How did Ed Roberts die?
Cardiac arrestEdward V. Roberts / Cause of deathEdward V. Roberts, a quadriplegic who helped redefine how Americans view the physically handicapped, died on Tuesday at his home in Berkeley, Calif. He was 56. The cause was cardiac arrest, said Jonathan Gold, his attendant and friend.
What happened to Ed Roberts?
Roberts died on March 14, 1995, at the age of 56 from cardiac arrest. Hundreds of Centers for Independent Living around the world are based on his original model.
What disease did Ed Roberts have?
polioRoberts contracted polio at age 14 and was paralyzed from the neck down. Requiring an iron lung or a respirator to breathe, he attended high school in California by telephone before attending in person in his senior year. Early on, Roberts encountered obstacles as a result of his disability.
When did Ed Roberts get polio?
He was a pioneering leader of the disability rights movement. Roberts contracted polio at the age of fourteen in 1953, spending eighteen months in hospitals and returning home paralyzed from the neck down.
Where was Ed Roberts born?
San Mateo, CAEdward V. Roberts / Place of birthRoberts was born in San Mateo in 1939. When he was fourteen, he contracted polio and had to pause his high school studies. After surviving polio, Roberts was left paralyzed in most of his lower body except for several of his fingers. As he recovered, Roberts needed an iron lung or respirator.
When and where was Ed Roberts born?
January 23, 1939, San Mateo, CAEdward V. Roberts / Born
What are the effects of a child with disability on the family?
For parents, having a disabled child may increase stress, take a toll on mental and physical health, make it difficult to find appropriate and affordable child care, and affect decisions about work, education/training, having additional children, and relying on public support.
Was Judy Heumann born with a disability?
Judith Ellen "Judy" Heumann (born December 18, 1947) is an American disability rights activist. She is recognized internationally as a leader in the disability community....Judith Heumann.Judy HeumannSucceeded byPosition disestablishedAssistant Secretary of Education for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services16 more rows
What did Ed Roberts invent?
personal computerHenry Edward Roberts (September 13, 1941 – April 1, 2010) was an American engineer, entrepreneur and medical doctor who invented the first commercially successful personal computer in 1974.
When did the disability rights movement start?
The disability rights movement consists of grassroots activities of disability activists that began during the 1960s alongside the civil rights and women's rights movements.
What did Judith Heumann do?
In 2010, Heumann became the first Special Advisor on Disability Rights for the U.S. State Department. Appointed by President Obama, Heumann worked to make disability rights part of the State Department's agenda and pushed for an international version of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
What is Ed Roberts Day?
Every January 23rd we celebrate Ed Roberts Day to honor the man frequently called the father of the Independent Living movement. Ashley Eisenmenger. Disability Inclusion Training Specialist. [email protected]. At the age of 14, Ed Roberts contracted Polio, along with both his parents and all his siblings.
Was Judy Heumann born with a disability?
Judith Ellen "Judy" Heumann (born December 18, 1947) is an American disability rights activist. She is recognized internationally as a leader in the disability community....Judith Heumann.Judy HeumannSucceeded byPosition disestablishedAssistant Secretary of Education for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services16 more rows
What did Ed Roberts invent?
personal computerHenry Edward Roberts (September 13, 1941 – April 1, 2010) was an American engineer, entrepreneur and medical doctor who invented the first commercially successful personal computer in 1974.
What did Judith Heumann do?
In 2010, Heumann became the first Special Advisor on Disability Rights for the U.S. State Department. Appointed by President Obama, Heumann worked to make disability rights part of the State Department's agenda and pushed for an international version of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
What was the purpose of the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities?
The goals for the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities were primarily achieving equal rights under the Constitution like other minority groups were doing during this time period. The coalition was organizing protests and sit-ins with the goal in mind of being heard and respected.
Where was Roberts born?
Roberts was born on September 13, 1941 in Miami, Florida to Henry Melvin Roberts, an appliance repairman, and Edna Wilcher Roberts, a homemaker. His younger sister Cheryl was born in 1947. During World War II, while his father was in the Army, Roberts and his mother lived on the Wilcher family farm in Wheeler County, Georgia. After the war, the family returned to Miami , but Roberts would spend his summers with his grandparents in rural Georgia. Roberts' father had an appliance repair business in Miami.
Where did Roberts go to school?
After basic training, Roberts attended the Cryptographic Equipment Maintenance School at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Because of his electrical engineering studies at college, Roberts was made an instructor at the Cryptographic School when he finished the course.
What computer did Roberts develop?
Roberts then developed the Altair 8800 personal computer that used the new Intel 8080 microprocessor. This was featured on the cover of the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics, and hobbyists flooded MITS with orders for this $397 computer kit.
How many computers did Roberts sell?
Roberts told the bank that he expected to sell 800 computers, but he guessed that it would be around 200. Art Salsberg, editorial director of Popular Electronics, was looking for a computer construction project, and his technical editor Les Solomon knew that MITS was working on an Intel 8080-based computer kit.
What was Roberts' first computer?
Roberts's first real experience with computers came while at Oklahoma State University where engineering students had free access to an IBM 1620 computer . His office at the Weapons Laboratory had the state of the art Hewlett-Packard 9100A programmable calculator in 1968. Roberts had always wanted to build a digital computer and, in July 1970, Electronic Arrays announced a set of six LSI integrated circuits that would make a four-function calculator. Roberts was determined to design a calculator kit and got fellow Weapons Laboratory officers William Yates and Ed Laughlin to invest in the project with time and money.
What was Roberts' father's business?
Roberts' father had an appliance repair business in Miami. Roberts became interested in electronics and built a small relay-based computer while in high school. Medicine was his true passion, however, and he entered University of Miami with the intention of becoming a doctor, the first in his family to attend college.
Did Roberts change his major?
The doctor suggested that Roberts get an engineering degree before applying to medical school, and Roberts changed his major to electrical engineering. Roberts married Joan Clark while at the university, and when she became pregnant Roberts knew that he would have to drop out of school to support his new family.
Who was Edward Roberts?
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Edward Verne Roberts (January 23, 1939 – March 14, 1995) was an American activist. He was the first student who relied on a wheelchair to attend the University of California, Berkeley. He was a pioneering leader of the disability rights movement.
How did Roberts die?
Roberts died on March 14, 1995, at the age of 56 from cardiac arrest.
What was the first student-led disability services program in the country?
Their success on campus inspired the group to begin advocating for curb cuts, opening access to the wider community, and to create the Physically Disabled Student's Program ( PDSP)—the first student-led disability services program in the country. Roberts flew 3,000 miles, from California to Washington, D.C., with no respiratory support, to attend a conference at the start-up of the federal TRIO program through which the PDSP later secured funding. The PDSP provided services including attendant referral and wheelchair repair to students at the University, but it was soon taking calls from people with disabilities with the same concerns who were not students.
How long did Roberts stay in hospital?
Roberts contracted polio at the age of fourteen in 1953, two years before the Salk vaccine ended the epidemic. He spent eighteen months in hospitals and returned home paralyzed from the neck down except for two fingers on one hand and several toes. He slept in an iron lung at night and often rested there during the day.
Where did Roberts fly to?
Roberts flew 3,000 miles, from California to Washington, D.C., with no respiratory support, to attend a conference at the start-up of the federal TRIO program through which the PDSP later secured funding.
When did Ed Roberts divorce Catherine Dugan?
Ed Roberts married Catherine Dugan in 1976, but the couple divorced in 1982. They shared custody of their son Lee together.
When was Roberts admitted to Berkeley?
Other Berkeley administrators supported admitting Roberts, and expressed the opinion that the University should do more. Roberts was admitted in 1962, two years before the Free Speech Movement transformed Berkeley into a hotbed of student protest.
What is Ed Roberts Day?
Since his death, the state of California has memorialized Ed Roberts with a holiday in his honor. Every January 23rd is Ed Roberts Day. [1] Sather Tower, also known as The Campanile, is a clock and bell tower on the campus of UC Berkeley. It can be heard across the campus.
Where did Ed Roberts teach?
University of California Berkeley campus where Ed Roberts was a student and where he taught.
What was Roberts' role in the disability movement?
As a hero in the United States’ disability rights movement, Roberts paved the way for people with physical disabilities to access higher education. Roberts was born in San Mateo in 1939. When he was fourteen, he contracted polio and had to pause his high school studies. After surviving polio, Roberts was left paralyzed in most ...
Why did Roberts refuse to graduate from school?
His school refused to allow him to graduate because he was unable to complete the driver’s education and physical education credits.
Did Roberts go to Berkeley?
Upon graduating from high school, Roberts was accepted to the University of California, Berkeley. [1] Unfortunately, administrators tried to reverse Roberts’ acceptance when they realized that he was quadriplegic. Representatives of the school claimed that the dorms on campus did not have the appropriate equipment or space to accommodate Roberts’ 800-pound iron lung and his wheelchair. Roberts insisted on enrolling in classes, though, and he became the first student at his university to use a wheelchair.
Did Ed Roberts have a degree?
In 1964, Roberts earned his BA, and he received his MA two years later. While he was accepted as a Ph.D. student, he never completed his degree; however, he taught political science courses at UC Berkeley for six years. Roberts later directed California’s Department of Rehabilitation. He also co-founded the World Institute on Disability, a program that continues to educate students about disability. Since his death, the state of California has memorialized Ed Roberts with a holiday in his honor. Every January 23rd is Ed Roberts Day.
When did Roberts retire?
Roberts sold his company in 1977 and retired to a life of vegetable farming in rural Georgia before going to medical school and getting a medical degree from Mercer University, in 1986.
What did Roberts do?
Roberts, an ex-military man, later went on to careers as a farmer and a physician.
Where did Roberts get his engineering degree?
Born in Miami in 1941, Roberts served in the U.S. Air Force and earned an electrical engineering degree from Oklahoma State University in 1968, according to his family.
Roberts praised for his intellect, political acumen, love of history and devotion to his province
Former lieutenant-governor and veteran Newfoundland and Labrador politician Edward Roberts has died. He was 81. (Government House)
A fractured Liberal party and a missed opportunity
Roberts cut his political teeth teeth as an aide to then-premier Joey Smallwood in the 1960s, and later served in his cabinet. He became Liberal leader in the early 1970s, but his aspirations to lead the province were cut short, in part by Smallwood himself who formed a breakaway party that split the Liberal vote in the 1975 general election.
A mainland education, but a rural politician
Roberts was the son of Harry and Katherine Roberts. His father was a prominent medical doctor in St. John's who also established a leading pharmaceutical distribution company in the province, and owned the Battery Hotel.
Smallwood and the Liberal reformers
With Smallwood having exited the political arena, and the Progressive Conservatives in government, Roberts became leader of the Liberal party in early 1972 with a convincing first-ballot victory over three other candidates.
An unelected cabinet minister
After many years in opposition, Roberts left politics in 1985 to focus on his legal practice. He was the senior partner of Halley Hunt, a prominent St. John's firm.
A fresh approach to the role of viceregal
Roberts had deep connections with high-powered Liberals in Ottawa, and made no secret about his desire to take up residence at Government House. In 2002, on the advice of then-prime minister Jean Chrètien, he was appointed lieutenant-governor.
A lifelong learner, with a passion for history
Roberts was invested in 2010 as a Member of the Order of Canada. His investiture statement described him as "a model of duty, leadership and achievement," and that he "oversaw the implementation of the provincial medicare scheme, as well as the creation of a new tertiary care hospital in St. John's and a faculty of medicine at Memorial University."
Who invented the MITS?
Roberts founded Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry System (MITS) in 1970 to sell model rocket kits. By 1971, MITS moved beyond model rockets and started making electronic calculator kits. Roberts' next project was making a low-cost computer kit that a broad array of customers could afford and use.
Did Roberts stick around for the computer revolution?
A month later, Microsoft was founded. Roberts didn’t stick around for the computer revolution that followed.
Who was Ed Roberts?
Ed Roberts, described as the “father of independent living,” was the disability rights movement’s first major spokesperson. His mother Zona conceived him during her senior year of high school, briefly contemplating abortion.
Where is Ed Roberts Campus?
Shortly thereafter the community established the Ed Roberts Campus, a universally designed, transit-oriented space at Ashby BART Station in Berkeley (Leon).
What did Ed and friend do in the sixties?
Ed and friend at UC Berkeley football game. Later in his academic career, Ed’s stories display greater freedom in Berkeley of the sixties. He tells of experimenting with drugs, such as experiencing Telegraph Avenue while on acid with passersby wishing him a good trip.
What did Ed do for women?
Ed would engage pretty women to write notes on carbon paper for him, and read for classes using a mirror and a mouthstick. Exams were administered however was settled with the professors. Ed garnered much local media attention, and was featured in Parade magazine.
What did Ed do after he was a student?
Routinely pulled up stairs in his push chair to classes, Ed had a scare when his chair once failed and he almost tumbled down the stairs. From then on Ed chose classes based on accessibility, and if he needed to traverse stairs he made sure that four people carried him. Ed would engage pretty women to write notes on carbon paper for him, and read for classes using a mirror and a mouthstick. Exams were administered however was settled with the professors. Ed garnered much local media attention, and was featured in Parade magazine.
Who provided the microphone for Ed Roberts?
Young Ed Roberts in bed at home. A local women’s club, the Soroptomists (O’Hara), provided a telephone with a microphone and speakers for Ed to continue his schooling. Later Zona recognized in Ed the potential to attend school part-time. Despite Ed’s fear of people staring at him, Zona would not be swayed.
Who founded the World Institute on Disability?
Upon a regime change in California, Ed left his post at Rehab. He won the MacArthur “genius” grant, and co-founded the World Institute on Disability with Judy Heumann and Joan Leon. The institute served as a research and policy center focusing on the perspectives of individuals with disabilities. They successfully nationalized California’s In-Home Supportive Services Program national by adding the home service option of Medicaid, and fought for the ADA in 1990.
Overview
Personal life
Roberts married Joan Clark (b. 1941) in 1962 and they had five sons, Melvin (b. 1963), Clark (b. 1964), John David (b. 1965), Edward (b. 1970), Martin (b. 1975) and a daughter Dawn (b. 1983). They were divorced in 1988.
Roberts married Donna Mauldin in 1991 and they were still married when interviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in April 1997. He was married to Rosa Cooper from 2000 until his de…
Early life
Roberts was born on September 13, 1941 in Miami, Florida to Henry Melvin Roberts, an appliance repairman, and Edna Wilcher Roberts, a registered nurse. His younger sister Cheryl was born in 1947. During World War II, while his father was in the Army, Roberts and his mother lived on the Wilcher family farm in Wheeler County, Georgia. After the war, the family returned to Miami, but Roberts would spend his summers with his grandparents in rural Georgia. Roberts' father had an …
Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems
Roberts worked with Forrest Mims at the Weapons Laboratory, and both shared an interest in model rocketry. Mims was an advisor to the Albuquerque Model Rocket Club and met the publisher of Model Rocketry magazine at a rocketry conference. This led to an article in the September 1969 issue of Model Rocketry, "Transistorized Tracking Light for Night Launched Model Rockets". R…
Calculators
Roberts's first real experience with computers came while at Oklahoma State University where engineering students had free access to an IBM 1620 computer. His office at the Weapons Laboratory had the state of the art Hewlett-Packard 9100A programmable calculator in 1968. Roberts had always wanted to build a digital computer and, in July 1970, Electronic Arrays announced a set of six LS…
Altair 8800 computer
Roberts decided to return to the kit market with a low cost computer. The target customer would think that "some assembly required" was a desirable feature. In April 1974, Intel released the 8080 microprocessor that Roberts felt was powerful enough for his computer kit, but each 8080 chip sold for $360 in small quantities. Roberts felt that the price of a computer kit had to be under $400; t…
Altair BASIC
Bill Gates was a student at Harvard University and Paul Allen worked for Honeywell in Boston when they saw the Altair computer on the cover of Popular Electronics. They had previously written software for the earlier Intel 8008 microprocessor and knew the Intel 8080 was powerful enough to support a BASIC interpreter. They sent a letter to MITS claiming to have a BASIC interpreter for the 8080 mi…
Sale to Pertec
In 1976, MITS had 230 employees and sales of $6 million. Roberts was tiring of his management responsibilities and was looking for a larger partner. MITS had always used Pertec Computer Corporation disk drives and on December 3, 1976, Pertec signed a letter of intent to acquire MITS for $6 million in stock. The deal was completed in May 1977 and Roberts' share was $2–3 million. The Altair products were merged into the Pertec line, and the MITS facility was used to produce …
Overview
Edward Verne Roberts (January 23, 1939 – March 14, 1995) was an American activist. He was the first student who relied on a wheelchair to attend the University of California, Berkeley. He was a pioneering leader of the disability rights movement.
Biography
Roberts contracted polio at the age of fourteen in 1953, two years before the Salk vaccine ended the epidemic. He spent eighteen months in hospitals and returned home paralyzed from the neck down except for two fingers on one hand and several toes. He slept in an iron lung at night and often rested there during the day. When out of the lung he survived by "frog breathing," a technique for forcing air into the lungs using facial and neck muscles.
Awards and recognition
• 1984 MacArthur Fellows Program
• In 1995, the National Museum of American History accepted the gift of Roberts' wheelchair as part of its collections documenting the disabilities rights movement.
• In 2010 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a bill by State Senator Loni Hancock (D-09) that declared January 23 of every year (Roberts' birthday) a day of special significance.
See also
• Independent Living
• List of disability rights activists
Sources
• Brown, Steven E. (2000). "Zona and Ed Roberts: Twentieth Century Pioneers" (PDF). Disability Studies Quarterly. 20 (1): 26–42. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
• Kent, D.; Quinlan, K.A. (1996). Extraordinary People with Disabilities. Extraordinary People. Children's Press. ISBN 978-0-516-26074-7. dissertation.
External links
• Ed Roberts Campus
• World Institute on Disability Founders
• Ed Roberts tribute from the Center for Independent Living at the Wayback Machine (archived April 19, 2005)
• The story about Ed's wheelchair being donated to the Smithsonian at the Wayback Machine (archived March 23, 2005)