Disability History – new narratives in old records
November marks the start of UK Disability History month and the opportunity to discover and learn new narratives within the University’s archives. Archivists Sarah Rodriguez and Elizabeth Thompson-MacRae have been looking into the records to find out some ways in which learning has been accessed by staff and students living with disabilities over the centuries. In a mini series of blogs, we shall be taking a deeper look into some of the ways in which learning has been accessed over history through the lens of disability.
To kick things off, we take a look at an ‘Access Guide for Students with Physical Disabilities’ produced by the University in 1982.
Images of the Access Guide for students with Physical Disabilities including illustrations, printed text and a map.
The stimulus for the development of the guide is traced back to 1981 and the UN led initiative in ‘The International Year of Disabled Persons’. A programme that subsequently developed a strategy and informed policy on improving the experience for people living with disability. Taking inspiration from this, the University undertook a project to raise awareness around physical disability. This resulted in the production of an access guide, audio guide (in the form of a cassette tape) and tactile map, which was also made available from the then ‘Town Information Office’ for visitors. Although the fate of the taped audio guide and tactile map is unknown, the archive holds a copy of the access guide.
Image of Access Guide map of St Andrews, 1982
It’s interesting that this example of improving access focuses on the physical aspect of disability – in contemporary times we now understand disability in a more nuanced and holistic approach, taking into consideration visible, invisible, physical and neurological aspects.
This is a brief snapshot into the undoubtedly many more narratives around disability history yet to be discovered, but we hope that this has highlighted the ways in which university archive records and collections can be used to enrich our understanding of the past. If you were a past student or staff member involved in the development of the physical access project, we would love to hear your memories in the comments section.
Elizabeth Thompson-MacRae
Digital Archivist
Sarah Rodriguez
Muniments Archivist
As just me and also a person with a disability, I am thankful for your work and accomplishment regarding this aspect of life and life together.