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First Hospital
First public building in North America devoted to treatment of mentally ill. The first patient was admitted October 12, 1773. It was named Public Hospital for Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds. -
First Deaf Asylum
Opened in 1817 by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, the the first institution for the education of the Deaf in North America, and he became its first principal. The name was American Asylum for Deaf-Mutes" in Connecticut, but it is now known as the American School for the Deaf. -
National Home for Veterans
This home was created in response to to returning cival war veterans who were disabled. -
Vocational Rehabilitation Act
Also known as The Smith-Hughes Act, it established the Federal-State Program in vocational education; created a Federal Board of Vocational Education with the authority and responsibility for vocational rehabilitation of disabled veterans. -
Buck vs Bell
This case was the United States Supreme Court ruling that upheld a statute instituting compulsory sterilization of the unfit, including the mentally retarded, "for the protection and health of the state." It was largely seen as an endorsement of negative eugenics—the attempt to improve the human race by eliminating "defectives" from the gene pool -
Franklin D. Roosevelt
After he became President, he helped to found the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, now known as the March of Dimes. The March of Dimes initially focused on the rehabilitation of victims of paralytic polio, and supported the work of Jonas Salk and others that led to the development of polio vaccines. Today, the Foundation focuses on preventing premature birth, birth defects and infant mortality. -
First Center for Independent Living
Founded in Berkeley, California, the Center for Independent Living (CIL) emerged from the independent living movement of the 1960’s as a powerful force in helping people with disabilities achieve their independence. -
President Nixon
President Richard Nixon signed Executive Order 11776, which emphasized deinstitutionalization, and called upon Americans to welcome people with intellectual disabilities into their communities. The executive order returning one-third of the 200,000 people with disabilities in institutions to community residential placements
