Frank Bowe (1947-2007)
Posted by Chris Kellerman on August 29, 2007 at 04:10 PM
Frank Bowe, a champion of civil rights for people with disabilities, died of cancer on August 21 in Melville, NY. He was a professor of counseling, research, special education and rehabilitation (CRSR) at Hofstra University.
In 1977, he helped direct a nationwide sit-in that pushed legislators to implement Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act, the world's first civil-rights provision for the disabled. Section 504 was the forerunner of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Section 504 reads:
No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States, as defined in section 7(20), shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance or under any program or activity conducted by any Executive agency or by the United States Postal Service.
Bowe, who became deaf at age 3, never stopped fighting for people with disabilities. He assisted in drafting the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and continued to train both teachers and students in disability-related issues until his death. During the 1977 sit-in, he said, "Disabled people are first-class citizens and expect to be treated that way."
(Chris Kellerman is an intern in the DNC Internet Department)
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