Thread:
1.
‘Public schools were closed to me because of my wheelchair, and special schools were closed to me because I was black”
The Mar 1970 edition of Performance mag. profiled the polio survivor and disabled artist & teacher Juanita Cotton.
#DisHist #DisabilityTooWhite
1.
‘Public schools were closed to me because of my wheelchair, and special schools were closed to me because I was black”
The Mar 1970 edition of Performance mag. profiled the polio survivor and disabled artist & teacher Juanita Cotton.
#DisHist #DisabilityTooWhite
2.
Born in Oklahoma, Juanita was educated at home & graduated high school at 20. Her counselor refused to support her studying art in college. He “tried to find a reason why I couldn’t go to college” & sent her to a psychiatrist for wanting to study art. She persisted.
#DisHist
Born in Oklahoma, Juanita was educated at home & graduated high school at 20. Her counselor refused to support her studying art in college. He “tried to find a reason why I couldn’t go to college” & sent her to a psychiatrist for wanting to study art. She persisted.
#DisHist
3.
She was the 1st black woman & the 1st disabled woman ever to study in the art Department @UofOklahoma, where she was 'largely ignored' by other students & confronted all the problems of wheelchair users including falling down a large flight of steps on campus.
#DisHist
She was the 1st black woman & the 1st disabled woman ever to study in the art Department @UofOklahoma, where she was 'largely ignored' by other students & confronted all the problems of wheelchair users including falling down a large flight of steps on campus.
#DisHist
4.
Things did not get easier for her after she graduated.
This is a piece Juanita had created titled 'Black Pride'
#DisHist #arthistory
Things did not get easier for her after she graduated.
This is a piece Juanita had created titled 'Black Pride'
#DisHist #arthistory
5.
“People were anxious to interview me, but they lost interest when I rolled instead of walked into their offices.”
She graduated with a BA in commercial art & MA in Art Ed. After she graduated, she taught studio art, history & theory at West Virginia State & @LangstonU
#DisHist
“People were anxious to interview me, but they lost interest when I rolled instead of walked into their offices.”
She graduated with a BA in commercial art & MA in Art Ed. After she graduated, she taught studio art, history & theory at West Virginia State & @LangstonU
#DisHist
6.
The best kind of #DisHist is when disabled people thrive despite the restrictive systems in which they lived and worked!
End thread.
The best kind of #DisHist is when disabled people thrive despite the restrictive systems in which they lived and worked!
End thread.
