Disability History Archive Exhibit
Barbara Floyd, Director of the Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections, University Libraries, Diane Britton, Professor, Department of History and Jerry Van Hoy, Interim Director of the Disability Studies Program at The University of Toledo received a university Program for Academic Excellence Award to create an exhibit based on the Northwest Ohio Disability History Archives.The project, entitled “From Institutions to Independence: The Historical Experience of the Disabled of Northwest Ohio—An Exhibition,” produced an original exhibition that opened in Fall 2008.
The exhibition was housed in the Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections. The exhibit interpreted collections acquired by the Canaday Center as part of its Regional Disability History Archive and placed such unique historical materials within the larger context of disability history and local history. Viewers of the exhibit gained a greater understanding of this undiscovered aspect of our community’s past, and disabled visitors gained a sense of their own historical experiences.The project was an interdisciplinary collaboration between the University Libraries, the Department of History and the Disability Studies Program at The University of Toledo. In addition to the exhibits noted above, the project brought a nationally-known speaker in disability history to the community for an opening lecture and community workshops.
