Disability History Online

Abstract

Students studies of eugenics, or the independent living movement, or disabled Civil War veterans, and still miss the real story of disability history, its cultural extent, its language, its emotional power. This is frustrating for the instructor with a passion for the subject. However, with a little creativity, such readings can be supplemented with primary sources to convey more of the variety and richness that researchers know firsthand. Teachers can use these sources to improve student understanding of (and interest in) the historical subject matter. This article explores some teaching strategies for using the vast and growing online treasury of primary documents in disability history. There are some standard arguments for the use of primary sources in the classroom, which apply across specific historical topics (i). Students gain appreciation for the nature of historical work, the difficulty of interpretation and the craft of assembling an eclectic range of materials into a coherent whole. While an historian's narrative of events can be a bit dry, an unfiltered on-the-scene account by a participant or journalist may hold more fascination. Personalizing the story of a complex movement, or a whole era, can have its own pitfalls. But if the goal is to spark an initial interest, having a name and a face to follow through the broader story can be very effective. Accessing historical primary sources online has many practical advantages (2). Online repositories are available day and night, even when brick-and-mortar archives are closed. New researchers may find a hushed, security-conscious special collections library intimidating, but the online environment is already familiar and comfortable to most students. It requires neither silence nor supervision. Delicate, rare, or expensive materials can be examined in their virtual state without any risk of damage or theft, and faraway materials become available at the click of a button. Such explorations not only expose students to the content itself, they also encourage good online research skills: careful selection of search terms and date ranges, source evaluation, and other thought processes with wide application (3). The following is a discussion of three typical disability history subjects disabled veterans, eugenics, and the disability rights movement and suggestions for incorporating online primary sources as part of the study materials. The idea is to present a variety of formats and voices for each topic, including firsthand accounts, images, sound and video files, journalism, and artistic expressions, to introduce students to the basic materials of historical research, to evoke thoughtful analysis and to develop personal interest in the subject.