We are excited to share that The National Archives' Cataloguing Grant is funding our new 'Choice and Control' project: a chance to open up and catalogue previously restricted parts of our Disabled People's Archive.
The 'Choice and Control' project will be an opportunity to develop our understanding of the history of the Independent Living Movement and its influence on the Disabled People's Movement.
Of particular significance is our Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS) collection. The beginning of the Disabled People’s Movement (DPM) surge within the UK is often credited with the letter Paul Hunt sent to the Guardian newspaper in 1972. This letter and Paul’s subsequent work was informed by having lived in institutions (as many disabled people did at this time, in a phenomenon known as “warehousing”). Paul Hunt's letter invited disabled people to join him in forming a new organisation that would address the discrimination they faced – leading to the development of UPIAS.
UPIAS was a radical concept which broke away from the large charitable organisations that spoke and acted on behalf of disabled people. UPIAS were also largely responsible for shaping the modern definition of disability, distinguishing between impairment and disability, and showing that disabled people’s oppression comes from societal barriers rather than their impairments.
The collection includes UPIAS circulars, never seen developmental essays on disability and society, and photographs and diaries from a trip to Cuba by UPIAS members in the 1980s.
This collection was previously closed until 2030, but the donors have granted permission for it to be opened and catalogued, partly in response to significant current policy developments which impact disabled people’s ability to live independent lives.
The project will also catalogue the following inter-linked collections:
- Maggie Davis Collection: Maggie & Ken Davies established the Grove Road housing project and Derbyshire Centre for Independent Living, and were key figures in the DPM.
- The Ken Lumb collection: Ken Lumb’s (a founding member of UPIAS) collection highlights GM work (GM Housing & Disability Group), and contains papers on the development of an ‘Independent Living Video’ with transcripts of interviews with disabled people living in institutions.
These collections contain the works of disabled people and our organisations from the 1970’s-1990’s, and examine the significant social and political impact, regionally, nationally and even internationally.
We will be advertising for a Catalogue Project Worker to join our Disabled People's Archive team soon.
