ENSURING WE NEVER FORGET DISABILITY RIGHTS HISTORY
Wednesday March 10 noon – 1:30.
Panelists: Alex Green, Reggie Clark, Woody Gaw and Donna Jay.
Sponsored by Harvard Law School Project on Disability.
ASL interpretation provided.
In 2020’s waning months, activists rallied to oppose the decision of the City of Waltham, MA to approve using the grounds of the Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center, the oldest institution for persons with disabilities in the United States, for a holiday light show. Read more about those efforts here: https://www.rightsnotlights.com. Waltham’s decision shone a light on how society may choose to forget the lurid legacy of such institutions rather than critically and publicly interrogate the role they played in shaping today’s services, systems, and attitudes for persons with disabilities.
Join us for a conversation with self-advocates and institution survivors Reggie Clark, Woody Gaw, and Donna Jay about the legacy of the Fernald State School and other institutions alongside Alex Green, an historian, journalist, fellow at the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation, and adjunct lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.