Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from radiotopia.

My name is Jody Avergan.

This day, January 23rd, it is Ed Roberts Day. In 2010, the State of California signed a bill

designating January 23rd as a day of special significance to remember the work of Ed Roberts, former disability

rights activist often referred to as the father of independent living.

We will get into his biography and his activism in this episode of course, but perhaps the most noteworthy story in Ed Roberts's life, the moment that galvanized his activism was in 1962 when he had applied and been accepted to the University of California Berkeley

and he showed up on the first day of school, the move-in day to his new dorm room,

along with the 800-pound iron lung that he needed to use to sleep, a result of weakness

due to contracting polio about a decade earlier.

The university refused to accommodate him and his iron lung.

Robert sued, and moreover, galvanized a student movement

and then a larger movement throughout the 1960s

all the way to his death in 1995.

So let's talk about Ed Roberts, father of independent living here. As always,

Nicole Hammer of Vanderbilt and Kelly Carter Jackson of Wausley. Hello there.

Hello Jody. Hey there. What a life, what a legacy, but also what a moment showing up with your 800 pound iron lung.

And then the university being like, oh, we had no idea.

And what a clear crystallization

and baller move because he's like oh am I being turned away because of my

disability? Yes I had been accepted you were welcoming me here to Berkeley, and the second he shows up with that iron lung, they're like,

no, we didn't realize that you had a disability, so you should go away.

Yeah. Mm-mm. And he he's like is this inconvenient for you?

...