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A.D.A. Now! : Throughline This month marks the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which is considered the most important civil rights law since the 1960s. Through first-person stories, we look back at the making of this movement, the history of how disability came to be seen as a civil rights issue, and what the disability community is still fighting for 30 years later.

Throughline

A.D.A. Now!

A.D.A. Now!

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  • A group of people with disabilities crawl up the steps of the U.S. Capitol to draw support for the Americans with Disabilities Act, March 12th, 1990.
    A group of people with disabilities crawl up the steps of the U.S. Capitol to draw support for the Americans with Disabilities Act, March 12th, 1990.
    Used by permission. © The Tom Olin Collection
  • Bob Kafka and Shirley Kopecky, members of ADAPT (Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transit), demonstrate in downtown Houston in an effort to get the city to buy buses with lifts to load people with disabilities.
    Bob Kafka and Shirley Kopecky, members of ADAPT (Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transit), demonstrate in downtown Houston in an effort to get the city to buy buses with lifts to load people with disabilities.
    Bettmann/Getty Images
  • Weary demonstrators continue a sit-in at the offices of the Health, Education and Welfare department in San Francisco until civil rights rules for people with disabilities are signed, April 9th, 1977. The woman standing at left center interprets for the hearing impaired during a group briefing.
    Weary demonstrators continue a sit-in at the offices of the Health, Education and Welfare department in San Francisco until civil rights rules for people with disabilities are signed, April 9th, 1977. The woman standing at left center interprets for the hearing impaired during a group briefing.
    Jim Palmer/AP
  • People gathering at the entrance to the John F. Kennedy Federal Building in Boston to protest the Federal Government's delay in implementing the Rehabilitation Act passed by Congress in 1973 on April 5th, 1977. The act prohibits discrimination against citizens with disabilities by any agency or institution receiving federal funds.
    People gathering at the entrance to the John F. Kennedy Federal Building in Boston to protest the Federal Government's delay in implementing the Rehabilitation Act passed by Congress in 1973 on April 5th, 1977. The act prohibits discrimination against citizens with disabilities by any agency or institution receiving federal funds.
    Boston Globe/Getty Images
  • President George Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
    President George Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
    Fotosearch/Getty Images

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This month marks the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which is considered the most important civil rights law since the 1960s. Through first-person stories, we look back at the making of this movement, the history of how disability came to be seen as a civil rights issue, and what the disability community is still fighting for 30 years later.

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