(SAINT LOUIS, MO)…..Each year Paraquad, one of the oldest and largest independent living centers in the U.S., celebrates Disability Pride Month and the anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with a special celebration. Since the disability justice champions who secured the ADA are passing away, it is important that we preserve memories of their courageous actions.
In 2024, we celebrate the life of Rev. Harold H. Wilke (1914-2003), a minister who gave the invocation at the signing of the ADA on July 26, 1990, and received an ink pen from Pres. George H.W. Bush. Wilke was born without arms on a farm in Washington, Missouri, and had to fight discrimination in school, in religious institutions, and in society throughout his life. Without his efforts and that of our disability rights ancestors, there would be no ADA.
The 2024 celebration will be in the Chapel of Eden Theological Seminary, Press Building, 475 E. Lockwood, Webster Groves, from 10-11:30 a.m. Wilke was a student at Eden for two semesters, and the seminary maintains archival materials about him.
The keynote speaker will be Philip Deitch, a former hospital administrator who served on the Advisory Board for the 1978 “Independence Festival” led by people with disabilities on the National Mall. In that capacity, he worked closely with Rev. Wilke. Deitch currently serves as a leader in several local chambers of commerce and as a volunteer with many not-for-profits promoting a diverse and inclusive region.
Responding to Mr. Deitch’s remarks will be:
Lori A. Becker, CEO of the Starkloff Disability Institute
DeMarco Davidson, Executive Director, Metropolitan Congregations United
We are excited that the Missouri Humanities Council (MHC) has awarded a grant of $2,020 to Paraquad, Inc. in support of the project, “Rev. Harold Wilke: Disability Rights and the “Breaking of Chains.” The MHC is the only statewide agency in Missouri devoted exclusively to humanities education for citizens of all ages. It has served as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities since 1971.
The following are co-sponsoring Paraquad’s ADA Anniversary celebration:
Eden Theological Seminary
Emmaus
Gateway Coalition of Service Providers
Gateway ONA
Illinois South Conference, United Church of Christ
Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council
Missouri Mid-South Conference, United Church of Christ
National Federation of the Blind, Missouri
Peace United Church of Christ
St. Peter’s UCC, Washington, MO
Society for the Blind and Visually Impaired, St. Louis
Starkloff Disability Institute
UCP Heartland
United Workers for the Blind
Please mark your calendar now for the July 26 ADA celebration!
