of University California Berkeley Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement Oral History Series Kitty Cone POLITICAL ORGANIZER FOR DISABILITY RIGHTS, 1970s- 1990s, AND STRATEGIST FOR SECTION 504 DEMONSTRATIONS, 1977 An Interview Conducted by David Landes 1996-1998 Copyright 2000 by The Regents of the University of California Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the Nation. Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well- informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is indexed, bound with photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ************************************ All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Kitty Cone dated July 14, 1996. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, 486 Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. The legal agreement with Kitty Cone requires that she be notified of the request and allowed thirty days in which to respond. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Kitty Cone, "Political Organizer for Disability Rights, 1970s-1990s, and Strategist for Section 504 Demonstrations, 1977," an oral history conducted in 1996- 1998 by David Landes, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2000. Copy no. luncheon for Janet Reno, Oct. 1993. Kitty Cone at DREDF s San Francisco Cataloging Information CONE, Kitty (b. 1944) Disability rights activist Political Organizer for Disability Rights, 1970s- 1990s, and Strategist for Section 504 Demonstrations, 1977. 2000, xxi, 335 pp. Family background in Champaign, IL; education in the South, Japan, and Washington, D.C.; muscular dystrophy diagnosis, health care, family support; University of Illinois, 1962-1967: Rehabilitation Center, civil rights activism, Students for a Democratic Society; political organizing for Socialist Workers Party, 1967-1974, in Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Berkeley; political organizing for Center for Independent Living, including issues of curb ramps, attendant care, access to transportation (BART, AC Transit, SF Muni), architectural access; lesbian life in the United States and Mexico; HEW s 504 regulations: importance, sit-in to guarantee signature, implementation, 1977-1979; adoption of and raising of son, Jorge; working for disability civil rights at World Institute on Disability, CIL, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) ; reflections on feminism, racism, paternalism, medical insurance; reflections on Mary Lou Breslin, Judy Heumann, Ed Roberts, Hale Zukas, Brad Seligman; passage of American with Disabilities Act (ADA), 1990; comments on substance abuse, environmental and mental disabilities, HIV-AIDS. Interviewed 1996-1998 by David Landes for the Disability Rights Independent Living Movement Oral History Series. The Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement Oral History Series was funded primarily by a three-year field-initiated research grant awarded in 1996 by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) , an agency of the United States Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Any of the views expressed in the oral history interviews or accompanying materials are not endorsed by the sponsoring agency. Special thanks are due to other donors to this project over the years: the Prytanean Society; Raymond Lifchez, Judith Stronach, and Dr. Henry Bruyn; and June A. Cheit, whose generous donation in memory of her sister, Rev. Barbara Andrews, allowed the Regional Oral History Office to develop the grant project. TABLE OF CONTENTS --Kitty Cone SERIES INTRODUCTION by Sirni Linton SERIES HISTORY by Ann Lage and Susan O Hara vii SERIES LIST xiv INTERVIEW HISTORY by David Landes xix BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION xxi I CHILDHOOD AND HIGH SCHOOL YEARS, 1944-1962 1 Family Background 1 Disability Diagnosed: Family Response 3 Reacting to Racism and Segregation in the South 7 Living in Japan, and Surgeries, 1955-1957 9 Friends, Sports, Dances, Dates, and Disability: Preteen and Teen Years 10 Boarding School in Washington, D.C. 16 Reacting Strongly to Racism in Kentucky High School 17 D.C. Boarding School: Limitations, Expulsion and Humiliation 20 Joining Family in Augusta, Georgia: Observing Civil Rights Movement 24 II COLLEGE YEARS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 28 U of I s Rehab Center: "Controlling" Attitude 28 Life in the U of I Rehab Center 31 Getting Involved in Politics: Civil Rights 33 Friendship with Mary Lou Breslin 37 Politics: Elected to Student Senate and Civil Rights 39 Mother Dies; Kitty Drops out of College 40 Home in Augusta, Georgia: Racism and Civil Rights 43 Returning to College and Politics- -Friends of SNCC, 1964 44 Estrangement from Her Father 46 SDS and Radical Politics 49 Doctor s Negative Attitude toward Sex and Pregnancy 54 Joining Young Socialist Alliance 56 Traveling in Latin America 58 III DEVELOPING POLITICAL ORGANIZING SKILLS IN THE YOUNG SOCIALIST ALLIANCE AND SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY 59 Trip to Latin America, 1967 59 Anti-War Organizing in Chicago, 1967-1970 61 Developing a Feminist Consciousness 63 Perceptions of Being Disabled: Still Not a Civil Rights Issue 65 Organizing Lessons from the Chicago Experience 67 Political Organizing in Atlanta and Tampa, 1970-1972 68 Sojourn in Washington, D.C., 1972 70 Move to Oakland/Berkeley Area, 1972 71 Discovering the Center for Independent Living, 1974 74 IV POLITICAL ORGANIZING AT THE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING 75 Working with Hale Zukas 75 Organizing for Curb Ramps in Oakland 76 The Homemaker Chore Funding Issue, Fall 1975 78 Comparing Berkeley with the University of Illinois 81 Remembering People at CIL, mid-1970s 82 CIL s Loose Structure 84 Why the Independent Living Movement Took Hold in Berkeley 85 California s Attendant Care Program 87 90 Hale Zukas, "An Unsung Hero": Public Transportation Issues BART Handicapped Task Force 91 Pressuring AC Transit 93 Role as Political Organizer at CIL 95 More on Kale s Impact on Kitty and the Movement 96 Greg Sanders Benefits Counseling 98 V SOJOURN IN MEXICO, 1975-1976 101 Falling in Love with Alma Noriega 101 Coming Out as Lesbian 102 Settling in Manzanillo 103 Lesbian Life in Mexico 105 On Being Disabled in Mexico 106 Returning to the East Bay, Late 1976 107 Judy Heumann s Impact on Kitty 109 VI ORGANIZING THE STRUGGLE TO SIGN THE 504 REGULATIONS, 1977 112 The Importance of the 504 Regulations 112 The Carter Administration s Position 114 American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities Develops a Strategy 116 Organizing the San Francisco Sit-in: The Role of the Disability Rights Center at CIL 118 Building the Bay Area s Coalition of Disability Organizations 120 Expanding the Coalition to Include Other Constituencies 122 Kitty s Perspective as a Community Organizer 122 Working with the Media 125 The Sit-in Begins, April 5, 1977 127 Settling In and Building a Community 130 Educating the Press 131 The Leadership Structure and Meetings 134 Decisions on the Delegation to Washington, D.C. 136 Pressuring the Administration in Washington 138 The Organizing Strategy of the Washington Delegation 142 Lobbying Senators Williams and Cranston, and White House Staffer Stuart Eizenstat 144 The Demonstration in Lafayette Park 147 Returning to San Francisco, Leaving the Federal Building, and the Victory Celebration 149 Kitty s View of the Meaning of the 504 Victory 151 The Congressional Hearing During the Sit-in 153 VII ORGANIZING TO IMPLEMENT 504 156 Working to Make Public Transit More Accessible 156 The Department of Transportation Regulations: Backlash from the Transit Agencies 159 The Fight for the TransBus Prototype 161 The Demonstration at the San Francisco Transbay Terminal, 1978 163 The Disability Law Resource Center, 1978 166 The Department of Transportation Regulations: APTA Fights Back 168 The Cleveland Amendment: