Accessible America

Reviews / Votes

"Accessible America offers an important history of how and why design for disability has evolved and needs to evolve." (Curbed.com) "This illuminating and thoughtful overview of the evolution of accessible design in the U.S. between the end of WWII and the late 1990s is a strong introduction to the topic...Williamson skillfully connects design concepts to changing social narratives; this work should reward readers interested in either topic." (Publishers Weekly) "Williamson keenly emphasizes that the United States has led the world globally toward physical access and accessibility as acceptable and admirable natural and civil rights rather than annoying physical encumbrances that stand in the way...reading [this]can change lives." (Library Journal) "Accessible America is handsomely produced and will appeal to readers interested in design, disability studies, and social history." - CHOICE "America was once even less accessible than it is now, as historicized by Bess Williamson in her book Accessible America: A History of Disability and Design. Williamson uses her background in art and design to critique the ways that nationalism and idealism have driven material environments to reflect societal norms in the United States post World War II. She integrates analysis with historical images that exhibit how truly inaccessible this country has been throughout history, which she artfully points out as being in "response to a lack" for much of modern history." (Disability Studies Quarterly) "Beautifully and engagingly written, Williamson's approach to the history of accessibility as a history of design is brilliant. Accessible America shows how disability advocates harnessed technological design in their quest for access and equality, paying particular attention to the connection between prosthetic devices and the 'universal' design that followed, illuminating both histories. Highly recommended." - Douglas C. Baynton,author of Defectives in the Land: Disability and Immigration in the Age of Eugenics "Bess Williamson's engaging history of accessible design points the way to design as a tool for empowerment, critique, and self-expression that celebrates the diversity of human bodies. Disability is a culture, not a lack." - Ellen Lupton,Curator of Contemporary Design at The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum "By unearthing, situating, and interpreting artifacts of accessible designfrom World War II to the rise of the Independent Living Movement to the post-ADA eraWilliamson's book offers a much-needed contribution to disability history as we know it while also reshaping it for the next generation of disability historians, designers, and activists." - David Serlin,author of Replaceable You: Engineering the Body in Postwar America "Williamson reveals the hidden history of how the Disability Rights Movement's struggle for inclusion rebuilt the world. Reaching back to activist veterans returning from World War II, through the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, to ergonomics, universal design, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, Williamson shows us the transformed America that gives us the tools and pathways we all use every day to make our lives work better, and that the emergence of inclusive design and the world it makes is a tool for justice." - Rosemarie Garland-Thomson,author of Extraordinary Bodies "The contents of this book are a win for historians of disability as well as for historians of technology, architecture, and design." (H-Net Reviews) "Accessible America is a must-read for scholars of disability history and material culture ... Williamson's design-centered approach charts an effective and compelling road map for future disability studies projects, and she suggests interesting possibilities for further research on the built environment and US disability history." (Winterthur Portfolio) "A special strength of Williamson's work is the emphasis on the role of people with disabilities as active agents of change in design [...] Accessible America manages to include the hidden stories of the history of disability-related design and places them in a wider context of technological, political, and social change, including the growing impact of the disability movement." (Technology and Culture)