Good to hear that you're interested-perhaps you will raise this at our
meeting in '99.
See ya,
Phyllis Rubenfeld
On Sun, 25 Oct 1998, Beth Haller wrote:
> I also support an SDS source list for media. Journalists especially love
> to quote experts in the field and university researchers, making SDS a
> great first step in developing a contact list for media.
>
> Let me know if I can help in any way.
> Beth
>
> _________________________________________________________________________
>
> Beth A. Haller, Ph.D. PHONE: (410) 830-2442
> Assistant Professor of Journalism E-MAIL: [log in to unmask]
> Dept. of Mass Comm/Comm Studies FAX: (410) 830-3656
> 8000 York Road, Towson University WEB PAGE:
> Towson, MD 21252-7097 http://www.towson.edu/~bhalle
>
>
>
> On Sun, 25 Oct 1998, Phyllis Rubenfeld wrote:
>
> > Hi Lennard, David M., and All,
> > I strongly support that SDS be the organization to address this issue.
> > Take Care,
> > Phyllis Rubenfeld
> >
> > On Sat, 24 Oct 1998, Lennard Davis wrote:
> >
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > I've been meaning to respond to Paul Longmore's message including his
> > > response to the director of the polio documentary. That list of questions
> > > and advice was so good. If only the documentarian had listened to him.
> > > Paul's consultation is exactly the kind of thing that I'm advocating. It
> > > wasn't proscriptive; it wasn't PC; it just provided a perspective that
> > > would have made the documentary a much better one.
> > >
> > > If there is sentiment that we should have an anti-defamation kind of
> > > committee, or, alternatively, simply a speaker/consultant list that could
> > > be provided to the media how can we go about implementing it?
> > >
> > > I suggest that this question be taken up at the next SDS meeting. Or is
> > > there another organization that would be appropriate to house such a
> > > service? I am speaking mainly of an organization in the US. I would
> > > assume UK folks would have their own notions of the value or valuelessness
> > > of such a service.
> > >
> > > Opinions?
> > >
> > > Best,
> > >
> > > Lennard Davis
> > >
> > > PS: There was mention that the polio documentary would be followed by a
> > > shorter one on post-polio syndrome to be broadcast on PBS. I wonder if we
> > > could find out when that will appear and then write some op-ed pieces on
> > > the subject of media represenations of people with disabilities for local
> > > and national newspapers.
> > >
> > > At 11:10 AM 10/15/1998 -0700, you wrote:
> > > >
> > > >On Wed, 14 Oct 1998, Lennard Davis wrote:
> > > >
> > > >> Oh, by the way,
> > > >>
> > > >> Why has the director of this unique film never bothered to respond to this
> > > >> listserv if she was so interested in knowing about the disability
> > > perspective?
> > > >>
> > > >> LJD
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >I missed "Paralyzing Fear" when it aired in San Francisco, so I can't
> > > >comment on the content of the film. In 1994 I was approached by the
> > > >producer, Nina Seavey, Director of George Washington University's Center
> > > >for History in the Media, about serving on the film's advisory panel. I
> > > >expressed two concerns. I told her that it was imperative that she
> > > >include people with disabilities in key paid positions on the project. I
> > > >also offered suggestions about the content of the film. I wrote a letter
> > > >of support (appended below) to help her get funded. After she got her
> > > >initial grant, she discontinued communicating with me. Those of you who
> > > >saw the program can decide whether or not she responded to my suggestions
> > > >about content.
> > > >
> > > >Paul Longmore
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >August 29, 1994
> > > >
> > > >Nina Seavey, Director
> > > >George Washington University
> > > >Center for History in the Media
> > > >Washington, D.C. 20052
> > > >
> > > >Dear Ms Seavey:
> > > >
> > > >The film project you propose on the social impact and public perceptions
> > > >of polio epidemics in the 20th-Century U.S. is an important one. The
> > > >topic raises a range of significant historical and cultural questions.
> > > >
> > > >As a historian of disability and people with disabilities, I, of course,
> > > >would note that the history of the epidemic disease of polio is a story of
> > > >disability as well as illness because polio so often produced
> > > >disabilities. It is impossible to recount the history of polio without
> > > >examining the intertwined history of disability and people with
> > > >disabilities in that same era.
> > > >
> > > >Among other questions, I would raise the following:
> > > >
> > > >How have Americans dealt with epidemic diseases and individuals who
> > > >contract those diseases? What cultural beliefs did the polio campaigners
> > > >rely upon to mobilize material and institutional resources to fight the
> > > >epidemics and to treat and rehabilitate persons disabled by the polio
> > > >virus?
> > > >
> > > >At a time when the demographics of polio was making it increasingly a
> > > >disease of teenagers and young adults and no longer simply "infantile"
> > > >paralysis, why did the organizers of the fund-raising efforts make the
> > > >poster child the representative public image of persons disabled by polio?
> > > >What impact did that child-image have on the social identities and roles
> > > >of people who lived with post- polio disabilities?
> > > >
> > > >After FDR contracted polio, a friend of his mother said, "Now he is a
> > > >cripple. Will he ever be anything else?" Why did FDR, the leading figure
> > > >in the fight against polio, try to keep his disability hidden? What does
> > > >"FDR's splendid deception" reveal to us about social attitudes in that era
> > > >toward Americans who had post-polio and other disabilities?
> > > >
> > > >Why did the polio campaigners place so much emphasis on getting patients
> > > >to walk again? What was the cultural meaning of "overcoming" a post-polio
> > > >disability in this way? Did FDR and his colleagues (doctors,
> > > >fund-raisers, and people who had had polio) transform people who had had
> > > >polio into cultural heroes? If so, what sort of heroes were they?
> > > >
> > > >During these same decades, segregation of disabled people was enforced by
> > > >such ordinances as "ugly laws" in Chicago and other cities that prohibited
> > > >any "person who is diseased, maimed, mutilated, or in any way deformed so
> > > >as to be an unsightly or disgusting object or improper person to be
> > > >allowed in or on the public ways or other public places in this city" from
> > > >exposing "himself to public view." Did institutionalized prejudice such
> > > >as this in any way influence the polio fund-raising or treatment? Given
> > > >this deeply entrenched bias, was "overcoming" another form of stigma or a
> > > >step toward social inclusion?
> > > >
> > > >In the early 1950s, Salk and other virologists tested live-virus vaccines
> > > >on institutionalized physically and mentally disabled persons. What does
> > > >this tell us about social attitudes and values regarding people with
> > > >disabilities in that era and in the anti- polio campaign?
> > > >
> > > >Many of the attitudes, values and institutionalized approaches toward
> > > >illness and people who are sick or disabled that we now take for granted
> > > >were fashioned during the first half of the 20th Century within the
> > > >campaign against polio. Your film offers a valuable opportunity to
> > > >explore a history that could illuminate an important but neglected aspect
> > > >of our historical experience. I welcome the chance to work with you.
> > > >
> > > >Sincerely,
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >Paul K. Longmore
> > > >Assistant Professor
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> >
>
>
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