MEMO: TO ALL DISABILITY ACTIVISTS AND DISABILITY PUBLICATIONS

SUBJECT: CREATING A PERMANENT DISABILITY EXHIBIT AT THE
     SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION IN WASHINGTON, DC

     Do you think we need a permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian
Institution, one dedicated to disability?  What could be the
benefits of having iron lungs, wheelchairs, rocking beds, vents,
artificial limbs, braces, hearing aids, braille writers and other
such items on public display at the Smithsonian?  Alone, not
much; but displayed beside those who used them, such an exhibit
could enlighten the world to our abilities.
     I have this vision of dioramas with a real iron lung and
pictures of people who used them, like Ed Roberts and Mark
O'Brien.  Audio-visual multimedia displays of Roberts and
O'Brien's great achievements would be included.  I also see FDR's
wheelchair and the picture of him in it, which you can check out
at http://idt.net/~mauro/arts.html.  I see the film of Roosevelt
"walking."  And I see his braces there.  There is but one 20-second film
clip of FDR "walking."
     I see a braille writer on display which visitors can see and
touch and try beside images of Helen Keller with the books she
wrote.  Am I getting too SuperCrip here?  Well, what about your
ideas?  How would you create such a permanent exhibit at the
Smithsonian?   Start thinking.
     We need to come up with some ideas and share them with the
director of that great institution.  Millions of people visit the
Smithsonian every year.  It's about time we had a permanent
exhibit there.  It's about time others saw the tools we use to
live productive lives.
     We need to show a lift-equipped van that someone with no
arms can drive.  We need to show old and new braces and old and
new wheelchairs, motorized and manual with the people who use and
used them to live independently and productively.
     Perhaps we could also show the contrast between "cripples of
the past" who lingered alone in back rooms and "active people
with disabilities of the present" who together man the picket
lines.
     And what could we show for the future?  Bionics?  Futuristic
braces and wheelchairs?  Imaging equipment for the visually
impaired?  A prototype of the modified van of the future?
     These are just some ideas for a permanent exhibit of
disability at the Smithsonian.  What are your ideas?  Let's all
start talking about such an exhibit for the 21st century.  Let's
get a dialogue going in the media.  E-mail disability
publications about it.  Send letters to the editors of disability
publications and to your local disability groups, and
organizations like ADAPT and NOT DEAD YET.
     Together let's come up with suggestions for such an exhibit
-- and send those ideas to the Smithsonian.
     E-mail your comments to me at [log in to unmask]  You can visit
the Smithsonian Institutions Web Site at http://www.si.edu.
     If your want, send this message and your ideas to:

Smithsonian Information
SI Building, Room 153
Washington, DC 20560-0010

You can call: 1-202-357-2700 voice; 1-202-357-1729 TTY

If you'd like to E-mail the Smithsonian, send your message to:
[log in to unmask]

     When sending your message or letter to the Smithsonian,
please provide your full name and U.S. Postal Service mailing
address.

                    Bob Mauro [log in to unmask]
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