Who are
the People in the Signing Photo?
On July 26, 1990 at the signing of the ADA,
President and Mrs. Bush, VP Dan Quayle, and four members of the disability
rights community were on the platform.
After the opening prayer, two speeches were
given. The first by Evan Kemp to
introduce the President and the other was the President’s speech. After the speeches and to the right of the
podium was a table where President Bush signed the ADA. The actual pens used to sign the ADA were
shared with the four attendees from the disability rights community who are in
this photo taken by Tom Olin.
On the left side are:
Evan Kemp, the chairman of the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission, a lawyer and a wheelchair user, had counseled President
Bush on disability issues for the greater part of a decade and urged him to
become an advocate of disability rights.
Reverend Harold Wilkie, who gave the opening prayer
using the metaphor of breaking the chains of slavery. Born without hands, Reverend Wilkie brought disability
consciousness into the religious community.
On the right side are:
Justin Dart, the son of one of
President Reagan’s closest friends, a former businessman, and a wheelchair
user, had served in both the Reagan and Bush administrations and had convened
special hearings to gather support for the ADA from coast to coast.
