CDCAN REPORT #197-2011: Ed Roberts to be inducted into California Hall of Fame

DISABILITY & CIVIL RIGHTS ADVOCATE ED ROBERTS "FATHER OF INDEPENDENT LIVING MOVEMENT" TO BE INDUCTED INTO CALIFORNIA HALL OF FAME

One of 10 Other Californians To Be Honored In December 8th Ceremony In Sacramento Hosted by Governor Jerry Brown and First Lady Anne Brown

SACRAMENTO, CA (CDCAN) [Last updated 12/07/2011 05:00 PM] - The late Ed Roberts, revered by people with disabilities and seniors across the nation for his trail blazing work as a disability and civil rights leader, will be one of 10 Californians to be inducted in the California Hall of Fame, in a ceremony hosted by Governor Jerry Brown and First Lady Anne Brown on December 8th, 7:00 PM at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, 1515 J Street, a few blocks from the State Capitol.  Ed Roberts mother, Zona, is scheduled to be at the ceremony to accept the "Spirit of California" medal that all inductees receive, on behalf of her son.

Joan Leon a longtime and widely respected disability advocate and a co-founder with Roberts and Judy Heumann of the berkeley based World Institute on Disability (WID), noted that Roberts induction into the California Hall of Fame is "...a great honor for him personally and for all of us because it recognizes and honors the power and effectiveness of our movement."

He joins a remarkable diverse group of other Californians from the worlds of politics, culture, education, the arts, science, technology, business, sports and civil rights who made their mark on history including Ronald Reagan, Cesar Chavez, former Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court Earl Warren, Steve Jobs, Barbra Streisand, Harvey Milk, John Steinbeck, Willie Mays and Walt Disney.  

This event will also be broadcast live on Comcast Hometown Network and will be webcast on the Governor’s website: www.gov.ca.gov

The California Hall of Fame biography of Ed Roberts can be viewed at the California Museum website at: http://www.californiamuseum.org/exhibits/halloffame/inductee/ed-roberts

Known as the "father of the independent living movement", Roberts was appointed by Brown in his first term in 1975 as Governor as director of the Department of Rehabilitation - the first person with disabilities to be appointed to that post serving until 1983 (when Brown left office). He co-founded the Berkeley-based World Institute on Disability with fellow disability rights leaders Judy Heumann and Joan Leon.  He died on March 14, 1995, at the age of 56.

Roberts joins nine other Californians who make-up the 2011 class of honorees: former Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, The Beach Boys, Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, Father Gregory Boyle, Doris and Donald Fisher, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Carlos Santana, Amy Tan and former California Supreme Court Justice Roger Traynor.

California Hall of Fame First Started in 2006 by Former First Lady Maria Shriver

• The California Hall of Fame was conceived by then First Lady Maria Shriver and the California in 2006 to honor people who embody California’s innovative spirit and have made their mark on history.
• Each year since 2006, honorees are inducted into the California Hall of Fame in a formal state ceremony in Sacramento by the governor and first lady, at which inductees (or their families for the posthumous awards) receive the Spirit of California medal.
• All inductees and their accomplishments are made part of the permanent record in the California State Archives and in an exhibit at the California Museum.

Previous California Hall of Fame Inductees

2010 INDUCTEES:
Former California Governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown (father of Jerry Brown, James Cameron, John Doerr, A.P. Giannini, Merle Haggard, Anne Lamott, George Shultz, Dr. Kevin Starr, Levi Strauss, Barbra Streisand, Wayne Thiebaud, Betty White, Serena Williams, and Mark Zuckerberg
2009 INDUCTEES:
Carol Burnett, Andy Grove, Hiram Johnson, Rafer Johnson, Henry J. Kaiser, Joan Kroc, George Lucas, John Madden, Harvey Milk, Fritz Scholder, Danielle Steel, Joe Weider and General Chuck Yeager
2008 INDUCTEES:
Dave Brubeck, Jane Fonda, Robert Graham, Quincy Jones, Jack Lalanne, Dorothea Lange, Julia Morgan, Jack Nicholson, Linus Pauling, Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel, Leland Stanford, and Alice Waters
2007 INDUCTEES:
Ansel Adams, Milton Berle, Steve Jobs, Willie Mays, Robert Mondavi, Rita Moreno, Jackie Robinson, Jonas Salk, John Steinbeck, Elizabeth Taylor, Earl Warren, John Wayne and Tiger Woods
2006 INDUCTEES:
César Chávez, Walt Disney, Amelia Earhart, Clint Eastwood, Frank Gehry, David Ho, M.D., Billie Jean King, John Muir, Ronald Reagan, Sally Ride, Alice Walker and the Hearst and Packard Families.

Legislation in 2010 Recognizes Roberts With "Ed Roberts Day"

Roberts induction into the California Hall of Fame this year follows another major recognition by the State in 2010, with the passage of SB 1256 by Sen. Loni Hancock (Democrat - Berkeley) that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law.

That bill requires that January 23 of each year be proclaimed by the governor as “Ed Roberts Day”, and designate that date as having “special significance” in public schools and educational institutions.

Like other state “Day of Significance”, the day is not be a state holiday for state employees.or public schools - but it encourages those schools and other educational institutions to conduct suitable commemorative exercises on that date, remembering his life, recognizing his accomplishments as well as the accomplishments of other Californians with disabilities.

Ed Roberts Campus In Berkeley Also Remembers His Life and Work

• Roberts was also honored earlier this year in April with the grand opening of the a new bay area community center in Berkeley, called the Ed Roberts Campus whose mission is to “ensure that people with disabilities can live independently and without discrimination.”
• The Ed Roberts Campus commemorates the life and work of Roberts by becoming a destination and focus of many disability related events, meetings and activities.
• A rally to push for rights for children and adults with autism spectrum disorders was held there in early October - a disorder during his tenure in state government and during his lifetime that had not yet exploded into what is now referred to as an "epidemic" in California and across the nation.
• For more information about the Ed Roberts Campus go to their website at: http://www.edrobertscampus.org/index.html

Background of Ed Roberts

• Edward Verne Roberts was born January 23, 1939.
• Roberts contracted polio as an adolescent in 1953. For the first year of his illness, he spent nearly all of his time in a hospital. Eventually he left the hospital, but had to spend vast expanses of time in an iron lung.
• His career as an advocate began when a high school administrator threatened to deny him a diploma because he had not completed driver's education and physical education.
• After attending the College of San Mateo, in 1962 he was admitted to the University of California at Berkeley where he became the first student with severe disabilities to attend UC Berkeley.
• When Roberts' search for housing at the university met resistance, in part because of the iron lung that he slept in at night, the director of the campus hospital offered him a room in an empty wing. He accepted that housing on the condition that it be treated as dormitory space.
• Other students with significant disabilities joined him there over the next few years. They began calling themselves the "Rolling Quads."
• In 1968 when two were threatened with a loss of services by a rehabilitation counselor, the "Rolling Quads" organized a successful protest that led to the counselor's transfer. Their success on campus inspired the group to advocate for curb cuts, opening access to the wider community, and creating the first student-led disability services program at a university in the nation.
• The student program in turn led to the creation, in Berkeley, of the nation's first center for independent living. Roberts, though not the actual founder or the first executive director of that center, soon assumed leadership of the Center for Independent Living, Berkeley, and guided its development as a model for disability advocacy and self-help services across the nation and around the world.
• Roberts earned a BA degree in 1964 and an MA in 1966, both from UC Berkeley, in Political Science. He also taught political science at the university for six years.
• In 1975, Governor Jerry Brown appointed Ed Roberts Director of the Department of Rehabilitation. He served in that post until 1983 when he co-founded the World Institute on Disability.
• Roberts died from natural causes on March 14, 1995 at age 56.