi-
people.
people with disabilities designed
er For people with disabilities,
A father
chairs to suit their needs.
however, technology has both
invented
Other technologies have
encouraged and discouraged a
the Jacuzzi
aided people with disabilities.
life of independence.
for his son who
For example, silent films in the
Early wheelchairs, known as
\
had severe arthritis. The type-
late 1800s and early
"invalid chairs," did not help
V/
writer was invented for blind peo-
1900s were well-
users move independently
ple but is used by many sighted
received by the
because they were heavy
people. Curb cuts were originally
--=:3 deaf communi-
and hard to steer. Users
made to give easy sidewalk
ty. However, this
had to rely on another
access to people who use wheel-
technology
person to push them. Early
chairs, but also benefit those
excluded blind peo-
wheelchairs reflected soci-
who use bicycles, baby car-
ple. But sound in
ety's attitudes. Because people
riages, and other vehicles. Even
movies, on the radio, and on tele-
with disabilities were expected
closed-captioning on television
vision excluded deaf people.
to stay home and out of public
screens helps the non-disabled
Today, closed-captioning helps
view, most people didn't believe
immigrants learn
population
deaf people enjoy movies and
they needed reliable trans-
English by studying the words
television. Descriptive video
portation. (Turn to page 27 to
and the sounds together.
explains television and movies to
see an example of an older
What are some of the other
blind people, and talking comput-
wheelchair.)
technological advances that
ers help them use this revolution-
There were wheelchair
benefit Iowans with and with-
ary technology Electricity, first
improvements after the Civil
out disabilities?
introduced into American homes
War, World War I, and World
5
The Goldfinch 7
When I first came to the institution, I was seven years
old. I didn't know what was going to happen when I
got there because it was
. so strange to me. .
.
.
.
Before I went to Glenwood, I was [disabled] in a car
accident. Two years later my dad got killed
then
. . .
my mother didn't know what to do with us, so she
took and put my brothers in a fos-
Aue
ter home and took me to court,
and the court sentenced me down
Nffl000ll
at Glenwood for life, because my
mother couldn't take care of me.
She told me, she
.
.
Voices
said she didn't have enough money to take care of us
I couldn't do much work, and I hurt my.
right
.
. .
.
. .
from
arm and right leg, and my mother figured that when I
grew up that I'd be in a wheelchair and I wouldn't be
able to do any work of any kind.
I was in the
Glenwood
.
.
school [at Glenwood] for at least three years, proba-
bly four, and then they put me on the job.
I couldn't
. .
hate the people that raised me and educated me [at
by Shana Wingert
Glenwood] because if it wasn't
for them cracking down on
owans Art Mend, Liz Stemmel, and John
us like that we would have
Welsh lived at the Glenwood State Hospital
never learned how to do
School in Council Bluffs. Glenwood is a care
When I was
anything.
facility for Iowans with severe disabilities, such
. .
grown up, .
I wanted to
as mental retardation. In Iowa's past, children
.
.
leave the institution, but I
were sent to Glenwood and similar facilities for a
just didn't want to leave
variety or reasons. Kids who committed small
my friends behind. .
but I
crimes or no longer had parents to care for them
.
guess that was the way I
were sent to live in county and state institutions.
had to do it. Either I had
In the 1990s, officials and volunteers with the
to stay there or leave. So I
Hospital School in Iowa City conducted oral his-
left, and I told them,
tories with Art, Liz, John, and other Glenwood
'Maybe one of these days
residents to find out about their lives. Art and
we'll run into each other
John spent most of their lives at Glenwood
again.'
between the 1930s and the 1960s. Liz was there
for about five years. Here are their stories.
8 The Goldfinch