Ed Roberts, Activist
This section of the Minnesota Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities Web site is dedicated to the life, work and legacy of Ed Roberts, a pioneering leader of the disability rights movement.
A Day in the Life of Ed Roberts:
Lee Roberts talks about his father, Ed Roberts
Ed Roberts is well known and recognized as a leader with a mission but only a few people came to know Ed, the person. Through a series of stories, Lee Roberts offers glimpses into Ed's personal life, his passions and his beliefs.
Ed Roberts Inducted into the California Hall of Fame
The California Hall of Fame was created to recognize legendary Californians who have influenced the state, the nation, and the world. Ed Roberts joined nine other 2011 inductees, including Buzz Aldrin, Magic Johnson, The Beach Boys, Carlos Santana, and Amy Tan. The 2011 Exhibit opened December 9, 2011.
http://www.californiamuseum.org/exhibits/halloffame
Ed Roberts Day
On December 15, 2010 the United States House of Representatives declared January 23, 2011 as "Ed Roberts Day".
Press Release: Miller's legislation Recognizing Disability Advocate Ed Roberts Passes House
Text of US House Legislation Introduced by Rep. George Miller
Bio
Ed Roberts (January 23, 1939-March 14, 1995) was the first student with severe disabilities to attend the University of California, Berkeley. He was a pioneering leader of the disability rights movement. Roberts contracted polio at the age of fourteen in 1953, spending eighteen months in hospitals and returning home paralyzed from the neck down.
Determined to live with a positive personal sense of disability identity, his activism began when he returned to school and needed to fight to receive his high school diploma, continuing through his attendance at Berkeley where he paved the way for other students with severe disabilities, who joined him in his efforts to advocate for changes to their treatment and services.
He became the head of the Berkeley Center for Independent Living (CIL), the first independent living service and advocacy program run by and for people with disabilities. In 1976 California Governor Jerry Brown appointed him Director of the California Department of Rehabilitation, where he served until 1983. He returned to Berkeley and cofounded the World Institute on Disability.
- Autobiography (as told to Jon Oda) from "Parallels in Time: The Independent Living Movement"
- Wikipedia Entry
Study Guide
Paintings by Patrick Wm. Connally
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Ed Roberts: A Remembrance and Leadership 'GPS'!
By William Bronston, M.D.
January 16, 2011
He comes back first in sound bytes, the rhythmic pop and shush of his positive pressure breathing system he clenched in his teeth, used constantly, over time, as breathing came harder; the motor-whirring acceleration of his "high quad" power wheelchair when in motion; and the sighing wheeze when he adjusted his chair back down or upright at the touch of his mobile left middle finger to the chair-arm mounted toggle switch. The pumping air surge of the yellow cast-iron lung in which Ed spent evenings at home and slept, was another unforgettable audio cadence of friendship. Polio, in his teen age, savaged Ed's striated muscle system, the motor muscles that we consciously control to stand, walk, breath, use arms and hands, and left a gawky, strikingly handsome, massively paralyzed, soon to be recognized as a limitless, human being at the mercy of society's stereotypes, fears and the emerging and unpredictable liberating revolution in new transistor and digital technology... Read the complete essay...
Ed Roberts
By David Goode, Professor of Sociology, City University of New York
January 24, 2011
I met Ed Roberts via a project I was coordinating for the Administration for Developmental Disabilities on Quality of Life and Disability. This was in 1985 and by then he was already a legend to many. I telephoned him because knowing of him, and what he and Judy Heumann were trying to do at the World Institute on Disability (WID), I thought he would be interested and supportive of what I was trying to do.
I explained to him that I was trying to do something different, something that had not been tried before. This was to take what was known in research about quality of life, generally, not with respect to disability, and use it to structure a discussion about quality of life and disability. I explained that I wanted to use this term to develop policy in the disability arena, and to involve "all constituents" in the discussion – policy makers, families who have children with disabilities, professionals in the area... Read the complete essay...
"Ed and the Gang"
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1981 at North Bay Regional Center in Napa, CA. |
Links:
Ed was the first person to sponsor Marc Gold to present statewide workshops on
"Try Another Way": Marc Gold – Try Another Way
Project Interdependence
Ed Roberts was the sponsor of Project Interdependence, an innovative, long-term economic development model to demonstrate public/private partnerships with California's youth for careers in science, the arts, recreation, and sports.
Excerpts from video "Discover Interdependence" >>
Project Interdependence Slide Show featuring Ed Roberts >>
Documents: http://www.mncdd.org/parallels2/pdf/index-proj-ind.html
Video Segments:
| 60 Minutes Segment with Harry Reasoner |
People in Motion: Freewheeling |
| The Power of 504 (Excerpt) |
Self Defense |
 Effective Strategies for Social Change: Ed Roberts Speaks at the First Partners in Policymaking Session 1 (May 1, 1987) |
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"The Quad Who Stood Up"
Documentary Video on Ed Roberts by Billy Golfus
Excerpts are viewable on the Billy GolfusYouTube Channel.
(Note: This is a link outside of MNDDC.org. Video on YouTube has not been captioned at this time)
Articles and Documents:
| Title | File | Author | Source |
| Editor's Note | 1_EditorNote.pdf | Editor | Mouth Magazine 2007 |
| How to Live Longer | 2_How2LiveLonger.pdf | Ed Roberts | Mouth Magazine 2007 |
| The Tao of Ed | 3_TheTaoOfEd.pdf | Ed Roberts | Mouth Magazine 2007 |
| Our Man on the Moon | 4_ManOnTheMoon.pdf | Ed Roberts | Mouth Magazine 2007 |
| Independent Living: Born on Campus |
5_IL_BornOnCampus.pdf | Ed Roberts | Mouth Magazine 2007 |
| Ed Roberts, at Home and at Large |
At_Home_At_Large.pdf | Lydia Gans | New Mobility, May-June 1994 |
| A Conversation with Ed Roberts, California Q&A |
Conversation_with_Ed_Roberts.pdf | Timothy Pfaff | Retyped 7/03 from the California Monthly, February 1985 |
| Consumer Unity | Consumer_Unity_CA_VRS.pdf | The Proceedings of a Working Conference of New and Established Consumer Leaders | California Department of Rehabilitation |
| "Miller's Legislation Recognizing Disability Advocate Ed Roberts Passes House" |
George_Miller_Proposes _Ed_Roberts_Day.pdf |
Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) |
http://georgemiller.house.gov |
| Text of House Legislation for "Ed Roberts Day" | HR_Ed_Roberts_Day.pdf | US House of Representatives | |
| Ed Roberts, Prophet of Independence/ Ed Roberts 1939 - 1995 |
Ed_Roberts2.pdf | Justin Dart, President Bill Clinton, Judy Heuman | |
| Principles and Recommendations from the Quality of Life Project | Principles_Recommendations_Quality-of-Life-Project.pdf | David A. Goode | |