Supporting Teachers to Teach Disability History with Confidence: Lessons from New Jersey 

By Nicole Hansen, Christa S. Bialka and Teresa G. Wojcik

Brad Lomax: The Disabled Black Panther Who Fought for Section 504

By Saphire Murphy

Brad Lomax is a disabled man who is the leading reason we have Section 504 of the Americans with Disabilities Act, but most likely, you don’t know who he is. You don’t have to be embarrassed or ashamed because not many people know of Lomax and his contributions to Disability Rights.

The Struggle for Disability Rights: From Objects of Reform to Advocates for Equality

Published in the National History Day 2026 Theme Book - June, 2025

Overview article on disability history for teachers and secondary students.

We are proud to share this excellent overview summary of disability history!

“Completely Healthy Children” - The Persistence of Disabled Children and Their Allies During Aktion T4 and the Holocaust

By Wyatt Edwards

In Mikaël Ross’s graphic novel The Thud, the main character Noel, who has a developmental disability and has just arrived at a care facility in Germany, learns from an older woman named Irma about how her brother once told her the story of how the buses came to take disabled children. He was later taken himself and the Nazis killed him at one of Adolf Hitler’s so-called medical centers.

The Dehumanizing Effects of Eugenics: Disability History Lesson Plan

By Rich Cairn 

The engravings on the right of two young women are haunting. Aside from the clothing, these faces could easily be high school or college students today. Yet these images appeared in the New York Tribune in 1912 under the headline, “Eugenists Would Improve Human Stock by Blotting Out Blood Taints,” with the subheading, “Menaces to Society.” These women represent the millions of targets of eugenics. 

Teaching About the Disabled People’s Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence

By CherylAnne Amendola

"Whose Independence?" 5th grade lesson features reflections of the U.S. Declaration, including the 1989 Disabled People's Bill of Rights & Declaration of Independence - Cheryl Anne Amendola - National Middle Level Social Studies Teacher of the Year 2023. Link to slides from the lesson plan. 

Leah M. Bueso, University of Illinois Springfield, and Rich Cairn, Emerging America published a groundbreaking foundation and guide to organizing student-led civic engagement projects that are fully accessible to and inclusive of students with disabilities and all learners.

Primary Sources and Inclusion

Purchase this new book on Teaching with Primary Sources from Teachers College Press. 

Post by Rich Cairn and Ross Newton

"Court cases are great for teaching history because they often deal with concrete details from everyday life."

- Ross Newton, High School History teacher, HEC Academy.