A Disability History of the United States | Kim E. Nielsen
240 pages | Beacon Press | 10.1.13
The first book to cover the entirety of disability history, from pre-1492 to the present.
A Disability History of the United States will fundamentally reposition how we view our American past--from a narrow master narrative to a shared history that encompasses all of us regardless of race, class, gender, and ideology. Through powerful and varied stories we witness how the labor movement evolved as disability activists fought for jobs, how war veterans returning with disabilities secured civil rights, and the impact disability had on shifting cultural expressions of care-giving, medicinal breakthroughs, and education reform. As Nielsen writes, disability is "our story, the story of someone we love, the story of whom we may become, and it is undoubtedly the story of our nation."