Virtual Tour

San Francisco Examiner Archive. Courtesy of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

Skip ahead:

• April 1-4: The Protest Grows
• April 5-27: Occupiers Take the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Offices
• April 28-30: HEW Secretary Joseph Califano Signs the Section 504 Regulations
• Audio Track

The Protest Grows

FRIDAY APRIL 1

Organizers contact everyone they know and urge them to call everyone they know to join the upcoming action.

SATURDAY APRIL 2

American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities (ACCD) prepares a national sit-in for April 5. Berkeley Center for Independent Living organizers agree to keep plans quiet. Cesar Chavez, President of the Farm Workers of America, sends an early letter of support.

SUNDAY APRIL 3

More phone calls and long conversations at the Berkeley Center for Independent Living about the upcoming protest.

MONDAY APRIL 4

Deadline the ACCD sets for signing the Section 504 regulations, threatening nationwide protests.

Occupiers Take the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Offices

DAY 1 TUESDAY APRIL 5

Demonstrators at ten federal offices across the US demand that President Carter's Administration sign the 504 regulations without watering them down. Sit-ins begin in SF and D.C. San Francisco:A large group enters the HEW offices and over 100 are locked in for the night. Community organizers from Delancey Street the residential rehabilitation program for substance abusers, bring food; Salvation Army provides blankets and mattresses. Washington D.C.: 300 protesters heckle Secretary Joseph Califano to sign the 504 regulations unchanged. Many stay in the HEW office overnight.

DAY 2 WEDNESDAY APRIL 6

San Francisco: After sleeping on the Federal Building floor, over 100 people wake to their first full day of the sit-in. Washington D.C.: The occupiers leave the building — no food or access to medicine and unsympathetic guards made it impossible to stay. Other Cities: Protests fizzle out without community support.

DAY 3 THURSDAY APRIL 7

San Francisco: At least 130 people now at the sit-in. HEW officials turn off hot water, reduce phone lines to two pay phones, and limit all other phones to incoming calls. HEW prohibits occupiers leaving the building from re-entering.

DAY 4 FRIDAY APRIL 8

San Francisco: Occupiers learn that Los Angeles protest is over. Congressman George Miller visits the sit-in. Delancey Street and a few local businesses donate food. Eight people participate in the hunger strike. Black Panther Party sends letter of support. A small group protesters celebrate the last day of Passover inside the fourth floor elevator.

DAY 5 SATURDAY APRIL 9

San Francisco: The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the occupiers are now 150 strong. 504 Coalition issues press release urging supporters to come to the sit-in for most up-to-date information. Hunger strikers remain in high spirits. Occupiers join committees to handle daily tasks inside and duties for keeping the protest going; a routine develops and each day counts.

DAY 6 SUNDAY APRIL 10

San Francisco: Easter service held at 10am followed by an egg hunt for occupiers’ children in the Federal Building’s courtyard. US congressman George Miller speaks to occupiers and urges them to remain. California Department of Vocational Rehabilitation Director Ed Roberts, sends a telegram to President Carter. Pay phones are jammed with coins; occupiers can’t communicate with anyone outside.

DAY 7 MONDAY APRIL 11

San Francisco: Protesters give daffodils to arriving HEW staff. Congressmen Phillip Burton and George Miller announce that a semi-official “hearing” will be held inside on April 15th. More than 120 protesters now in the building discuss concerns about the regulations being diluted. Buttercup Restaurant, Brick Hut lesbian cooperative in Berkeley, and Glide Memorial Church donate dinner. Neighborhood pharmacists help with medicines. Channel 7 journalist Evan White commits to telling the protest’s story, reports on his travels downtown in a borrowed wheelchair.

DAY 8 TUESDAY APRIL 12

San Francisco: Organizers have one incoming phone line. Congressman Burton pressures Regional Secretary for HEW, Joseph Maldonado for three more lines so protesters can obtain food and medical supplies. Georgia Senator Julian Bond visits the protest and connects event to the 1960s civil rights movement. CA assemblyman Tom Bates sends a letter of support signed by forty-six members of the California Assembly to President Carter. City Council of Pacifica passes a resolution supporting the demonstration. Thirty Junior National Association of the Deaf students participate in a vigil outside the building.

DAY 9 WEDNESDAY APRIL 13

San Francisco: CA assemblyman Milton Marks asks Maldonado to let sit-in numbers numbers return to 150, allow in eight ASL interpreters, and restore the phone lines. SF protesters learn of Washington D.C. activists’ vigil to support them. Committees monitor press coverage, raise money to support the occupation, and prepare for next day's hearing. Women's rap group builds bonds. Wheelchair races in hallways let off steam.

DAY 10 THURSDAY APRIL 14

San Francisco: Daily food deliveries from the Black Panthers, Glide Memorial Church, and others sustain the protesters.

DAY 11 FRIDAY APRIL 15

San Francisco: 10:00AM—4:00PM congressmen Miller and Burton hold hearings inside the occupied building by declaring room 406 a “satellite office of Congress.” Individuals from diverse groups give testimony on 504 regulations. SF Chronicle reports that most of the original 150 protesters remain inside. Outside hundreds attend a public rally. Senator Alan Cranston sends telegram of support.

DAY 12 SATURDAY APRIL 16

San Francisco: After a long meeting, occupiers elect delegation of twenty-five to go to Washington D.C. to put pressure on Secretary Califano to sign 504 regulations. Concerned for their health, some occupiers leave to join supporters outside.

DAY 13 SUNDAY APRIL 17

San Francisco: Conditions get more difficult inside the Federal Building and some protesters report developing body lice and crabs. But food keeps coming and hopes remain high as protesters make plans for going to Washington. SF protest has raised $5,000 to send the delegation, including significant funds from International Association of Machinists (IAM).

DAY 14 MONDAY APRIL 18

San Francisco: Mayor Moscone has mobile showers and towels brought in but local HEW officials push back. Moscone gains White House permission; portable showers are installed.

DAY 15 TUESDAY APRIL 19

San Francisco: About seventy-five remaining occupiers vow to hold the fort while eighteen of them and seven attendants fly to Washington. Washington D.C.: Newly arrived San Francisco protesters travel in a rented windowless Hertz truck with a hydraulic tail lift to Califano’s house to hold a candlelight vigil until dawn. Most stay at the Lutheran Place Memorial Church, sleeping on foam mattresses on the floor; eat food provided by local Washington IAM.

DAY 16 WEDNESDAY APRIL 20

San Francisco: Protesters learn that Ed Roberts plans to visit Washington D.C. to lend support to protest. Washington D.C.: With little sleep, San Francisco delegation meets Senators Alan Cranston and Harrison Williams in Congressman Phillip Burton’s office. Protesters discover that few restrooms in the Capitol are accessible.

DAY 17 THURSDAY APRIL 21

San Francisco: Protesters hang on; committees still active; in downtime some play cards, musical instruments, eat home-cooked food from Black Panthers, talk late into the night. Washington D.C.: SF delegation spends day lobbying; gives up on meeting with Carter or Califano after repeatedly being rebuffed. Group of eight meets with Stuart Eisenstat, Carter’s Chief Domestic Policy Adviser. Evening vigil held outside the White House.

DAY 18 FRIDAY APRIL 22

San Francisco: Four protesters return from D.C. and hold an evening press conference with demonstrators outside the SF Federal Building. CA assemblyman Milton Marks and around 100 supporters attend. Washington D.C.: Armed police block entrance to national HEW office as SF delegation tries to meet Califano. Senator Cranston and twenty-eight colleagues write or sign letters of support. Protesters remain hopeful.

DAY 19 SATURDAY APRIL 23

Washington D.C.: Day of rest; protesters deal with hot, sticky weather.

DAY 20 SUNDAY APRIL 24

Washington D.C.: SF delegates lobby outside Carter’s First Baptist Church; President escapes through the back door. Protesters plan rally in front of the White House for next day.

DAY 21 MONDAY APRIL 25

Washington D.C.: Lutheran pastor, the Reverend John Steinbruck invites Carter and Califano to prayer breakfast with the protesters but gets no response.

DAY 22 TUESDAY APRIL 26

San Francisco: Over 100 protesters remain inside the Federal Building; dozens of Bay Area supporters continue demonstrating outside. Washington D.C.: SF delegates and over 100 demonstrators march in front of the White House and hold a rally. Parallel events take place in Los Angeles, Dallas, and Hartford, CT.

DAY 23 WEDNESDAY APRIL 27

Washington D.C.: SF delegation protests in front of a hotel where Califano is holding an event. With their press passes, occupier Michael Williams and journalist Evan White gain access and corner Califano with difficult questions. Most SF delegates fly home, six remain in Washington.

HEW Secretary Joseph Califano Signs the Section 504 Regulations

DAY 24 THURSDAY APRIL 28

Califano signs the Section 504 regulations without fanfare. News of success spreads fast; some protesters worry it might be a trick. San Francisco: Protesters are elated; vote to wait for Washington group to return so everyone can leave the building triumphantly together. Occupier Margaret (Dusty) Irvine ends twenty-one day hunger strike. Washington D.C.: Here too news spreads quickly and protesters worry that changes have been made. By end of day, attorneys confirm that Califano did sign the regulations unchanged as protesters had demanded from the beginning.

DAY 25 FRIDAY APRIL 29

San Francisco: Protesters clean up the HEW offices; they celebrate one last night in the building together; bonds are strong and not everyone wants to leave; they vow to carry on the disability rights struggle.

DAY 26 SATURDAY APRIL 30

San Francisco: Late morning the occupiers leave the building together; to cheers from many HEW employees and federal security staff, they join a large public rally on UN Plaza and toast their victory with champagne.

Audio Track

Listen to the Sound Cloud track

^{Courtesy CIL}

Berkeley's Center for Independent Living (CIL) attracted many people with disabilities. Everyone in this group photo participated in the Section 504 occupation.

The San Francisco occupiers came from the entire Bay Area, which had attracted many people with disabilities. In fact, Berkeley’s disabled population increased from an estimated 400 in 1972 to 5,000 in 1976. Why?

• The growing Independent Living Movement employed people with disabilities, fostered disability pride, and gave advice for living in the community.
• California had a personal care attendant allowance.
• Good weather and more curb cuts on sidewalks than any other city made it easy to get around.
• Like other immigrants, disabled newcomers found support from people who had already paved the way.
• Everyone who wanted change could find social movements with like-minded people.

_{Photographs in video courtesy of HolLynn D'Lil}

Exhibit audio track:

Listen to the Sound Cloud for the Independent Living Grows

Find Out More…

• Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley, Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement
• Berkeley Center for Independent Living (CIL)

Images

^{Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement Archive, Courtesy of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley}

Wheelchair rider and student John Thorn, photographed in front of Sather Gate, University of California, 1977.

^{Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement Archive, Courtesy of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley}

Word was out: students with disabilities at the University of California, Berkeley were bonding and making trouble. Here, wheelchair rider Judy Taylor features on the cover of the December issue of California Monthly, December 1976.

Berkeley City Council authorized 125 curb cuts in January 1973. Dots with numbers mark them on the map below.

^{Photographed by HolLynn D'Lil}

The protest drew strength from its broad coalition of supporters such as the many shown here in front of City Hall.

The 504 protest stirred the Bay Area’s many activist communities. People from different racial, ethnic, religious and sexual backgrounds showed support. The Black Panther Party, Glide Memorial Church, the Gay Men’s Butterfly Brigade, and many others pitched in with food, equipment and people. Daily vigils outside the building kept the focus on the protest.

_{Photographs in video courtesy of HolLynn D'Lil}

Letters of Support

• Cesar Chavez, President of United farm Workers of America, sends a mailgram of support days before protests begin.
• A press release from day two of the sit-in: the hunger strike begins, community support grows, and a vigil begins outside.
• An early letter of support from the Black Panther Party calls for the Section 504 regulations to be signed, and offers solidarity with the occupiers.
• A press release from day five of the occupation lists the ‘widening endorsements’ still flowing in, including many HEW employees and Governor Jerry Brown.
• Letter of Support from AFGE Local # 3159, a union of employees at the San Francisco regional office of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare
• A press release outlines George Miller’s visit and support
• A list of representatives from religious and faith organizations supporting the sit-in and calling for the Section 504 regulations to be signed immediately.
• A letter from State Senator Milton Marks to Joseph Maldonado, Regional Director of Health, Education, and Welfare, requests more access and telephone lines.
• 504 Emergency Coalition press release describes a visit by Senator Julian Bond, and lists new support from politicians and organizations.
• A press release issued after the hearing on day eleven urges protesters outside the building to continue their support.
• Using tough anti-discrimination language, Senator Alan Cranston insists Secretary Califano sign the Section 504 regulations unchanged. Page two of Cranston’s letter warns against creating too much red tape.

Exhibit audio track:

Listen to the Sound Cloud for Building Networks of Support

Find Out More…

• Randy Shaw, The Activists Handbook (2nd edition 2013)
• Kitty Cone, Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement oral history. Located at the Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley
• Susan Schweik, "Disability, Solidarity, and the Black Power of 504

^{Photograph by HolLynn D'Lil}

Protesters gather around a cluttered office desk to plan next actions. The HEW offices at 50 United Nations Plaza became the office of the ‘Section 504 Emergency Coalition.’

When the sit-in began, nobody dreamed they'd be there for nearly a month. Most arrived with nothing. Some risked losing jobs and relationships. For many, this was the first time they had slept away from home. Despite hardships, they also found camaraderie as they talked, played cards, sang, partied, made friends, and fell in love.

_{Photographs in video courtesy of HolLynn D'Lil}

Exhibit audio track:

Listen to the Sound Cloud for At Home

Find Out More…

• Twentieth Anniversary Victorious 504 Sit-In for Disability Rights (PDF)

Images

^{Photograph by HolLynn D’Lil}

A security guard watches as three wheelchair riders look through the door at supporters protesting outside.

^{Photograph by HolLynn D’Lil}

Two occupiers sleep together under blankets.

^{Photograph by HolLynn D’Lil}

Everyone had a job: serving food, cleaning-up, writing press releases, boosting morale, handling security, or fundraising. In this photo, protesters show fatigue in one of the many long meetings.

^{Photograph by HolLynn D’Lil}

Protesters gather around a cluttered office desk to plan next actions. The HEW offices at 50 United Nations Plaza became the office of the ‘Section 504 Emergency Coalition'.

Line Drawing of a US map showing the location of HEW offices where protests first took place: Washington D.C., Boston, Seattle, New York, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, and Denver.

After four years of government stalling, people with disabilities took action. Protests organized by the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities (ACCD) began on April 5, 1977. They soon fizzled out everywhere except San Francisco.

Health, Education, and Welfare Secretary Joseph Califano kneels on top of a desk as he faces reporters and Section 504 protesters in Washington D.C. on the first day of action, April 5, 1977.

Exhibit audio track:

Listen to the Sound Cloud for Protesting Across the US

Find Out More…

• American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities, Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement Oral Histories. Located in the Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley
• Doris Zames Fleischer and Frieda Zames, The Disability Rights Movement From Charity to Confrontation
• Smithsonian Museum "The Disability Rights Movement" virtual exhibit

^{Photograph by Lonnie Wilson, courtesy The Oakland Tribune}

This This newspaper clipping shows supplies donated by groups like Glide Memorial Church and Delancey Street Foundation, a non-profit working with ex-prisoners, alcoholics, and drug addicts. (Courtesy The Oakland Tribune)

Daily meals sustained the protesters and helped them bond. Inside the building a busy Food Committee coordinated donations and served over 100 protesters a day.

“We would have some very strange meals, like Hot Dog Soup, with a ketchup base. You know, that was our broth. And white bread with mayonnaise. It sort of went on like that. But we were always ... everybody was so ... we were so happy to be doing what we were doing that it didn’t matter” - Cece Weeks, “We Shall Not be Moved, The 504 Sit-In for Disability Civil Rights, audio documentary,” 1997. Produced by Asata Iman, courtesy DREDF

_{Photographs in video courtesy of HolLynn D'Lil}

Exhibit audio track:

Listen to the Sound Cloud for Food for Change

Find Out More…

• DSQ (Disability Studies Quarterly) Special Issue: "Food Studies and Disability Studies," Elaine Gerber, ed

Images

^{Photograph by HolLynn D’Lil}

A Black Panther Party member relaxes with occupiers after delivering home-cooked meals that protesters loved.

^{Photograph by HolLynn D’Lil}

A dozen occupiers expanded the non-violent protest by engaging in a hunger strike. Several only had fluids and vitamins.

^{Photograph by Lonnie Wilson, courtesy The Oakland Tribune}

This newspaper clipping shows supplies donated by groups like Glide Memorial Church and Delancey Street Foundation, a non-profit working with ex-prisoners, alcoholics, and drug addicts.

^{San Francisco Examiner Archive. Courtesy of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley}

From left: Hale Zukas, Ron Washington, and Judy Heumann respond to a question at a press conference held at the San Francisco airport before protesters leave for Washington. Lynette Taylor provides American Sign Language interpretation.

A Press Committee issued daily briefings for journalists from around the world. Soon accounts of people with disabilities demanding their civil rights replaced inspirational stories of individuals overcoming adversity.

_{Photographs in video courtesy of HolLynn D'Lil}

^{Photograph by HolLynn D'Lil}

Occupier Eddie Jauregui signs to Channel 7's Evan White, who covered the sit-in in San Francisco and Washington D.C.

Exhibit audio track:

Listen to the Sound Cloud for Educating a Nation

^{San Francisco Examiner Archive, Courtesy of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley}

George Miller (left) and Phillip Burton (right) chair the hearing while Joe Quinn stands to interpret the proceedings. Miller and Quinn sporting 1970s bushy mustaches and sideburns

On day ten of the sit-in, US congressmen George Miller and Philip Burton declared the occupied floor of the Federal Building a “satellite office of Congress.” The five hours testimony from protesters attracted the media. For the first time people with disabilities were experts with valuable knowledge.

Exhibit audio track:

Listen to the Sound Cloud for Political Theater

Images

^{Photograph by HolLynn D’Lil}

Dick Santos stands to give testimony, supported by Mary Jane Owen to his right and Gil Johnson (in striped sports coat that makes a true 1970s fashion statement) to his left.

^{San Francisco Examiner Archive, Courtesy of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley}

New to his job, Gene Eidenberg struggled to answer tough questions as the lone representative of Health, Education and Welfare.

^{San Francisco Examiner Archive, Courtesy of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley}

George Miller (left) and Phillip Burton (right) chair the hearing while Joe Quinn stands to interpret the proceedings. Miller and Quinn sporting 1970s bushy mustaches and sideburns.

^{Photograph by HolLynn D'Lil}

The San Francisco group worked with Washington-based American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities (ACCD) to organize a Section 504 rally at Lafayette Park opposite the White House on April 26, 1977.

Two weeks into the occupation, San Francisco protesters sent a delegation to Washington. They elected twenty-five people representing different disabilities and racial backgrounds to educate and pressure politicians.

_{Photographs in video courtesy of HolLynn D'Lil}

Exhibit audio track:

Listen to the Sound Cloud for SF Protesters in DC

Find Out More…

• Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley, Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement Oral History Interviews with people in Washington, DC
• Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley, Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement oral history interview

Images

^{Photograph by HolLynn D’Lil}

The San Francisco protesters held a candlelight vigil outside the White House and even followed President Carter to his church.

^{Photograph by HolLynn D’Lil}

Even the nation's capital had no accessible transport in 1977. To get around, the protesters had to rent a truck with a lift.

^{Photograph by HolLynn D’Lil}

Protestors took their demands to the nation’s centers of power. Here, protestor Judy Heumann displays a sign reading “SIGN 504 REGS NOW” outside the White House.

^{Photograph by HolLynn D’Lil}

The San Francisco group worked with Washington-based American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities (ACCD) to organize a Section 504 rally at Lafayette Park opposite the White House on April 26, 1977.

^{San Francisco Examiner Archive, Courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley}

Occupiers and their supporters in San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza celebrate the signing of the Section 504 regulations.

On April 28, 1977, Joseph Califano, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW), signed the Section 504 regulations. Protesters in San Francisco stayed for two more days to clean up and say good-byes. Everyone was energized by this huge accomplishment; there would be no turning back.

_{Photographs in video courtesy of HolLynn D'Lil}

Exhibit audio track:

Listen to the Sound Cloud for Celebrating Success

Images

^{San Francisco Examiner Archive, Courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley}

The crowd listens to lead organizer Kitty Cone’s victory speech at a rally in front of the Federal Building.

^{San Francisco Examiner Archive, Courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley}

A hearty kiss between building guard and occupier marks the end of the long occupation.

^{San Francisco Examiner Archive, Courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley}

Occupier Lydia Larson triumphantly holds a fist in the air to celebrate the victory.

^{San Francisco Examiner Archive, Courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley}

Occupiers and their supporters in San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza celebrate the signing of the Section 504 regulations.

Without Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, there would be no Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The 1973 Act served as a template for the more comprehensive law passed in 1990. 504 gave ADA advocates evidence that disability rights could benefit many without adding a huge burden on society.

• Because 504 defined disability flexibly and took prejudice into account, the ADA could be about civil rights rather than medical diagnoses.

• By building in ideas such as “reasonable accommodation” and “avoiding undue hardship,” Section 504 ensured that the ADA would always be about compromise.

• After the long wait to have Section 504 signed, those who wrote the ADA made sure that it had to be signed into law within one year.

• Section 504 and the battle to have it signed forged a generation of disability activists who would help draft and pass the ADA.

• Because the Section 504 protests and legislation grouped people with many different disabilities together, there would be one big ADA instead of mini-ADAs for each impairment group.

• The Section 504 protest lit the spark for a national disability rights movement and national disability organizations that could promote and defend the ADA.

_{Photographs in video courtesy of HolLynn D'Lil}

Exhibit audio track:

Listen to the Sound Cloud for 504 and the ADA

A Short Law With A Long Reach

^{Photograph by HolLynn D'Lil}

Inside his Federal Building office during the Section 504 protest, HEW employee Bruce Lee posts a hand-made sign ‘504 is law now make it reality.

Thanks to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, people with disabilities have the right to:

• Accessible public buildings
• A public education alongside nondisabled peers, without extra costs or put into “separate but equal” schools
• Freedom from discrimination in federal employment and related benefits
• Freedom from discrimination in federal housing, healthcare and other assistance programs

Exhibit audio track:

Listen to the Sound Cloud on 504 Today

Did You Know? 

• Even people who were there cannot agree on how long the sit-in lasted and how many occupiers were in the building.

• A lot of HEW employees supported the protest

_{Photographs in video courtesy of HolLynn D'Lil}

• The key role of lesbians and radical organizations like the Black Panther Party is only now beginning to emerge.

• Women wheelchair riders led the San Francisco 504 Protest.

• Many disabled people thought the San Francisco protesters were too radical and believed it was wiser to work within the system rather than against it.

• Some occupiers got past the Federal security guards with relative ease; a few even snuck off for showers or to the beach.

• Deaf people participated in the sit-in but the Deaf community has mixed feelings about the Section 504 regulations because mainstreaming in education threatens Deaf language and culture.

Exhibit audio track:

Listen to the Sound Cloud for Untold Stories

We are extremely grateful to Lucy Muir for recording this footage and to Ken Stein and the Disability Rights Education Defense Fund for donating them to the Bancroft collection at UC Berkeley.

Ed Roberts Victory Speech

_{Photographs in video courtesy of HolLynn D'Lil}

Kitty Cone Victory Speech

_{Photographs in video courtesy of HolLynn D'Lil}

Montage of Victory Speeches

Bruce Oka, Linda Gill, Denise Darensbourg, Ron Washington, Lucy Muir, Jack McClosky

_{Photographs in video courtesy of HolLynn D'Lil}

Montage of Victory Songs

We Shall Not Be Moved, Sign 504!, We Shall Overcome, It Could Have Been Me, Amazing Grace, We Have Not Been Moved

Exhibit audio track:

Listen to the Sound Cloud for Victory Speeches and Protest Songs

The Ed Roberts Campus ramp displays a mural of black and white photographs of the Section 504 protest, featuring a diverse array of the participants who took part in the 26-day sit-in. View the photographs and the photo credits here.

Poetry Inspired by the Mural

We Need a Great Flock of Stories by Eli Clare Read the full Great Flock text.

cripstory by leah lakshmi piepzna-samarasinha Read the full Cripstory text.

Exhibit audio track:

Listen to the Sound Cloud on the Mural

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