US Disability: 1940-1950

Key Events regarding Disability in the US: 1940 to 1950:

1940s: Kalamazoo, Michigan installed curb cuts in the 1940s as a pilot project to aid employment of Veterans with Disabilities.

1940: The National Federation of the Blind was formed in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, by Jacobus Broek and others. They advocated for White Cane Laws, input by Blind people for programs for Blind clients and other reforms.

1940: The American Federation of the Physically Handicapped, founded in 1940 by Paul Strachan, was the first Cross-Disability National Political Organization to urge an end to job discrimination, lobby for passage of related Legislation, and call for a National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week, as well as other initiatives.

1943: During World War 2, The La Follette-Barden Vocational Rehabilitation Act became law in the U.S., and it added Physical Rehabilitation to the goals of Federally funded Vocational Rehabilitation Programs and provided funding for certain care services.

1945: During World War 2, PL-176 became Law in the U.S., and it declared the first week in October each year would be National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week. In 1962 the word "physically" was removed to acknowledge the employment needs and contributions of individuals with all types of Disabilities. In 1988, Congress expanded the week to a month (October) and changed the name to "National Disability Employment Awareness Month."

1946:  President Truman signed the National Mental Health Act (1946), which called for the establishment of a National Institute of Mental Health.

1946: The Hill-Burton Act (also known as the Hospital Survey and Construction Act) became Law in the U.S., and it authorized Federal Grants to States for the construction of Hospitals, Public Centers and health facilities for rehabilitation of people with Disabilities.

1946: The Paralyzed Veterans of America organization was created.

1946–1953:  Researchers from Quaker Oats Company, MIT and Harvard University carried out experiments at the Walter E. Fernald State School to determine how the minerals from cereals were metabolized. Parents of Mentally Disabled Children were given food that contained Radioactive Calcium and Iron. The information obtained from the experiments was to be used as part of an advertising campaign.

1947: The President's Committee on National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week was held in Washington, D.C. Publicity Campaigns, coordinated by State and Local Committees, emphasized the competence of people with Disabilities and used movie trailers, billboards, radio and television ads to convince the public that it was good business to hire Disabled people.

1948: The National Paraplegia Foundation, founded by Members of the Paralyzed Veterans of America as the civilian arm of their growing movement, took a leading role in advocating for Disability Rights.

1948: The University of Illinois at Galesburg Disabled Students' Program was officially founded, and was directed by Timothy Nugent. The Program moved to the campus at Urbana-Champaign where it became a prototype for Disabled Student Programs and Independent Living Centers across the country.

1949: Mental Health Awareness Month (also referred to as "Mental Health Month") has been observed in May in the United States since 1949 by the Mental Health America organization (then known as the National Association for Mental Health).