Written By: Gabby Disalvo

I had a busy few days leading up to my visit to the Archives, so my mental battery was draining lower than my power wheelchair’s battery. I had just finished my junior year, travelled home independently for a disability convention, returned to UConn with my mom, packed away my dorm for the summer, and worked a double shift in my kitchen job the days prior. Entering the parking lot of the Connecticut State Library, I could tell this was going to be a deepened experience. The rusty gate creaked open while a piercing, ringing alarm sounded to alert of my entrance. I was greeted by Damon Munz, a Government Records Archivist, into a large conference room with rows of tables and a group of people reviewing
documents in the far corner. The air smelt aged from the stacks of boxes scattered through the space. It reminded me of an old newspaper that my mom has saved with a favorite recipe. The pages have curled on the edges and some of the ink has smudged away. Although visually it has faded, the quality of the recipe and the meaning it has for my family will always remain. The CSL environment had this same reminiscent feeling. When it came time to start sorting through our selected archival materials, I felt like a detective searching for clues. However, this detective was not prepared for the shocking discoveries she would make.

Throughout the archived materials, there were two common themes: (1) disabled people were spoken about, rather than to, and (2) disabled people were described like burdens to their families and those around them. The first theme reinforces the (false) idea that disabled people do not deserve the same rights as their nondisabled counterparts. The
Mansfield Training School – along with other institutions in that time – often describes disabled people like they are responsibilities and not people. This is especially seen with the second theme. Some of the archived materials, such as a weekly newsletter from MTS, describes caring for a disabled person as exhausting. This example was sharing about a
respite program to relieve family members of their duties temporarily, so they can “recharge” to continue caring. The terminology in this example made it seem like a family should feel and say, “My [family member] is such a burden to my life, but if you give me a little break, I guess I can tolerate them.” These respite programs were seen as a positive thing because they were a way to keep the disabled individual in their home and with their family. However, this does not consider how dehumanizing and disrespectful this was to disabled people, and even to their families. Although these respite programs still exist today, (my family and I use it) they are run and organized in a much more dignified manner.
The purpose of them is to help the individual continue to work towards their life goals and to relieve a parent or guardian of these parental duties. Although the service being provided is similar, the approach and presentation of the program is completely diXerent.

During our time at CSL, we also had the opportunity to see the full collection of archived materials from MTS. We entered an oXice space that transitioned into a factorylike display of countless boxes of archives. Some boxes held medical documents, administrative materials, legal files, etc. When Damon led us to the MTS section, the archives looked aged. Many boxes were restricted; each filled with stories that are trapped like spirits waiting to be set free. Disabled people are already restricted by the inaccessibility and ableism that society creates for us, we cannot restrict these spirits’
stories too.