1900’s

Called the Progressive-era, a belief in building a better society through social engineering, dominated the new, politics and the business world. During this era, disability became defined trough what has been termed the ‘medical model’.

Medical experts were given carte blanche to measure, define and devise solutions for eradicating disability. Disability became tied to arguments of economics and Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest. Many medical professionals promoted erecting huge state-run institutions to remove people with disabilities from society. Still others posed strong eugenics arguments in favor of sterilizing people with disabilities in order to cleanse the gene pool of ‘degenerate stock’.

Alongside this trend of segregation and eradication were advances in education reform. The concept of special education and vocational training was introduced into public schools, offering opportunities for people with disabilities to display their potential and assimilate into society.

1902

• Helen Keller, the first deaf-blind person to matriculate at college, publishes her autobiography, “The Story of My Life,” in the Ladies’ Home Journal.

1906

• Cleveland Society for the Blind (later Cleveland Sight Center) founded through the efforts of Linda Eastman.

1908

• After his release from a mental asylum, Clifford Beers, publishes “A Mind That Found Itself,” an exposé of the poor conditions inside state and private mental institutions. He went on to establish several organizations dedicated to mental health reforms in the United States.

• Special education classes established in Providence, Springfield, Boston, Philadelphia, Stanford, New York City, Baltimore, Chicago, San Francisco, Cleveland, Rochester, Detroit, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Worchester and several New Jersey cities.