Judith Heumann, widely regarded as “the mother” of the disability rights movement, passed away Saturday in Washington, according to a statement on her website.
Born in 1947 in Philadelphia, Judith contracted polio at age two and her parents were advised to institutionalize her. However, Judith fought tooth and nail for her education and was able to get her B.A. in 1969 and a Master’s in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley.
Judith was at the forefront of major disability rights demonstrations. She helped lead a protest that shut down traffic in Manhattan against Richard Nixon’s veto of the 1972 Rehabilitation Act, and she launched a 26-day sit-in at a federal building in San Francisco to get Section 504 of the revived Rehabilitation Act enforced.
Judy was instrumental in developing and implementing national disability rights legislation, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Rehabilitation Act, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
In 1993, Judy moved to Washington, D.C. to serve as the Assistant Secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services in the Clinton Administration, a role she filled until 2001. From 2002-2006, she served as the first Advisor on Disability and Development at the World Bank. From 2010-2017, during the Obama Administration, she worked as the first Special Advisor for International Disability Rights at the U.S. State Department. She also was appointed as Washington, D.C.’s first Director for the Department on Disability Services.
She was featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary film, Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution.