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A CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION
25-60
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
April 4, 2023
To honor the life of Judith Heumann, her tireless activism and advocacy for disability rights.
WHEREAS, Judith Heumann was born in Philadelphia on December 18, 1947, and grew
up in Brooklyn, New York;
WHEREAS, Judith Heumann contracted polio at the age of 18 months and used a
wheelchair for most of her life;
WHEREAS, as a child Judith Heumann was refused entry to school because of her
wheelchair, and she and her parents had to fight repeatedly for her to be included in the
educational system, finally being granted an exception to enter high school in 1961;
WHEREAS, Judith Heumann attended Long Island University, graduating in 1969, and
while a student there organized rallies and protests demanding access to classrooms via the
installation of ramps and the right to live in a campus dorm;
WHEREAS, in 1970, after she was denied a New York state teaching license because of
her use of a wheelchair, she successfully sued the Board of Education on the basis of
discrimination;
WHEREAS, Judith Heumann became the first teacher who used a wheelchair in New
York City;
WHEREAS, Judith Heumann co -founded Disabled in Action (DIA), an organization that
focuses on securing the protection of people with disabilities under civil rights laws, in 1970;
WHEREAS, Judith Heumann served as a legislative assistant to the chair of the U.S.
Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare in 1974 and helped design legislation that
became the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act;
WHEREAS, Judith Heumann earned a Master of Science degree in public health at the
University of California, Berkeley in 1975;
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WHEREAS, Judith Heumann served as the deputy director of the Center for Independent
Living where she was responsible for the implementation of national legislation for programs in
special education, disability research, vocational rehabilitation and independent living, from
1975 to 1982;
WHEREAS, Judith Heumann helped organize the “504 Sit-in”, the longest sit-in at a
federal building in US history - prompting US Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare,
Joseph Califano, to sign regulations implementing the Education of All Handicapped Children
Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 on April 28, 1977;
WHEREAS, Judith Heumann co- founded the World Institute on Disability in 1983,
serving as co-director until 1993;
WHEREAS, Judith Heumann served as Assistant Secretary of the Office of Special
Education and Rehabilitation Services at the United States Department of Education in the
Clinton Administration from 1993 to 2001;
WHEREAS, Judith Heumann served as the World Bank Group’s first Advisor on
Disability and Development and was Lead Consultant to the Global Partnership for Disability
and Development from 2002 to 2006;
WHEREAS, Judith Heumann was appointed in 2007 as the District’s first Director for
the Department of Disability Services by Mayor Adrian Fenty. She not only fought for inclusion
and against discrimination in this city, she brought together the disability community nationally
and internationally;
WHEREAS, Judith Heumann was appointed Special Advisor on International Disability
Rights for the U.S. State Department by President Barack Obama and served from 2010 to 2017;
WHEREAS, Judith Heumann served as a Senior Fellow at the Ford Foundation, working
to advance the inclusion of disability in the Foundation’s work from 2017 to 2019;
WHEREAS, Judith Heumann published her book, “Being Heumann: An Unrepentant
Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist”, in February 2020;
WHEREAS, Judith Heumann began producing her bi-weekly podcast “The Heumann
Perspective” where she spoke with disabled change makers and their allies beginning in March
2021;
WHEREAS, Judith Heumann has received numerous accolades over her career, including
being named one of the BBC 100 Women in 2022, the Henry Viscardi Achievement Award in
2020, the Women’s Caucus Award given by the National Council on Independent Living in
2018, the Dole-Harkin Award by the U.S. International Council on Disabilities in 2017, the Max
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Starkloff Lifetime Achievement Award from National Council on Independent Living and the
Champion of Disability Rights Award from the SPAN Parent Advocacy Network.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
resolution may be cited as the “Judith Heumann Recognition and Remembrance Ceremonial
Resolution of 2023”.
Sec. 2. The Council of the District of Columbia recognizes and celebrates Judith
Heumann contributions to the District of Columbia for her tireless advocacy on behalf of the
disability community in the United States and worldwide.
Sec. 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately.