MUSEUM STUDIES
Patient No More:
People with Disabilities Securing Civil Rights
^Panel discussion on issues of disability, organized by the graduate students. Courtesy of Melissa Knapp
From 2018 to 2019, students in the UNCG History/Museum Studies program worked to bring the traveling exhibit Patient No More: People with Disabilities Securing Civil Rights to the International Civil Rights Center and Museum. The graduate students planned for the exhibit’s arrival, installed it, prepared additional interpretive components, and organized tours and programs. For instance, the students created a short exhibit on the occupation of physical spaces as a means of driving change. This multimedia station compared the occupation of government buildings by disability rights activists to the sit-ins in Greensboro, the occupation of a factory by labor workers, and the occupation of Alcatraz by the American Indian Movement (AIM) of Alcatraz as forms of protest.
^Students at a Patient No More program at the International Civil Rights Center and Museum. Courtesy of Melissa Knapp.
Other students collaborated with the local advocacy group InFocus Advocacy to create an exhibit that highlighted the voices of its constituents. The students gathered quotes from InFocus members, read through secondary sources, and identified photographs in libraries and museums for use in the exhibit. Finally, the graduate students organized tours and programs including an exhibit opening and a discussion panel, to promote Patient No More. They partnered with community organizations to create an accessible environment and they worked closely with the International Civil Rights Center and Museum on the exhibit installation and publicity.
Press Coverage
"Civil Rights Museum Takes On Disabilities, Environment, AIDS"
UNCG Patient No More Web site
