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ADA champion started as Cougar

By Heather Nicholson
The Daily Cougar

A large, brown and tan hat with a wide, smiling rim sits powerfully on his head. It is the kind of hat John Wayne would be proud to wear, the kind of hat that people notice and talk about. He wears a clean, straight suit fitted with a slender necktie. The wrinkled and worn hands of a dedicated pioneer lie patiently on top of one another. 

It is the peak of his lifeis mission, a timeless moment in American history that will change peopleis lives forever. Justin Dart Jr. is sitting on the White House lawn next to the president, watching him sign the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Although heis been called "the father of the disability movement" or the "Martin Luther King for the disabled," Justin Dart Jr. didnit want fame for himself -- but he did want fame for his beliefs.

Dart was an international disability and human rights activist. Using his personal wealth, he fought for three decades for the equal rights of women, gays and lesbians, people of color and people with disabilities. He contributed generously to organizations, candidates and individuals that could further his political agenda and spread the message he passionately believed in: "You have the power; live the dream."

Before Dart made his way to Capitol Hill, he was born to a wealthy and prominent Chicago family in 1930. His grandfather was the founder of the Walgreens drugstore chain; his father, a successful businessman; his mother was among Chicagois societal hierarchy. Dart described himself as being "a super-loser in a family of super-winners."

When he was 18 years old, he contracted polio and his doctors told him he had three days to live. Fate had a greater plan for the visionary because even though polio left Dart bound to a wheelchair for the rest of his life he never grieved over it.

"I try to count the good days in my life from the time I got polio," Dart said.

No matter how motivated Dart was, people would discourage him from fulfilling his goals because of his disability. The trail of hardships began at UH.

"Justin came to the University of Houston to major in education, to receive a teaching certificate," said UH President Arthur K. Smith. "His goals were denied to him because he was a wheelchair user."

The Department of Educationis denial caused him to major in history and minor in education. During his time here, Dart formed UHis first pro-integration student organization, which promoted diversity among people with disabilities and those with different ethnic backgrounds, genders and sexual orientations. A minority group was unheard of in a then-whites-only institution.

This groundbreaking move was Dartis first human rights organization, and it would be followed by a collection of activist groups in this country and overseas.

After graduating in 1954, Dart started several businesses in Mexico and Japan. His Japanese Tupperware company provided work for women and the disabled, taking the disabled out of institutions and giving them paying jobs. It was here that he met his wife and partner, Yoshiko. 

"She is," he often said in speeches, "quite simply the most magnificent human being I have ever met."

The Darts left Japan vowing to dedicate their lives to disability activism. From 1980 to 1985, Dart was a member and eventually chairman of the Texas Governoris Committee for Persons with Disabilities. His work in Texas jumpstarted a radical empowerment movement for the disabled.

He went national in 1981 when then-President Reagan appointed Dart to be the vice chairman on the National Council on Disability. On their own dollar, the Darts embarked on a nationwide tour visiting every state. Those meetings with different state activists would draft the soon-to-be ADA.

Dart is best known for his work in passing the ADA in 1990 with then-President Bush, but he is quick to mention other people who shared the struggle of seeing the movement come to a head.

"Because of all his contributions and leadership in the disabilities movement, no one was a greater pioneer than Justin," Bush in a letter to UH, "and no other visionary had more to do with the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act."

Dart died June 22 at age 71 in his home in Washington, D.C. He is survived by his wife ,Yoshiko; their extended family of foster children; many friends and colleagues; and millions of disability and human rights activist all over the world.

His funeral service was broadcast on C-SPAN and included eulogies from selected leaders in civil rights and individuals such as former President Clinton.

In his final words, he wrote, "Listen to the heart of this old soldier. As with all of us the time comes when body and mind are battered and weary. … Death is not a tragedy. It is not an evil from which we must escape. Death is as natural as birth. … Let my final actions thunder of love, solidarity, protest -- of empowerment. … I'm with you always. Lead on! Lead on!"
 

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