Disability history is a people’s history.
It is largely about bodies, minds, and relationships. In history, you can find many kinds of bodies and ways of being. Being markedly different shapes both individual and community experience in distinct ways.
Image Gallery
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This boy in knickers, hat, and fringed cowboy gloves has a noticeably round chest.
These three people in heavy coats have bodies that would have attracted stares. One man of short stature wears a turban. The girl with the lace-trimmed collar and cropped hair has a small head, as does the other, seated, man.
These girls, in boater hats and oxford shoes, used long canes to navigate their travels, probably because of low vision.
Identified as Benjamin Franklin, this man in a suit and bowtie lost his legs, hands, and the tip of his nose to frostbite.
Comfort Bennett was a wealthy farmer and father of twelve children in western New York State. He is shown in an expensive suit with one sleeve pinned up, dark glasses, top hat, and holding a cane.
The mustachioed man in this portrait wears a wool jacket and long silk scarf wrapped around his neck and shoulders to support the stumps of his amputated arms.
The girl in this studio portrait wears a lacy collar and necklace over her taffeta dress. Her hair is long and white and her skin is very pale.
The elderly couple on this postcard is barefoot and uses crutches and a cane. The woman has a quilt around her shoulders.
The woman in this studio portrait wears a long dress with multiple buttons down the bosom. She pulled her hair up on top of her head in curls and is of short stature, with a barrel-shaped chest.
This young man sits for his portrait wearing a three-piece suit and holding a crutch.
Identified as Leah Hollowell, this young woman wears a long skirt, billowy blouse, and large bow in her hair. Her left arm is missing.
These two boys in short pants hold long candles wrapped in flower sprigs. They are dressed to participate in a ceremony, perhaps at church. One boy is all in white, the other wears a white tie and tweed suit with his left sleeve tied up. A white lacy cloth is at their feet.