A Disability History of the United States

From the stifling holds of 16th-century slave ships—where blinded Africans were thrown overboard as deadly ballast—to bustling Ellis Island quays where deaf immigrants faced nativist exclusion, A Disability History of the United States reframes America’s tale through the eyes of those forced to the margins. Historian Kim Nielsen sweeps from pre-1492 Indigenous communities, where diverse abilities shaped clan survival, through 19th-century coal-mine strikes led by wheelchair-bound miners demanding safer work, to roaring protests on Washington’s Mall where disability-rights activists chained themselves to Capitol steps. Along the way, she exposes how ableism underwrote slavery, fueled restrictive immigration laws, and codified gender discrimination, while also tracing oralism’s attempt to silence Deaf culture and segregation’s cruel segregation of “feeble-minded” children into hidden institutions. Drawing on vivid first-person diaries, court records, and rallying cries, this landmark book spotlights mass movements that forced democracy to bend toward Disability Justice, Racial Justice, and Immigration Rights, proving that everyday events—like boarding school expulsions or strike-line pickets—can shape a nation. Engrossing and profound, Nielsen’s narrative invites classrooms, community groups, and faith circles to reclaim this shared history, demanding that every library and bookstore add this indispensable volume to their shelves today.