Memories From the 10th Anniversary of the signing of
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991
The Disability Rights Leadership Series
In an effort to capture the day–to–day memories of some of those who witnessed and influenced this extraordinary historic event, the University of San Francisco and the video production company, Access Video, collaborated with DREDF during 1999 and 2000 to interview some of the people who were central to the law’s passage.
The Making of the ADA – Week One
July 14, 2015
“Here’s this delinquent kid sitting up there next to the President of the United States and…they’re playing the Battle Hymn of the Republic. It’s just like the end of a 1930’s movie, you know? And then it occurred to me that it is not the end…Here are all these millions of people in the United States and half a billion people around the world whose futures will be determined by whether this law is successful or not.” – Justin Dart
Week One Interviews: Justin Dart, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, President George H.W. Bush, and the trio of Pat Wright, Ralph Neas & John Wodatch
The Making of the ADA – Week Two
July 19, 2015
“Well, I have said the passage of it [the ADA] is the highlight of my legislative career…To me, it represents one of the two or three major things that I have ever done in my entire lifetime.” – Senator Tom Harkin
Week Two Interviews: Senator Tom Harkin, Arlene Mayerson, and Pat Wright
The Making of the ADA – Week Three
July 30, 2015
“…I remember one late night, three o’clock in the morning conversation with Evan Kemp, where he told me that, in Washington, you’re in as long as you’re winning. And so, by the time we got to the ADA…we were winning.” – Arlene Mayerson
Week Three Interviews: C. Boyden Gray, Ralph G. Neas, and Arlene Mayerson (Part 2)
The Making of the ADA – Week Four
August 17, 2015
“The philosophy has been…that when you can’t get the position that you want, get that position with a delay rather than weakening. Weaken the when, not the what.” – Marilyn Golden
Week Four Interviews: Carolyn Osolinik, Richard Thornburgh and Marilyn Golden