Disability Resources

The Disability History Museum hosts a Library of virtual artifacts, Education curricula, and Museum exhibits. These programs are designed to foster research and study about the historical experiences of people with disabilities and their communities.

From the Smithsonian National Museum of American History
9 digital collections

A list—by no means complete—of entities that have played an active role in documenting disability in history. Many of the resources and descriptions listed were adapted from The Disability History/Archives Consortium: A Portal to Disability History Collections White Paper. Others have been identified by members of the A&D Section.

From the National Archives
Documents from Presidential Libraries

The Deaf-mutes' Journal was published weekly starting with the Nov. 5, 1874 issue and ceased publication in 1938. It was preceded by The Mexico Independent and Deaf-mutes' Journal from 1872-1874, and was succeeded by the New York Journal of the Deaf, published in White Plains, N.Y. beginning in 1938.

Disability in Time and Place (historic England) reveals how disabled people's lives are integral to the heritage all around us. From leper chapels built in the 1100s to protests about accessibility in the 1980s, the built environment is inextricably linked to the stories of disabled people, hidden and well-known. This section serves as an invitation to those interested in disability or social history to explore what the historic environment has to offer. All the content has been translated into British Sign Language.

An interdisciplinary collection of primary texts and images about physical and cognitive disability in the nineteenth century.

A web exhibit about the history of developmental disabilities from the The Minnesota Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities.

19 Digital Collections

The Silent Worker was a popular national newspaper among the deaf population of the United States during the end of the 1890's through the end of the first quarter of the 20th century. Originally known as the Deaf Mute Times, it was first published in February 1888 and renamed The Silent Worker on September 27 of the same year. The New Jersey School for the Deaf continued its publication monthly, except for July, August, and periodically September until it ceased in June 1929. Deaf American authors wrote almost all articles, although occasional contributions by deaf individuals from other countries were also printed.

While designed for broad public use, the site includes links and references to key archives, libraries, scholarly websites and other sources of reliable information that we hope will be useful to students, researchers and scholars studying social welfare.