Documents, Ethics, and the Disability Historian

Abstract

The factors driving research into disability history methodology in its practical dimensions (such as finding and analyzing sources and presenting findings), the cultural values that inform it, and who populates intended audiences all contribute to the invisible infrastructure of historical production. When historians of disability access a rich source of data, they also must ask who created it, who benefited from its preservation, and whose stories are left untold. Sharing knowledge—through preservation and dissemination—equally shapes disability historical work. In all of this, access and accessibility—from built spaces and source types to research aids and scholarly products—remain paramount. Ways to proceed with sensitivity and creativity in the exploration of disabled peoples’ and disability’s pasts are presented from the perspective of the United States.

Creating, archiving and exhibiting disability history: The oral histories of disability activists of the Carleton University Disability Research Group

“…Disability issues are under-documented in archives. There are several ways to address this gap: new archival records can be created; existing records can be located and archived; and disability-related aspects of existing collections can be highlighted and made accessible (Richards and Burch, 2018). Questions of disability and sickness can be understood within wider questions of "bodily and mental norms" which confront disabled communities (Brilmyer, , 2020.…”

“…"Nothing about us without us," a principal familiar to practitioners of critical disability studies, expresses the commitment of placing disabled peoples at the centre of the research, and this principle was applied to the composition of successive research teams. It kept the choice of topics wide open and made for a continuous discussion of methods, from one project to the next, all key aspects for research accountability (Hansen, et al, 2018;Marshall, 2013;Act to Employ, 2022;Richards and Burch, 2018). As a result, the CUDRG has looked for, received, studied and displayed histories of disabilities and technologies in Canada, on topics determined collectively and incrementally, using several types of archives.…”

“…Robertson and the CUDRG archived the raw footage, which was showcased in a small documentary film (Brault, 2019). Thus, it was for ethical and esthetic reasons that the CUDRG collected first-hand accounts of disability activists and makers, an endeavour which special education scholar Elizabeth Bredberg categorizes as "experiential" disability history (Richards and Burch, 2018). By 2019, another reason had emerged; the recording of the testimonies of disabled peoples in communities served by the CUDRG was gaining urgency.…”