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A Disability History of the United States
A Disability History of the United States | Kim E. Nielsen
13 posts | 7 read | 9 to read
The first book to cover the entirety of disability history, from pre-1492 to the present Disability is not just the story of someone we love or the story of whom we may become; rather it is undoubtedly the story of our nation. Covering the entirety of US history from pre-1492 to the present, A Disability History of the United States is the first book to place the experiences of people with disabilities at the center of the American narrative. In many ways, its a familiar telling. In other ways, however, it is a radical repositioning of US history. By doing so, the book casts new light on familiar stories, such as slavery and immigration, while breaking ground about the ties between nativism and oralism in the late nineteenth century and the role of ableism in the development of democracy. A Disability History of the United States pulls from primary-source documents and social histories to retell American history through the eyes, words, and impressions of the people who lived it. As historian and disability scholar Nielsen argues, to understand disability history isnt to narrowly focus on a series of individual triumphs but rather to examine mass movements and pivotal daily events through the lens of varied experiences. Throughout the book, Nielsen deftly illustrates how concepts of disability have deeply shaped the American experiencefrom deciding who was allowed to immigrate to establishing labor laws and justifying slavery and gender discrimination. Included are absorbingat times horrificnarratives of blinded slaves being thrown overboard and women being involuntarily sterilized, as well as triumphant accounts of disabled miners organizing strikes and disability rights activists picketing Washington. Engrossing and profound, A Disability History of the United States fundamentally reinterprets how we view our nations past: from a stifling master narrative to a shared history that encompasses us all.
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ncsufoxes
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Last November review: good, although concise disability history in the US (just under 200 pages). The book discusses how the US has shaped the narrative around disability. How policies & programs have been developed as the ideas around disability has changed. It‘s a very brief overview of different periods/movements in the US. Good for people interested in disability history & policy. #bookspin book

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 13mo
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ncsufoxes
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#bookspin list for March 2022: March is Women‘s History month as well as Developmental Disability Awareness month so I have put books with these areas in mind on my list. Not sure how much time there will be to read as grad school is wrapping up & a professor I‘m helping got accepted to present our research study from this past summer at INSAR (International Society for Autism Research). Exciting but we have a lot of coding to do by April.

tenar What an excellent list! So many of these are on my TBR, too. Good luck with your work! 3y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 3y
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tenar
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Pickpick

Accessible and very brief at under 200 pages minus footnotes! Each chapter could be fleshed out into its own book, for better and for worse. Takes care to illuminate history using individual people‘s stories, using quotes when possible, beginning at the earliest written record of the land. Intersectional, focused on communities and movements, with a mildly sardonic tone that took for granted that the reader respects disabled people. I liked that.

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ncsufoxes
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Here‘s my #bookspinbingo list for January 2021. I‘m hoping that I can continue to work through my TBR and get some good reading done before the Spring semester starts.

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 4y
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ChasingOm
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As some of us are looking to 2021's reading challenges, it's a good time to remember to be intentional with integrating our shelves beyond the challenges that are specifically about diversity!

I have a huge hole in my reading of disability stories, so I'm planning to pick up this to start, while also integrating more fictionalized stories with disabled characters as well.

As always, recommendations are welcome!

#IntegrateYourShelf

Laughterhp I recently bought but haven‘t read this yet. I‘m hoping to read it next year. 4y
See All 9 Comments
Amandajoy Book Riot‘s Read Harder Challenge has some good prompts. I‘m betting they will come with some great suggestions. There‘s one for an #ownvoices book about disability. 4y
TiminCalifornia Recommend Liane Shaw‘s Caterpillars Can‘t Swim for disability. Also LGBTQ. YA. I did a review on goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2014180177 4y
ncsufoxes Sitting Pretty is on my list. As well as Care Work and Being Heumann. Disability Visibility was good and interesting 4y
ncsufoxes The Child That Never Grew by Pearl Buck, it‘s about her daughter that was born with Down Syndrome 4y
ChasingOm @ncsufoxes Oh wow! I love Pearl S. Buck (WV pride!) but had no idea she‘d written this. Thank you! #stacked (edited) 4y
ncsufoxes I also realized that I just bought the tagged book. It‘s on my TBR pile and I hope to read it next month 4y
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Nitpickyabouttrains
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This book attempted to cover a lot of material. I learned a lot. Some things I had known but overall there were a ton of ways to look at historical events from a different perspective.

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Chrissyreadit
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I worked with Willowbrook “case clients” in my early 20‘s. They had special protections because of the atrocities at this #monsterhospital There are some stories I will never forget. I do not know the book I tagged, there are no books written about Willowbrook- but google has a lot of info. #timbittunes

Cinfhen So sad 💔 6y
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JLaurenceCohen

A very accessible survey of the lives of people with disabilities across US history.

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brariane42
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Pickpick

I loved this book. As a queer disabled woman, it was amazing and terrifying and humbling to see the history of people like me. All of the information was fascinating, and usually overlooked in discussions of civil rights. My only problem was that it was very short-- only 185 pages. It could have gone further in depth and longer. A wonderful book, though, and one every American should read.

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brariane42
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brariane42
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They always get rid of the undesirables first.

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brariane42
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Same as we do today! Kick the homeless, mentally ill, and disabled into other states to let them deal with the problem. Good to see we're keeping our traditional values. /sarcasm

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brariane42
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OH MY GOD THIS. I use a cane a lot (I'm 26, for reference) and I hear shit like this CONSTANTLY. You're not welcome to my medical info, people!

BookishFeminist Ugh I can't even imagine. This kind of stuff even gets on my nerves for temporary physical ailments. People can really say some insensitive things. This comment in particular is ridiculous bc it manages to be ableist and sexist all in one! 😒 8y
brariane42 @BookishFeminist I know! Pretty girls aren't allowed to be disabled. That makes them other, soiled goods. It "wastes" their beauty. Only ugly women are allowed to be disabled because who would want them anyway? I hate it. It's so awful. 8y
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