Welcome to the ADAPT Online History Museum. This collection of articles, videos, music, artifacts, ephemera and more represents over 30 years of history of a grassroots disability rights organization that is still going strong.
ADAPT started in 1983 to fight for the rights of people with disabilities to live as equals, free and able to pursue liberty and justice and a life of quality. ADAPT grew out of a group of people (known as the Atlantis Community) who fought to free their members from institutions and nursing homes so they might live in the community with the rest of humanity. Fighting at the local level, they realized their fight was pretty universal for people with disabilities and decided to share their experience. This online museum is an outgrowth of that realization. We chose an online format so that those who participated, who live all across the United States and even abroad, can share this record of our history. Many of us are extremely low income, and travel to a central location is not a realistic option.
We also wanted to share our history with grassroots groups all over the world. Real change can happen with less numbers and less dollars than most people think. People without disabilities can learn from people with disabilities. We want to encourage others to go for it and push to get what they need and deserve as human beings. These are things that worked for us, maybe you will modify them to your situation or get new and different ideas, but we encourage you to go for it.
Right now this is a work in progress. We have started with a collection of articles and photos on display at the Atlantis Community in Denver, but we will soon be adding videos and much more. We are working to make the collection fully accessible to people with disabilities. If you would like to help with accessibility please get in touch. We welcome your comments and suggestions.Enjoy exploring!
Wheelwoman3 at gmail dot com
P.S. check out the following other sites for more information on ADAPT:
Our National website has lots of information about ADAPT and our current issues and actions.
ADAPT Local Groups has a list of local groups, their contacts and websites.
ADAPT manual on our style of community organizing