Hale J. Zukas (May 31, 1943 – November 30, 2022) was an American disability rights activist. He was a member of the Rolling Quads at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, and a founder of the first Center for Independent Living (CIL) in Berkeley. He was active in working for accessible streets and public transit, and in the creation of the

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ...

Early life and education

Zukas was born in Los Angeles and educated in

San Luis Obispo, California ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...

. He was diagnosed with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

as a child. He learned to use an electric wheelchair and communicate using a helmet-mounted pointer to point to a letter board. He earned a B.A. in mathematics at the

in 1971.

Activism and career

Zukas joined the Rolling Quads, a group of students at the

in the mid-1960s. The university was amongst the first in the world to begin admitting people with physical disabilities, including prominent activist Ed Roberts. The university began the Cowell Residence Program (CRP) to provide housing and assistance, and the Rolling Quads were a group of students in the CRP who organized to advocate for the rights of students with disabilities. Zukas became one of the founders of the Physically Disabled Students Program on the Berkeley campus. In 1972, Zukas, Roberts, and others founded the Center for Independent Living, Berkeley (CIL). He served as the CIL's first Coordinator of Community Affairs and held that position until 1982. Zukas became a leading advocate for the elimination of architectural and transportation barriers, especially on the

Bay Area Rapid Transit Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running to Antioch, and Oakland Airport Connecto ...

(BART) system in the San Francisco Bay area. The CIL led a movement in Berkeley to install

curb cut A curb cut (U.S.), curb ramp, depressed curb, dropped kerb ( UK), pram ramp, or kerb ramp (Australia) is a solid (usually concrete) ramp graded down from the top surface of a sidewalk to the surface of an adjoining street. It is designed primaril ...

s up and down Telegraph and Shattuck Avenues creating an extensive path of travel for wheelchair riders. In 1973, when there were protests for the ratification of

section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section ...

, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability, Zukas was one of the leaders of the movement and was chosen among other activists to lobby in Washington D.C. to confront the Carter Administration. Zukas co-founded the BART's accessibility advisory group in 1975. He was a driving force in designing the button placement inside BART elevators at a height that could easily be reached by wheelchair users. Zukas worked on the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. He was on the board of Transit Accessibility which meets monthly to discuss ways to make public transportation available to more people. Zukas became the vice chair of the United States Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board in 1983. Zukas died on November 30, 2022, at the age of 79.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zukas, Hale 1943 births 2022 deaths American disability rights activists American activists with disabilities Activists from Los Angeles UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni People with cerebral palsy