April 2026 Inclusive History eNews

In this Issue:

• News of the Field
• Disability History News & Resources
• Events @ Emerging America 
• Other Events
• Teaching Resources 
• New at the Library of Congress 

Featured post this issue: Practical Strategies and Tools for Supporting Immigrant Students with Disabilities

Featured Events: Teaching Disability and Human Rights: 2nd Annual Virtual Conference - April 7 - 5:00-7:30pm EST - Virtual conference information.

News of the Field

• Nominate a History Teacher of the Year for your state by April 30 - Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. 

Disability History News & Resources

• April 6-11 - hybrid events - 5th Annual Symposium for Disability and Accessibility at Yale, 2026 - In(Visibility): The Creation of Narratives and their Legacies.  
• How Activists Fought for Rights for People With Disabilities, and Made Them the Law - (12 minutes) - RetroReport. 
• Snapshots of the unseen: How we focused Long COVID in a recent photo exhibition - The Sick Times - news source on Long Covid. 
• You know someone with Long COVID. They need you to ask about it genuinely. The Sick Times.
• Micro Inquiries on Ugly Laws and on Depression-era protests of the League of the Physically Handicapped - EdClimb.  
• Opening in October: The Dot Experience - Louisville, Kentucky - Fully accessible museum created by the American Printing House. 
• Putting Disability Histories on the Map - REPAIR History Collaborative. 

Events @ Emerging America

Learn more about current Emerging America professional development events. 

5th Annual Symposium for Disability and Accessibility at Yale, 2026 - The Creation of Narratives and their Legacies.

• April 7 - 9:05-9:50 am: - virtual - In(Visibility): Institutional In(Visibility): Eugenics, Disability, and the Afterlives of Medical Control - Kate Benson, Rich Cairn, Graham Warder & Alex Green. 

Teaching Disability and Human Rights: 2nd Annual Virtual Teaching Disability History Conference - Information re. April 7 conference. 

• April 7 - 5:00-7:30pm Eastern Time 
  • Keynote: Disability and Human Rights - Hezzy Smith, Harvard Law School
  • 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act: Landmark for Disability and Human Rights - Hope Bibens, Harkin Institute, Drake University. 
  • Teaching Intersectional Disability History and Human Rights - Tia Hinz, Teacher & Sarah Wiederecht, Teacher - Human Rights Educators USA.  
    Discussion with the Producer of the Film: “How Activists Fought for Rights for People With Disabilities, and Made Them the Law” - Jill Rosenbaum, Producer, RetroReport.
    Impacts of Integrating Disability History into Teacher Education
  • Curriculum and Other Teaching Resources
  • Register for the April 7 conference. 

Disability and Young Voters: Access, Legislation and Mobilizing Young Voters - A National Civic Learning Discussion

• April 22 - 7pm Eastern Time - Explore the state of voting by people with disabilities and by young voters. Discuss strategies and programs for your school to register students with disabilities to vote and to prepare all students to make a successful plan to vote. Register for the rescheduled webinar. (Originally part of National Civic Learning Week.) 
  • Lisa Schur, Co-Director, Program for Disability Research, Rutgers University 
  • Doug Kruse, Co-Director, Program for Disability Research, Rutgers University
  • Ashleigh McKenna, Chief of Staff, New Voters
  • Noorya Hayat, Senior Researcher, Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), Tisch College, Tufts University 
  • Rich Cairn, Emerging America - Moderator
• Part of National Civic Learning Week.

2nd Annual Teaching Disability History Conference - Tom Harkin Institute, Drake University - Information re. July 14 conference. 

• July 14 - Des Moines, Iowa
  • Presentations will include disability history and strategies for teaching disability history. 
  • Featuring: Kim Nielsen, University of Toledo, Author: A Disability History of the United States; Sarah Handley-Cousins, University at Buffalo, Author: Bodies in Blue: Disability in the Civil War in the North; Hope Bibens, Curator, Tom Harkin political papers. 
  • Event free thanks to a Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources grant. Lunch provided. Teachers and disability advocates can get a $100 travel stipend. Registration required. Register for the July conference. 
  • Sponsored by Keene State College, Emerging America, the Disability History Association, the University of Texas Arlington and the Harkin Institute at Drake University. 

Teaching Disability History Interest Group

• Teachers, disability advocates, historians, higher education students and allied organizations meet quarterly to share resources and discuss how to advance the field. ASL and CART provided. Supported by a Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources grant. Next meeting is June 18, 5:00-6:00pm Eastern Time. To join the group, email Rich Cairn - rcairn @ collaborative.org. 

Other Events

In-person, unless noted. Hybrid = in-person and virtual options. 

• April 11 - HistoryFest - Westfield State University. 
• April 15 - 7:30-9pm Eastern Time - "Deepening Civic Learning through Community Connections" - Democratic Knowledge Project, Harvard Graduate School of Education. 
• April 26 - 3:30pm - Northampton, Massachusetts - The 1840s Worker-Owned Cooperative at the Center of Florence's Progressive Past - David Ruggles Center. 
• April 29 - 7-8pm Eastern Time - Webinar - "Standing Up to Bigotry and Hate: Tools for Young People in a Complex World" - Facing History and Ourselves. 
• Three Journeys: Atlanta, New Orleans–and Morocco with Facing History. 
• June 16-20 - Prairie View A&M University, Texas - Teaching African American Studies Summer Institute: Teaching the Digital Diaspora - National Humanities Center. 
• July 21-23 - 9-3:30 daily - Boston - Revolutionary Boston: Teaching Multiple Perspectives through Primary Sources - Boston Athenaeum. 
• July 26 - August 1 - Schoodic, Maine - The Civic Summer Institute for Learning and Teaching - Democratic Knowledge Project, Harvard University. 
• July 27-30 - Three Branches Institute - Washington, DC - Free program for educators - apply by March 1 - White House Historical Association, Supreme Court Historical Society, and U.S. Capitol Historical Society. 

Teaching Resources

New at the Library of Congress

• Women's History - Free to Use and Reuse Primary Source Set. 
• Literacy Awards Webinar Series: Get to Know the 2025 Literacy Awards Top Prize Winners. 
• Library of Congress Celebrates America's 250 Years. 

About Emerging America's Inclusive History News

Committed to Access and Inclusion of All Learners in Civics, History and Social Studies 

Created in response to teacher requests in 2013, the History eNews emailed monthly short descriptions and links of quality history and social studies events and resources. Today, items appear in an Emerging America blog page, with regular Constant Contact email notices to our subscribers. Sign up free at the bottom of the page. 

We welcome your news & events! 

• Published on the first of each month, updated continuously through the month. 
• Submit items any time to rcairn @ collaborative.org. 
• Archived at: http://EmergingAmerica.org/blog. 
• Register for CES events: https://www.collaborative.org/professional-development/events/.
• Teacher-created lessons, primary source sets, assessments, & teaching strategies at: http://EmergingAmerica.org. 
• Follow Emerging America on LinkedIn.  
• Email rcairn @ collaborative.org to be added to or removed from this list. 
• Content created and featured in partnership with the Teaching with Primary Sources program does not indicate an endorsement by the Library of Congress.

Image Credits

• We Vote, We Rise. (2024). Jennifer Bloomer, artist. Amplifier. Library of Congress. 
• Milwaukee Soldiers Home. Putting Disability Histories on the Map - REPAIR History Collaborative. 
• Alice Paul. (1920). Library of Congress.