Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability - Longmore Papers

Donor Profile: Alisha Vásquez

Visitor — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 18:24:58 +0000

Why Someone in Tucson, Arizona Supports the Longmore Institute...

Before Alisha Vásquez was teaching as the first person of color in Earlham College's Border Studies Program in Tucson, Arizona, she was a grad student at San Francisco State University. A 5^th generation Tucsonan, Alisha was the first in her family to go to college after receiving a scholarship to the University of Arizona. A queer Chicana with a disability who grew up on welfare, she now draws from her own personal experiences to make her a better teacher, as she educates students about the history, politics and identity of the US Mexico border; “My body is a textbook” she says.

She moved to San Francisco to get a Masters degree in History in 2010, and even managed to find an apartment three blocks away from where her grandmother, a polio survivor, grew up.

And then, during her second week in the city, she heard the news that Paul Longmore, who was to serve as her advisor, had passed away.

Yet, she still managed to learn from Paul during her time at SF State. When the university decided to archive Paul’s papers, they turned to Alisha for help. “I was in HSS for hours and hours with his boxes, and he was present with me. His spirit was there, and I did get to know him by seeing what comics he cut out or what mementos he kept... I had to go through each box and sort out what mattered and what didn’t, and that was really hard.”

After hiring archivist Kate Tasker to pick up where Alisha left off, we launched the Longmore Papers in the J Paul Leonard’s Special Collections in 2014, and we flew Alisha out to join us for the celebration. She recalls how meaningful this was to her:

The time I was at SF State was such an intermediary between Paul’s time there and really getting the Institute going, so it felt hard to accomplish anything ... So to be recognized and be invited back and see what came out of that early time in Paul’s office, I felt it was very generous, very meaningful that maybe my efforts were that bridge that kept it going. And also seeing all the folks who showed up, his friends from the History department, administrators that remember him so fondly, and the Bay area community. Remembering that I had a tiny part in that was huge.

She still follows the work coming out of the Institute because she knows firsthand the importance of what disability scholarship as well as spaces like the Institute can bring to college campuses. She remembers her first day of college at the UA: “It was disorienting seeing how much wealth some students had, I felt like a foreigner in my hometown. Every day someone would ask ‘What happened?’ because I walk with crutches. If I wore shorts or a dress, showing my scars, people stared even more. I almost dropped out. But I read Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde for the first time in my second semester, and it was the first book I saw myself in, as kinda having a disability. I was still on the fence about returning, but that summer I read a small part of Rosemarie Garland Thomson’s Extraordinary Bodies with a grad student. I was vulnerable and talked about my fears with her and started to see myself as a part of something bigger. Then my next year I found Chicana feminist studies as well.”

She recently showed her support by donating $10 to the Institute with the request that it be used to support POC disability studies. Alisha agreed with the Institute’s philosophy that what’s important is not how much someone gives but rather that they are giving at a level that’s personally significant to them, as this gift was for her. Finding that many disability spaces are not inclusive to people with disabilities who are further marginalized by race, sexuality, and economic status, Alisha says, “I’ve followed the work Emily and Cathy are doing and I’m just happy how much more color has been part of it. So I’m thrilled to contribute to that in even the most modest of ways.”

Alisha was humble during the interview about what she did for the Institute, both with her donation and also in sorting through Paul’s boxes, but we know how important her contributions are. How fortunate the Border Studies Program is (which has grown increasingly more diverse thanks to her efforts) to have an instructor who can guide students coming from marginalized backgrounds to find their place in higher education, reminding them of their right to be there. While she might not have gotten to work closely with Paul Longmore, they certainly share this in common.

Tags:

Alisha Vasquez

disability

donor profile

Longmore Papers

Paul K. Longmore

Uncategorized

The Paul K Longmore Papers

Visitor — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 00:51:56 +0000

By: Meredith Eliassen

Meredith Eliassen serves as the Curator of the Frank V. de Bellis Collection University Archives and Historic Collections. She stewards the collection of Paul's personal and professional papers, which offers insight into his research and life. She spoke about the collection at the launch of Telethons hosted at the SFSU Special Collections and Archives.

The Paul K. Longmore Papers have been open for about two years, and they have drawn international scholars to the University Archives. They contain his papers related to research and teaching, and researchers have particularly been interested in material related to the League of the Physically Handicapped active during the Great Depression. Longmore was not just a pioneering historian focused on disability studies and bioethics; he was a noted scholar on the colonial period of American history and George Washington.

Archivist and former student of Paul Longmore: Meredith Eliassen

I got to know Paul as one of his students. I grew up in a family where disability was part of the conversation, so after he came to San Francisco State in 1992, I sought him out. In putting together the display in the back of the room, I was also struck by the communications from his students. I was wowed contemplating the profound impact that his teaching and mentoring had on my own career. Paul recruited me to get materials from our Archer Collection into the Disability History Museum... this became my first experience digitizing our collections. I realized that the projects related to my work here that I have been most proud of came right out of his teaching... in particular, a guide I compiled for our KPIX AIDS Collection in the Television Archive. When I described the project to Paul and told him my doubts about doing the work (I am not a medical historian), he responded: “Meredith, if you don’t do it, who will.” And that was enough for me.

The Longmore Papers also demonstrate how scholars with disabilities use this library. Longmore really worked our Inter-library Loan Department to get documents; what we have here in his archive, we don’t hold copyright to. However, what we have here is Longmore’s fantastically strategic logic that never wasted time or effort. I continue to partner with Inter-library loan to deliver access to researchers in other regions who need access to this material.

Longmore was an activist and he taught activism. We have a photograph of him participating in a book-burning protest. Longmore started teaching his “Disabilities in America” class as part of the History 490 series “Topics in American History.”

However, Longmore did not just teach students about history, he taught students about their own life and times. We reviewed his VHS recordings of telethons and discussed what they really meant.

As Kate (archivist of the Longmore Papers) mentioned, Longmore recorded telethons taking copious notes that were transcribed. Longmore taught students to engage with and interpret moving image primary sources with a disability lens utilizing multiple perspectives.

Longmore was an ardent critic of popular culture, fearless and unrelenting in confronting networks, editors, (you name it) when necessary. He introducing his students to all kinds of media related to disability in order to teach critical thinking skills.

In 2006, Longmore received the prestigious California State University Wang Family Excellence Award in recognition for his pioneering work in the field of disability students and exemplary work as a teacher and mentor.

Tags:

Launching Paul Longmore's "Telethons"

Visitor — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 19:54:37 +0000

By The Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability

"Editing a book that the author called his 'magnum opus' explains my short fingernails" - Catherine Kudlick, Longmore Institute Director and Editor, Telethons

Last week, the Longmore Institute teamed up with the J. Paul Leonard Library and Friends of the Library to celebrate the long-awaited launch of Telethons: Spectacle, Disability, and the Business of Charity. Telethons editor (and Longmore Institute Director) Catherine Kudlick addresses the crowd.

Telethons was the culmination of many years of research throughout Paul's career. After his death, colleagues felt a 'call to arms' to get the work published. As editor Catherine Kudlick explains, "Paul's book was a big dare.... He dared me and others to open the door for lasting change." Paul dared people throughout his entire career as a scholar, colleague, and friend. As fellow history teacher and friend Trevor Getz recalled, "Paul was an amazing mentor, especially if he knew you had an ego to match his...[he] was about scholarship that made a difference to people and the societies they lived in." (Read the complete transcript of Trevor's thoughts here) Archivist Meredith Eliassen shares some insight on Paul as a scholar with selections from the Paul K. Longmore Papers, housed in the Library Special Collections and Archives.

As both an academic and activist, his work in Telethons continues to break new ground in Disability Studies, boldly proclaiming that "Telethons needed disabled people more than disabled people needed telethons." But the launch of Telethons has also given us the opportunity to bring together Paul's colleagues, students, and friends for some perspective on the man behind the book. Missed the event? Watch it here: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRlooSPGrW0] Join us for our next launch event on Wed. February 24th at 5pm at the Ed Roberts Campus for a book reading and reflections from some of Paul's Bay Area activist friends. Gene Chelberg offers opening remarks and introduces Provost Sue Rosser.

*Thank you to Ned Fielden for the photographs! Watch the event here: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRlooSPGrW0]

Tags:

Catherine Kudlick

disability studies

Gene Chelberg

J. Paul Leonard Library