The Project

The purpose of the Documenting Disability History Project is to explore the history of the Disability Rights and Independent Living movements in Northern California’s rural communities, specifically in Nevada County and the surrounding region. Using the methodology of oral history, project staff and volunteers have conducted and transcribed interviews with activists, community and agency leaders, and other stakeholders who have helped to shape the local movement.

The project began in May of 2007 as a partnership between Heather Heckler and FREED Center for Independent Living. It is funded by the California Council for the Humanities.

Project Director

FREED Photograph- Wheelchair Circle Heather Heckler
Project Director

Heather Heckler grew up in Nevada County, and is now an independent scholar based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She earned her M.A. in U.S. history and public history from American University in Washington, D.C. and holds an A.B. in history from the University of California at Davis. During her tenure in Washington, D.C., Ms. Heckler worked in partnership with the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum and the non-profit organization Community Help in Music Education (CHIME) to conduct oral history interviews with former band directors and music teachers as part of an exhibition on music education in D.C.’s public schools. As a researcher and interviewer, Ms. Heckler gathered evidence, images, and artifacts, and wrote the preliminary themes for the exhibition Banding Together: School Bands as Instruments of Opportunity. In addition to her work at the Anacostia Community Museum, Ms. Heckler completed internships at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.

Ms. Heckler’s interest in the history of the Disability Rights Movement stems, in part, from her time at FREED Center for Independent Living, where she worked as a community organizer, assisting people with disabilities in advocating for change in policies and legislation that negatively affect the disability community.

As project director, Ms. Heckler oversees all aspects of the project, including planning, research, coordination and training of volunteers, oral history interviews, design and implementation of the final exhibition and community forum, marketing, and the archiving of oral history transcripts and tapes at selected repositories.

Advisors

Dr. Paul Longmore
Humanities Expert

Dr. Paul K. Longmore, Professor of History and Director of the Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University, specializes in early American history and the history of people with disabilities. He earned his Ph.D. at the Claremont Graduate School and his B.A. and M.A. at Occidental College. Longmore's book The Invention of George Washington (University of California Press, 1988; pb. University Press of Virginia, 1998) has been described by the distinguished historian Edmund S. Morgan as “probably the best account” of Washington’s early career. Meanwhile, Stanley Kutler, former editor of the journal Reviews in American History, praised as “pioneering” Longmore’s call in the mid-1980s for historians to examine the history of disability. In 2004 in that same journal, a review of Why I Burned My Book and Other Essays on Disability (Temple University Press, 2003), declared, “Probably more than anyone, Longmore has been responsible for bringing disability studies to the field of history.”

With Lauri Umansky, Dr. Longmore co-edited The New Disability History: American Perspectives (New York University Press, 2001), an anthology of essays, and is co-editing a book series, The History of Disability, for NYU Press. He has taught at Stanford University, the University of Southern California, and the California Polytechnic University at Pomona.

As a humanities expert, Dr. Longmore advises the project director on the direction of research, assists in the development of exhibition themes, and provides scholarly support where needed.

Ann Guerra
Project Advisor and Humanities Expert

Ann Guerra, formerly Executive Director of FREED Center for Independent Living, started at FREED as a volunteer in 1987, putting her interest in civil rights and disability pride to use in her community. She became FREED’s Executive Director in 2001, and recently left to head the Nevada-Sierra In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority. Ms. Guerra is a former chair of the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers (CFILC) and the Nevada County Transit Services Commission. The emphasis of her work is on implementation and protection of the Americans with Disabilities Act and promoting the independent living philosophy that people with disabilities be in control of their own lives.

Ms. Guerra advises the project director on project planning and implementation, provides knowledge of the people, organizations, and events associated with the disability rights movement in Nevada County and the surrounding areas, assists in the development of question sets and exhibition themes, and helps to identify and contact potential interviewees.

Partners

FREED Center for Independent Living (www.freed.org)

FREED’s core philosophy is that independence comes from having self-direction and choice in one’s life. Established in Grass Valley in 1985, FREED Center for Independent Living is a non-profit consumer operated organization that provides services to people with disabilities and their families. In 1998, FREED expanded to serve Yuba, Sutter and Colusa Counties, and now has a second branch office in Marysville. Sierra County, also in FREED’s catchment area, is served through the Grass Valley office.

The majority of FREED’s staff and board of directors are people with disabilities. FREED’s mission is “to eliminate barriers to full equality through programs which promote independent living and effect systems change while honoring dignity and self determination.”

FREED’s services include personal and systems advocacy, peer support, personal assistant referral, housing referral, computers and internet access, wheelchair and equipment recycling, and a home repair and modification program. FREED also provides information and referrals regarding disability programs, services and equipment.

FREED is the fiscal sponsor of the Documenting Disability History Project, and the Grass Valley office serves as project headquarters, where stakeholders can gain information about and access to the project. Additionally, FREED provides staff time, administrative support, Braille printing services, and supplies as needed.

Funders

California Council for the Humanities (http://www.calhum.org)

This project is made possible, in part, by a grant from the California Council for the Humanities as part of the Council’s statewide California Stories Initiative. The Council is an independent non-profit organization and a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information on the Council and the California Stories Initiative, visit www.californiastories.org.