Hale Zukas
{{Short description|American disability rights activist (1943–2022)}}
{{Use American English|date = October 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Hale Zukas
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Hale J. Zukas
| birth_date = {{birth date|1943|5|31}}
| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2022|11|30|1943|05|31}}
| death_place =
| resting_place =
| occupation = Author, accessibility consultant
| known_for = Disability rights activist
| movement = Disability rights movement
| spouse =
| signature =
}}
Hale J. Zukas (May 31, 1943 – November 30, 2022) was an American disability rights activist. He was a member of the Rolling Quads at the University of California, Berkeley, and a founder of the first Center for Independent Living (CIL) in Berkeley. He was active in working for accessible streets and public transit, and in the creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Early life and education
Zukas was born in Los Angeles and educated in San Luis Obispo, California. He was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a child. He learned to use an electric wheelchair and communicate using a helmet-mounted pointer to point to a letter board. He earned a B.A. in mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley in 1971.Yu, Brandon. [https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/Berkeley-disabled-rights-activist-finds-overdue-12501728.php "Berkeley Disabled Rights Activist Finds Overdue Spotlight in Documentary 'Hale'."] San Francisco Chronicle (January 16, 2018)
Activism and career
Zukas joined the Rolling Quads, a group of students at the University of California, Berkeley in the mid-1960s. The university was amongst the first in the world to begin admitting people with physical disabilities, including prominent activist Ed Roberts. The university began the Cowell Residence Program (CRP) to provide housing and assistance, and the Rolling Quads were a group of students in the CRP who organized to advocate for the rights of students with disabilities. Zukas became one of the founders of the Physically Disabled Students Program on the Berkeley campus.{{cite book |last1=Williamson |first1=Bess |title=Accessible America: A History of Disability and Design |date=January 15, 2019 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=9781479855582 |page=111 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eAxXDwAAQBAJ&q=Hale+Zukas+Zukas+became+one+of+the+founders+of+the+Physically+Disabled+Students+Program+on+the+Berkeley+campus.&pg=PA111 |access-date=July 1, 2021}}
In 1972, Zukas, Roberts, and others founded the Center for Independent Living, Berkeley (CIL).{{cite news |last1=Khokha |first1=Sasha |title=Meet the Berkeley Man Who Helped Lead the Disability Rights Movement |url=https://www.kqed.org/news/11626245/meet-the-berkeley-man-who-helped-lead-the-disability-rights-movement |access-date=July 1, 2021 |work=KQED |date=October 28, 2017}} He served as the CIL's first Coordinator of Community Affairs and held that position until 1982.{{Cite news|last=di Lauro|first=Stephen|date=January 27, 1977|title=Handicapped find independent life in Berkeley|page=4|work=Synapse|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=ucsf19770127-01.2.10&srpos=1&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-Hale+Zukas-------1|access-date=June 14, 2021|via=California Digital Newspaper Collection}}
Zukas became a leading advocate for the elimination of architectural and transportation barriers, especially on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system in the San Francisco Bay area. The CIL led a movement in Berkeley to install curb cuts up and down Telegraph and Shattuck Avenues creating an extensive path of travel for wheelchair riders.{{cite news |last1=Gorney |first1=Cynthia |title=Curb Cuts |url=https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/curb-cuts/ |access-date=July 1, 2021 |work=99% Invisible |issue=308}} In 1973, when there were protests for the ratification of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability, Zukas was one of the leaders of the movement and was chosen among other activists to lobby in Washington D.C. to confront the Carter Administration.{{Cite web|last=Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement Oral History Series|date=1998|title=Builders and Sustainers of the Independent Living Movement in Berkeley : Volume III (Oral history interviews with Hale Zukas and Eric Dibner)|url=https://oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt4c6003rh&brand=oac4&doc.view=entire_text|access-date=2021-07-01|website=Online Archive of California}}{{cite news |last1=Shoot |first1=Britta |title=The 1977 Disability Rights Protest That Broke Records and Changed Laws |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/504-sit-in-san-francisco-1977-disability-rights-advocacy |access-date=July 1, 2021 |work=Atlas Obscura |date=November 9, 2017}}
Zukas co-founded the BART's accessibility advisory group in 1975. He was a driving force in designing the button placement inside BART elevators at a height that could easily be reached by wheelchair users.
Zukas worked on the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.{{cite news |last1=Bailey |first1=Brad |title=On the ADA's 30th anniversary: The heroes among us |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/On-the-ADA-s-30th-anniversary-The-heroes-among-15438507.php |access-date=July 1, 2021 |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=July 28, 2020}}Robinson, Emily, director. "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC0Zk-bhsfs Hale Zukas]". YouTube, 2019. He was on the board of Transit Accessibility which meets monthly to discuss ways to make public transportation available to more people.Truly Ca, director. "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY_BYyK1ArE Hale | KQED Truly Ca]". YouTube, August 10, 2018. Zukas became the vice chair of the United States Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board in 1983.
Zukas died on November 30, 2022, at the age of 79.{{Cite tweet |user=TheCILOfficial |number=1598087251250270209 |title=In loving memory of Hale Zukas}}{{Cite tweet |user=judithheumann |number=1598058616317423616 |title=Today my dear friend Hale Zukas passed away at the age of 79.}}{{cite news |title=Remembering Hale Zukas: Disability Rights Icon. Then, The Abolitionist's Journal |url=https://kpfa.org/episode/letters-and-politics-december-1-2022/ |access-date=2 December 2022 |publisher=KPFA |date=1 December 2022}}{{Cite web |date=2022-12-05 |title=Remembering Hale Zukas, Champion of Disability Rights {{!}} Metropolitan Transportation Commission |url=https://mtc.ca.gov/news/remembering-hale-zukas-champion-disability-rights |access-date=2022-12-26 |website=mtc.ca.gov |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Mendelsohn |first=Joan Leon and Pam |date=2022-12-06 |title=Remembering Hale Zukas, daring visionary of the disability rights movement |url=https://www.berkeleyside.org/2022/12/06/hale-zukas-obituary |access-date=2022-12-26 |website=Berkeleyside |language=en-US}}
References
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Category:American disability rights activists
Category:American activists with disabilities
Category:Activists from Los Angeles