National Council on Public History

The history of people with disabilities in the United States is among the least interpreted topics in place-based American history, and this handbook will offer vital context that will help NPS parks and programs; local, state, and Federal partners; and the general public uncover and tell stories related to persons with disabilities, recognizing that “disability” is a concept that shifts across time and place. The Handbook will lay the groundwork for future NPS projects, including interpretive and educational programming, historic site preservation, and a Disability History National Historic Landmarks Theme Study.

Kathleen Brian, Editor
Thomas Hummel, Associate Editor
K. Guinevere Smith, Assistant Editor
Jura Johnson, Assistant Editor

Contributing Authors:
Nicole Belolan
Heather Cassano
Chelsea Chamberlain
G. Jasper Conner
Shana Crosson
Gail Dubrow
Rebecca Edwards
Liam Guthrie
Stefanie Hunt-Kennedy
Adria L. Imada
John M. Kinder
Lily Kpobi
Petra Kuppers
Laura Leppink
Caroline Lieffers
Jennifer M. Murray
Lieketseng Ned
Kim E. Nielsen
Chioma Ohajunwa
Sarah Pawlicki
Raphael Raphael
Michael Rembis
Sarah F. Rose
Jade Ryerson
Nicole Lee Schroeder
Chelsea Wait
Hilary N. Weaver
Bess Williamson
Cynthia Wu
Samuel Yates
Hannah Zaves-Greene

More to come!

Project information and background

Meldon, Perri, “Interpreting our Disabled Heritage: Disability and the National Park Service,” History@Work, 16 March 2021. 

Meldon, Perri, “The NPS Disability History Handbook: Collaboration, process, and community,” History@Work, 7 December 2023. 

Brian, Kathleen, and Perri Meldon, “NPS Disability History Handbook,” Public History News, Vol. 3 No. 4, 9.

Note: the resources below were outgrowths of work that began with the National Park Service.

Disability in Place: Table of Contents
Full publication is forthcoming, Fall 2025

"This is a Place We Made: Centering Place in Disability History" virtual presentation.

From 2021-2025, NCPH worked with the National Park Service (NPS) to foster the creation of an introduction to place-based disability history. The forthcoming “Disability in Place,” comprised of 26 essays by 31 authors, will be the first accessibly-written anthology of original, peer-reviewed essays to address historical intersections of disability and place. In this presentation, the authors, editor, and members of the project team discussed the anthology they made, the process of making it, and why it matters in 2025.

• Event recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dGg22-R1LI
• Event transcript: https://ncph.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/072425-9346210-This-is-a-Place-We-Made-Centering-Place-in-Disability-History.rtf (Rich text file, can be opened by Microsoft Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice Writer, or TextEdit)
• Follow up resources: in PDF and Word

Via our cooperative agreement with the National Park Service, the National Council on Public History’s objective with this Request for Letters of Interest (RloI) is to select a Lead Editor who will oversee the research, writing, and editing of a scholarship-based official National Park Service (NPS) Handbook on the history of people with disabilities in the United States. Please read the full narrative in PDF or Word format for the description of the project’s scope of work and timeline, as well as instructions for submitting your letter of interest.

Project Budget for Editorial Compensation: $17,500.00
Deadline for Letter of Interest to NCPH: January 21, 2022
Expected Date to Award Project: February 7, 2022
Projected Start Date: February 2022
Timeline for Completion: September 1, 2023