Object Details
referenced
Independent Living Movement
University of California, Berkeley
user
Roberts, Edward V.
maker
Stanford Rehab Engineering
Description
Equipped with a sports-car seat, go-cart wheels, and a top speed of eight miles an hour, this wheelchair belonged to disability-rights pioneer Ed Roberts. Roberts was paralyzed by polio in 1953, at age fourteen. In 1962 he enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley, where he led efforts to establish a program for disabled students. He later founded the Independent Living Movement, a worldwide campaign to secure civil rights, equal access, and self-sufficiency for people with disabilities.
Ref: “Edward V. Roberts, Champion of the Disabled,” New York Times (March 16, 1995), p B13.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Zona L. Roberts in memory of Edward V. Roberts
Date made
1996
associated dates
1966-1999-03
ID Number
1995.0179.01
catalog number
1995.0179.01
accession number
1995.0179
Object Name
wheelchair
Physical Description
steel (overall material)
leather (overall material)
rubber (overall material)
blue (overall color)
Measurements
average spatial: 42 in x 24 in x 46 in; 106.68 cm x 60.96 cm x 116.84 cm
Place Made
United States: California, Palo Alto
referenced
United States: California, Berkeley
United States: California
Related Publication
Kendrick, Kathleen M. and Peter C. Liebhold. Smithsonian Treasures of American History
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Medicine
Health & Medicine
The Antibody Initiative
Family & Social Life
National Treasures exhibit
Antibody Initiative: Polio
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Disabilities
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_1181889
