The Office of Disability Access and Inclusion and the UCSF Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care are excited to present the Patient No More: People with Disabilities Securing Civil Rights exhibition.

About the Exhibition: Discover an overlooked moment in U.S. history when people with disabilities occupied a government building to win their rights. The exhibition uncovers the stories behind a turbulent April in 1977, when people with disabilities successfully launched protests across the nation to get Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 signed into law. Section 504 made it illegal for any federally funded facilities or programs to discriminate against people with disabilities, but as of 1977, one missing signature stood in the way of the law taking effect. After a 26-day occupation of the Federal Building in San Francisco, the occupiers emerged victorious from the longest unarmed take-over of a federal building in U.S. history when the Head of Health Education and Welfare finally added his signature to the 504 regulations.

In this exhibition, UCSF students, staff, and faculty will get a chance to appreciate how the occupiers built networks of support, from unions to the Black Panthers; how protesters influenced the media and changed the language used to cover the protest; and the controversies of 504, especially in regards to race and deafness. Above all, this exhibition reminds all of us that disabilities are a source of creativity and innovation, not pity or tragedy.

Learn More: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQBVGKa-PoA

Themes explored include:

• Disability as a source of creativity and innovation, not pity or tragedy
• Daily life inside the building, including a calendar of activities of the 26 days of occupation
• How the occupiers built networks of support, from unions to the Black Panthers
• The national protests that occurred, with a focus on the SF occupation
• How protesters influenced the media, developing close ties with the press and changing the language of their coverage
• Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act
• The controversies of 504, especially in regards to race and deafness

Exhibition credits:

Patient No More: People with Disabilities Securing Civil Rights is presented by the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University, made possible with support from California Humanities, and traveled by Exhibit Envoy. Learn more about the exhibit and the history of the 504 protests at patientnomore.org.