Carrie Buck was the first person involuntarily sterilized under Virginia’s eugenics laws. In Buck v. Bell (1927), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Virginia’s law was constitutional and that Buck should be sterilized, the first of approximately 8,300 performed under state law between 1927 and 1972.
Joan Strothers was a Welsh physicist-engineer who was the inventor of the UK form of the WW2 anti-radar measure known as ‘chaff’ or ‘window’.
Blind teacher of Helen Keller
Australian human rights and disability rights activist
Defendant in the landmark disability rights case Olmstead v. L.C.
Lawyer in the landmark disability rights case Olmstead v. L.C.
Pioneer in the Deaf women’s rights movement
Nonbinary femme poet, writer and intersectional activist, who advocates for disability justice as well as for Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans (LGBT+) and Black, Indigenous, and People Of Color (BIPOC) rights.
She was the first woman to become a city councillor in Palmerston North, serving from 1962 to 1968. Because of her disability, she worked tirelessly for the New Zealand Crippled Children Society.
Alice Wong is the founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community that fosters and amplifies disability media and culture. A Chinese-American activist and writer, Wong fights for access and representation for people with disabilities from all backgrounds.