Tom Olin: A Photographer’s Advice on Documenting Disability Activism

Photographer and disabilities advocate Tom Olin has documented the fight for disability rights for nearly half a century. His iconic photos begin with disability rights demonstrations in the 1980s, including the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)in 1990, and document the continuing effort to ensure that people with disabilities function as full members of American society. His photos have been exhibited in many galleries and museums.

Image courtesy The Rapidian

Interview of September 15, 2020

Alexandra Wang: What were some of the beliefs and attitudes that the society had toward disabilities during your childhood?

Tom Olin: I have dyslexia and used to stutter. I was always in the “slow learner” or “dummy” class. Dyslexia was never spoken about when I was in school. Some of my peers probably had disabilities too, but people were not open about them at that time.

Alexandra Wang: What changed during your adulthood?

Tom Olin: Dyslexia did not come up in my life until after I graduated from school. I had a job in a rehabilitation hospital in 1969 and 1970. There were patients in the hospital who had a variety of disabilities: traumatic brain injuries, intellectual disabilities, and other conditions. It was when I attended a conference on disability rights that I learned my dyslexia and stuttering were recognized as disabilities.

Alexandra Wang: What led you into disability rights activism?

Tom Olin: I found that I could relate to disability rights activists due to my own experiences with dyslexia and stuttering. I worked with the California Association of the Physically Handicapped. I met pioneering disability rights activists, such as Diane Coleman and Paul Longmore, Carol Gill, Harlan Hahn and Anne Finger.  We worked together on correcting ableist language in laws, the media and everyday speech. I joined another disability rights group that advocated for accessibility at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA.)

 I then became involved with the disability rights organization, American Disabled for Public Transport, now known as American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT.) We marched in demonstrations throughout the nation together. I began taking pictures of disability rights demonstrations to document our struggle.

I began taking pictures of disability rights demonstrations to document our struggle.

Alexandra Wang: What were some of the areas that you and ADAPT advocated for?

Tom Olin: We advocated for curb-cuts, access to buildings, and accessible transportation, deinstitutionalization, and better community services. Many people with disabilities could not use sidewalks, go shopping, or take accessible transportation. They often could not leave their homes or participate in many activities.

Members of ADAPT would get out of their wheelchairs and strap themselves under or on greyhound buses. Other members had signs protesting against inaccessibility. Signs had statements, such as “We want to shop,” “I can’t get to the back of the bus,” or “NURSING HOMES = JAIL.”  I took photos of members of ADAPT fighting for disability rights to keep a record of our activities and help spread the message.

Images courtesy Tom Olin

Alexandra Wang: What were some of the challenges that ADAPT faced during the disability rights movement? What was the society’s attitude toward people with disabilities?

Tom Olin: It took a long time to have disability rights recognized. People did not understand that disability rights are civil rights. For example, many people did not believe that buses should have lifts. They thought that passengers with disabilities could be carried onto the bus.

People did not understand that disability rights are civil rights.

Image courtesy Tom Olin

Alexandra Wang: How did this affect education?

Tom Olin: Segregation was a huge issue in education, despite some attempts for improvement. There was no support for students with disabilities before the 1990s.

I was a teaching assistant at a school in California in the 1980s. There was one student who was in a wheelchair. His teacher introduced him as the child who would never walk again. She might have been a good teacher, but did not know how to behave around people with disabilities.

The principal did not know how to receive students with disabilities either. During an assembly, the principal thought having the student in a wheelchair near the exit of the auditorium would be the best place for him.  Otherwise, the student would be considered a fire hazard. I explained that the student had rights and backed it up with photos.

 Back in the classroom, I showed the young student photos of disability rights demonstrations in a photobook. One was a photo of about 50 people in wheelchairs protesting. He was surprised that there were so many people like him. On next page, there was a Time magazine article, headlined, Wheelchair Warriors. He looked at me smiling and said: “I can be a wheelchair warrior too.”

I explained that the student had rights and backed it up with photos.

Image courtesy Tom Olin

Alexandra Wang: What were other challenges faced by students with disabilities?

Tom Olin: Schools started integrating students with disabilities during the 1980s. There were special classes for them. Later, they started letting students with disabilities into mainstream classes, but teachers were not equipped to support them.

Students felt ostracized by their teachers and peers. They missed being in their old classes and tried to get back into them. Today, most classes are mainstreamed. Now, whenever I visit schools to speak about disability rights, lots of students reveal that they have disabilities.

Alexandra Wang: What was the turning point in the fight for disability rights?

Tom Olin: On March 12, 1990, ADAPT protested on the steps to Capitol Hill. People got out of their wheelchairs and crawled up the stairs to Capitol Hill to fight for their rights. This moment is now known as Capitol Crawl.

The little girl in the iconic ADA photo is my niece, Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins. As a person with cerebral palsy, she was fighting for her rights!

On March 12, 1990, ADAPT protested on the steps to Capitol Hill. People got out of their wheelchairs and crawled up the stairs to Capitol Hill to fight for their rights. This moment is now known as Capitol Crawl.

Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins during Capitol Crawl. Images courtesy Tom Olin

After Capitol Crawl, most Americans started to understand disability rights are civil rights. Some people, however, still had a condescending attitude towards disability rights. They acted as if we were like Tiny Tim with his crutch from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol given a pat on the head. The rights guaranteed by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 were not given to us. We fought for these rights!

Image courtesy M.F. or E.M. Taylor. Retrieved from Victorian Web

The rights guaranteed by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 were not given to us. We fought for these rights!

Alexandra Wang: What was it like for you to see the ADA signed by President George H.W. Bush?

Tom Olin: It was empowering. It was like being emancipated. However, more work had to be done. The other members of ADAPT and I thought, “Let’s go to the next problem.”

George H.W. Bush Signing the ADA. Image courtesy Tom Olin

Alexandra Wang: What inspired you to become a photographer?

Tom Olin: I have always loved media, but I did not start taking photos until I took a photography class at a community college in Pleasant Hill, California. I had a small 110 camera. When I worked with an audio visual crew and a production company, I switched to 35-millimeter cameras. Because I was an attendant at the Berkley Independent Living Center in California, my first assignment was photographing a person who had chemical sensitivity.

Alexandra Wang: How were disabilities represented prior to the disability rights movement?

Tom Olin: There were not many photos of people with disabilities before the disability rights movement. Media usually portrayed people with disabilities as monsters and freaks. Most people’s exposure to disabilities was The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon. This annual event raised money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA.)

There were some photos of 504 demonstrations during the 1970s, but society still was not aware of disability rights.

Image courtesy Arizona Daily Star

Alexandra Wang: How did representation of people with disabilities change later?

Tom Olin: Society started seeing photos of people with disabilities as strong individuals during the disability rights movement.

 Two other photographers and I took a photo of a man with cerebral palsy being handcuffed to his wheelchair by a police officer during a protest. This is an iconic photo of the ADA.

We all took the photo differently. One photographer focused on the man’s wheelchair to emphasize that he had a disability. The other photographer took a photo showing the whole scene. I, however, focused on the man’s determined face. His eyes looked strong. I sent my photos to the Weekly Reader, which every school had from the 1950s to the 1980s. It was important that people saw this image, especially children. Later, I sent photos to the Mouth magazine, Disability Rag, and other disability and mainstreamed newspapers.

Image courtesy Tom Olin

Alexandra Wang: What are some of the changes you would like to see in representing people with disabilities in the media?

Tom Olin: Now, there is more representation of people with disabilities, especially in film. There are some good actors with disabilities. Disabilities have been portrayed as positive-sometimes too positive.

The overwhelming majority of representation feature people with wheelchairs. Not all disabilities are physical or visible. There should be more diversity in media.

Not all disabilities are physical or visible.

Alexandra Wang: Other than working with media, what were other initiatives in which you engaged?

Tom Olin: My photos of the ADA have been exhibited in galleries and museums. Once a family told me that they felt included because they saw photos of people with disabilities in an exhibition at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC. There was a family with a young boy in a wheelchair. The kid thought that the subjects in my photos were like him.

I also enjoyed touring with the Road To Freedom-ADA Bus from 2005 through 2016. It was part of the ADA Legacy project. It was a traveling multimedia exhibition of the ADA and disability history. It went to 48 states. Our mission was to raise awareness and remind people about the ADA.

For quite some time, the Road To Freedom-ADA Bus was an iconic symbol of disability rights for a lot of people. Families would travel great distances to see the bus. It helped people feel that they were not alone.  The Road To Freedom-ADA Bus is broken down now, but some sponsors are trying to revive it. People want it on the road again.

For quite some time, the Road To Freedom-ADA Bus was an iconic of disability rights for a lot of people.

Image courtesy ADA Legacy Project

Alexandra Wang: How can school counselors support students with disabilities?

Tom Olin: They should empower students. It is important to introduce disability role models to students with disabilities at a young age. They learn that there are others like them. School counselors should inform students that disability rights are civil rights and part of their disability history.

It is important to introduce disability role models to students with disabilities at a young age. They learn that there are others like them.

Alexandra Wang: What are some of the important disability rights issue today?

Tom Olin: There is still a lot of corruption in nursing homes, group homes, and institutions. People are wrongfully institutionalized. Many of these institutions are for-profit businesses. Outside parties profit from them too.

 People with disabilities should be able to live in their own community.  They just need support. Independent living centers have good resources for people who want to live in their own community. 

Alexandra Wang: As an activist who has fought for disability rights for nearly half a century, what improvements you would like to see in the future?

Tom Olin: I remind people that disability rights are civil rights. I compare the disability rights movement to the Civil Rights movement to reinforce that point.

I am gratified that my photos have made a difference. Recently, a young girl who had cerebral palsy stood up for her rights at a restaurant. They said that they did not want anyone who drooled there. She remembered what my niece did during Capitol Crawl. She got out of her chair and crawled on the floor to remind people of this event. It was successful.

Alexandra Wang: What is your advice for today?

Tom Olin: We are in the middle of the COVID-19 Pandemic. We must come together just as we did during the struggle for the ADA. We must fight against all forms of oppression, especially ableism and ageism. Everyone should participate in activism to create equality in our society.

Image courtesy Tom Olin