Hugh Gallagher (advocate)
Encyclopedia
Hugh Gallagher was an author & international disability advocate. He was born in Palo Alto, California
, though he grew up in Chicago
, New York
and Washington, D.C.
.
Hugh, who contracted polio at age 19, was considered by many to be the “Grandfather” of the disability movement for having drafted and shepherded into law the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968
, which required that buildings built with federal funds be made accessible to all.
Bob Dole
wrote, "Hugh's most outstanding contribution to the quality of life of people with disabilities was to successfully place disability on the agenda of the Congress for the first time."
The Hugh Gallagher Award was created by Peter Kovler to commemorate the significant contributions of Hugh Gallagher, who used his writing to educate the public about injustices, to promote understanding among diverse populations and to draw people into the choice-in-dying movement. The Award is given annually by Compassion & Choices
.
While Hugh Gallagher accomplished much during his lifetime to advance the rights of individuals with disabilities, he was and remains a highly controversial figure within the disability rights movement due to his participation in the choice-in-dying movement.
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
, though he grew up in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
.
Hugh, who contracted polio at age 19, was considered by many to be the “Grandfather” of the disability movement for having drafted and shepherded into law the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968
Architectural Barriers Act of 1968
The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 is an Act of Congress, enacted by President Lyndon B. Johnson.The ABA requires that facilities designed, built, altered, or leased with funds supplied by the United States Federal Government be accessible to the public...
, which required that buildings built with federal funds be made accessible to all.
Bob Dole
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
wrote, "Hugh's most outstanding contribution to the quality of life of people with disabilities was to successfully place disability on the agenda of the Congress for the first time."
The Hugh Gallagher Award was created by Peter Kovler to commemorate the significant contributions of Hugh Gallagher, who used his writing to educate the public about injustices, to promote understanding among diverse populations and to draw people into the choice-in-dying movement. The Award is given annually by Compassion & Choices
Compassion & Choices
Compassion & Choices is a nonprofit organization in the United States working to improve patients' rights and choices at the end of life...
.
While Hugh Gallagher accomplished much during his lifetime to advance the rights of individuals with disabilities, he was and remains a highly controversial figure within the disability rights movement due to his participation in the choice-in-dying movement.
Books
- Advise and Obstruct: The Role of the United States Senate in Foreign Policy Decisions (1969)
- Etok: A Story of Eskimo Power,1974
- FDR's Splendid Deception, 1985
- By Trust Betrayed: Patients, Physicians and the License to Kill in the Third Reich, 1990
- Black Bird Fly Away:Disabled in an Able-Bodied World,