In Memory of Judy Heumann (1947 – 2023)

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There’s a larger-than-life photo of Judy Heumann in the rotunda of the Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley, California, where DREDF’s office is located. We have rolled or walked past her image thousands of times, but the photo never just blends into the background—like Judy, it always draws our attention.

Photo mural from the 1977 504 Sit-in above a wheelchair ramp at the ED Roberts Campus. Photos of Judy Heumann speaking into a microphone, a white woman wheelchair user holding a sign stating, BACK DOWN ON AFFIRMATIVE CTION. YOU MIGHT BREAK YOUR NECK. SIGN 504. Another white woman holding a sign stating, ACCESS TO WORK, and a Black man with a sign reading, NO MORE NEGOTIATIONS. SIGN 504. Bits of more mural photos of other people to the right

The avalanche of tributes and shared memories of Judy since her passing on Saturday, March 4, 2023, is a testament to the depth and breadth of her love for disabled people around the world—we were her family, and we felt that. She made sure we knew our value and our power, and that we knew that we could collectively build an inclusive world.

Judy was one of DREDF’s board members, a title that does not do justice to what she meant to us and did for us. She worked at the Berkeley Center for Independent Living (CIL) when it started the Disability Law Resource Center (DLRC), which became DREDF in 1979. She was among the group of disabled people who understood disability as a social issue, how ableism shows up as discrimination, and the need for disability civil rights.

Disability Law Resource Center
Center for Independent Living © 1979

Front Row (L – R): Bob Funk, Susan Shapiro, Judy Heumann, Greg Saunders, Kitty Cone, Mary Lou Breslin, Hale Zukas, Glen Vinton. Middle Row (L – R): Linda Gill, Shirley Nakao, Jan Besson, Unidentified person, Arlene Mayerson, Unidentified person with medallion, Julie Landau, unidentified person, Gary Gill -stripes, cane, Lloyd Burton. Back Row (L – R): Unidentified person in Plaid Shirt, Alexandra Enders, Unidentified person, Olin Fortney, Vincent Creek, Melba Johnson, Paul Silver, Guy Guber.

Judy’s impact is vast. Each action she took built on the one before it. In her early life, she learned perseverance and patience from witnessing her mother’s ongoing advocacy to have her go to school with her non-disabled peers. Judy studied from home and attended segregated schools for disabled students for fourteen years before she entered Sheepshead Bay High School in ninth grade. Those years of segregation sparked her thinking about disability and identity. She wrote in her memoir, Being Heumann, an Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist, “We were learning that despite what society might be telling us, we all had something to contribute.” She also recognized that she and her disabled friends were living and learning about what we now refer to as “disability culture.”

From her summer counselor gig at Camp Jened, a summer camp for disabled youth and the subject of the award-winning documentary, Crip Camp, her lawsuit against the City of New York for refusing to grant her a license to teach because she used a wheelchair, founding Disabled in Action, co-leading the 1977 Section 504 Sit-ins, heading the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services (an appointment made by President Clinton), being appointed by President Obama as the first Special Advisor on International Disability Rights for the U.S. State Department, to hosting The Heumann Perspective podcast, everything has been about her disabled siblings around the world.

Our sadness is matched with the knowledge that her legacy lives on in the law, and the many, many advocates she mentored.

Thank you, Judy. We love you. We will never forget you.

More tributes and articles about Judy

11 thoughts on “In Memory of Judy Heumann (1947 – 2023)”

  1. Mary Russell

    I recently chose to watch Crip Camp for my college assignment. I was amazed at Judy’s leadership skills at such a young age. She never gave up, she included everyone, and she made a huge difference in the lives of millions. I admired her strength, her successes, and her life-long commitment. RIP. You did well on earth and earned your heavenly wings.

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  3. Angela Haynes

    I greatly appreciate all that dedicate their life, even to to the points of putting themselves in harms way, for the betterment of society as a whole. I am so grateful for the opportunities my daughter, and others in my life have to be an active, integrated visible part of society, Without exception. We can now demand respect, and have the law to support that demand. There are not enough words to express my appreciation. Thank you Judy, you have not only opened doors, you have created opportunities for others to keep the doors open, and options available.

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  4. Barbara Fritz

    DREDF was one of my ‘go-to’ supports when I worked as Public Health Nurse in Ala. County. They swooped down quickly to ensure that children could access to the services that were right for them, not what the school was ‘ready to offer.’ I have great love and respect for DREDF and Judy’s legacy/

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  5. Dr. Norah Schwartz

    I am overwhelmed with grief — and pride. I knew Judy from the time I worked at the Independent Living Center in the 1970’s and later as i advocated for passage of the Americans with Disability Act. Judy was an icon; a tornado when she took the stage to speak. I continue writing about the history of the disability rights movement and its current trajectory. Judy — we know you will be there looking out for us. Thank you for your work, your passion, and mostly for being a ‘mensch’ to those of us in the long fight for disability rights. You are already missed!

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  8. Rosemary Kreston

    I met Judy at least twice. She is a legend in my mind for all her work on behalf of disabled people, including me. She remains one of my heroes and she should be remembered by all people who have benefited from all her advocacy work. She will be missed greatly by those of us who looked up to her and knew what her efforts were in our lives.

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  9. Pingback: Remembering Judy Heumann, leading voice for disability rights - 24Talker

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  11. Andrea Rediske

    I am the mother of a child with Cerebral Palsy who was medically fragile/medically complex. He passed away 9 years ago, but his life was made better due to the efforts of Judy Heumann. He had in-home therapy, nursing, schooling at home, and access to equipment. Thank you Judy and everyone at DREDF or helping my son have a beautiful life.

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