Judith Heumann facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Judy Heumann
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Heumann in 2014
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| Special Advisor for International Disability Rights | |
| In office June 7, 2010 – January 20, 2017 |
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| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Sara Minkara (2021) |
| Assistant Secretary of Education for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services | |
| In office June 1993 – January 20, 2001 |
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| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Robert Davila |
| Succeeded by | Robert Pasternack |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 18, 1947 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | March 4, 2023 (aged 75) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | |
Judith Ellen Heumann (December 18, 1947 – March 4, 2023) was an American activist who fought for the rights of people with disabilities. Many called her the "Mother of the Disability Rights Movement." She was known around the world as a leader in the disability community.
Judy Heumann spent her life working for equal rights for people with disabilities. Since the 1970s, her efforts helped create important laws and policies. These changes benefited children and adults with disabilities. She also worked with the World Bank and the State Department. There, she helped make disability rights a key part of international development. Her work also spread the idea of independent living around the world.
Contents
Judy Heumann's Early Life and Education
Judy Heumann was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her parents, Werner and Ilse Heumann, were immigrants from Germany. They came to the U.S. before the Holocaust, which tragically killed many of their relatives. Judy was the oldest of three children and grew up in Brooklyn, New York.
When Judy was 18 months old, she got polio. This illness caused her to use a wheelchair for most of her life. She often said that being disabled was not a tragedy. Instead, she believed it only became a tragedy when society failed to provide what people with disabilities needed. This included things like job chances or buildings that were easy to get into.
Fighting for School Inclusion
Judy and her parents had to fight for her to go to school. The local public school would not let her attend. They said she was a "fire hazard" because she could not walk. For three years, she had lessons at home for about an hour, twice a week.
Judy's mother, Ilsa Heumann, was also an activist. She challenged the school's decision. Finally, Judy was allowed to go to a special school for disabled children in fourth grade. However, the city policy said she had to return to home lessons for high school. Her mother gathered other parents, and they put pressure on the school. Because of their efforts, the policy was changed, and Judy started high school in 1961.
Camp Jened: A Place of Connection
From ages 9 to 18, Judy spent every summer at Camp Jened. This was a camp for children with disabilities in Hunter, New York. Her time at camp helped her understand that many disabled people shared similar experiences. She said they felt "the same joy together, the same anger over the way we were treated and the same frustrations at opportunities we didn't have." At Camp Jened, she met other future disability rights activists, Bobbi Linn and Freida Tankus. The 2020 documentary Crip Camp features campers from Camp Jened, including Judy.
College Activism
Judy graduated from Long Island University in 1969. She also earned a master's degree in public health from the University of California, Berkeley in 1975. While at Long Island University, she began her major work for disability rights. She organized protests with other students, both disabled and non-disabled. They demanded things like ramps to access classrooms and the right to live in dorms.
Heumann v. Board of Education
In 1970, Judy Heumann was denied a teaching license in New York. The Board of Education believed she could not get herself or her students out of a building during a fire. She sued the Board, saying it was discrimination. A local newspaper even ran a headline saying, "You Can Be President, Not Teacher, with Polio." The case was settled, and Judy became the first wheelchair user to teach in New York City. She taught elementary school for three years.
Judy Heumann's Policy Work and Advocacy
After her lawsuit, Judy received many letters from disabled people across the country. They shared their own stories of discrimination. This led her to co-found Disabled in Action (DIA) in 1970 with friends.
Disabled in Action
DIA focused on protecting people with disabilities under civil rights laws. They used political protests to achieve their goals. In 1972, DIA protested in New York City with a sit-in. Led by Judy, about eighty activists stopped traffic on Madison Avenue. They were protesting President Richard Nixon's veto of early versions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Center for Independent Living
From 1975 to 1982, Judy worked as the deputy director for the Center for Independent Living in California. She was an early supporter of the Independent Living Movement. This movement believes that people with disabilities should have the right to live independently and make their own choices. Judy helped put national laws into action for programs in special education, disability research, and independent living. These programs helped over 8 million young people and adults with disabilities.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
In 1974, Judy worked as a legislative assistant for a U.S. Senate committee. She helped create the laws that became the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This important law ensures that children with disabilities receive a free and appropriate public education.
The Historic 504 Sit-in
In 1977, Joseph Califano, who was the U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, refused to sign important rules for Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This section was the first U.S. federal civil rights protection for people with disabilities. Califano tried to force protesters out of the federal building by cutting off food and medicine.
However, the protesters received help from groups like the Delancey Street Foundation and The Salvation Army, who brought them food. A fellow protester, Kitty Cone, found a way to keep medicine cool. The Black Panther Party also brought hot meals and snacks to the protesters.
On April 5, 1977, demonstrations began in ten U.S. cities. The most famous was the 504 Sit-in at the San Francisco office of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. This sit-in, led by Judy Heumann and organized by Kitty Cone, lasted for 28 days. About 125 to 150 people refused to leave the building. It is still the longest sit-in at a federal building. Finally, on April 28, 1977, Joseph Califano signed the rules for both the Education of All Handicapped Children Act and Section 504.
World Institute on Disability
In 1983, Judy Heumann, along with Ed Roberts and Joan Leon, co-founded the World Institute on Disability. She served as a co-director until 1993.
Government Roles
Judy Heumann held several important government positions.
- From 1993 to 2001, she worked in the Clinton Administration. She was the Assistant Secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services at the United States Department of Education.
- From 2002 to 2006, she was the first Advisor on Disability and Development for the World Bank Group. She helped the World Bank work with governments and groups to include disability in their plans.
- In 2010, President Barack Obama appointed her as the Special Advisor on International Disability Rights for the U.S. State Department. She was the first person to hold this role and served until 2017. During this time, she tried to get the Senate to approve the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This international treaty was based on the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Later Work and Legacy
After leaving the State Department in 2017, Judy Heumann became a Senior Fellow at the Ford Foundation. There, she worked to include disability in the Foundation's projects. She also wrote a paper called Roadmap for Inclusion: Changing the Face of Disability in Media. This paper looked at how disabled people are often missing from movies and TV, and how they are sometimes shown with stereotypes. It called for more disabled people to be seen in media.
Judy Heumann also wrote a book, Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist, published in 2020. In March 2021, she started a podcast called The Heumann Perspective. On her podcast, she talked with other disabled changemakers and their supporters.
Personal Life
Judy Heumann married Jorge Pineda in 1992. They lived in Washington, D.C. She passed away there on March 4, 2023, at the age of 75.
Media Featuring Judy Heumann
Judy Heumann was featured in several documentaries and interviews:
- The 2008 documentary The Power of 504
- The 2011 documentary Lives Worth Living
- A TEDTalk she gave in 2017
- An appearance on Bloomberg in 2019 to discuss disability representation in media
- An interview with Trevor Noah on The Daily Show in 2020
- The 2020 documentary Crip Camp
Awards and Recognition
Judy Heumann received many awards for her work:
- 2022: Women's Entrepreneurship Day Organization's Humanitarian Pioneer Award at the United Nations.
- 2022: Named one of the BBC 100 Women.
- 2020: Named Time Magazine's 1977 Woman of the Year (in a retrospective).
- 2020: Henry Viscardi Achievement Awards.
- 2020: Critics' Choice Documentary Award for "Most Compelling Living Subjects of a Documentary" for Crip Camp.
- 2019: The Lurie Institute for Disability Policy award for her leadership in civil rights.
- 2018: Women's Caucus Award from the National Council on Independent Living.
- 2018: Society for Disability Studies President's Award. They recognized her for her five-decade career as an activist who changed the lives of disabled people worldwide. They noted her work showed the strength of the social model of disability and the importance of "nothing about us without us."
- 2017: U.S. International Council on Disabilities, Dole-Harkin Award.
- 2017: InterAction Disability Inclusion Award for her impact on disability inclusion in international development.
- 2014: The Berkeley Rotary Club gave its annual Rotary Peace Grove Award to Judy Heumann and the late Ed Roberts.
- Max Starkloff Lifetime Achievement Award from National Council on Independent Living.
- Champion of Disability Rights Award from the SPAN Parent Advocacy Network.
- Advocacy Award from ALPHA Disability Section.
- She was the first person to receive the Henry B. Betts Award from the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
- Judy Heumann received seven honorary doctorates, including from Brooklyn College and New York University.
See also
In Spanish: Judith Heumann para niños
