By Dave Ranney

A traveling exhibit, “The Road to Freedom,” that commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act will be on display Wednesday at the Statehouse.

“We’re lucky,” said Kevin Siek, a spokesman for the Topeka Independent Living Resource Center, which is hosting the exhibit.

“Most of the stops are in major metropolitan areas — much larger than Topeka. And we’re one of only three stops in the Midwestern part of the country.”

The exhibit coincides with events on Wednesday marking the Topeka resource center’s 35th anniversary. They include an 11 a.m. march from the organization’s headquarters, 501 SW Jackson, to the Statehouse — a distance of three blocks — followed by a rally and box lunch in the first-floor rotunda.

Enacted in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in all areas of public life. “Before passage of the ADA, it was perfectly legal for a private business to turn someone away because they had a disability,” Siek said.

“Buses didn’t have lifts on them, and there weren’t all that many curb cuts. So if you were in a wheelchair, you were pretty much segregated from the mainstream of society.” Former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole was instrumental in the Americans with Disabilities Act becoming law.

 

Dave Ranney is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.