Judith Heumann

Professor Blum recommended me to serve on the board of directors of the Over 60s Health Clinic, which was much more than a health clinic. One of my contributions to the board was to introduce the idea that disability was a natural part of the aging process; thus, the fact that people acquire disabilities as they age should be accommodated, so people can remain active in the community.

So they took me off the plane. Once we were in the airport, they asked for my ID. I didn’t have a regular ID because I didn’t drive, so I gave them my credit card—which was new, by the way, since women couldn’t apply for their own credit in the US until that very year, 1975. When they said that wasn’t good enough, I gave them my Senate ID card. As soon as they saw my Senate ID, they paused.

The East Coast protesters had been against the idea of going to Califano’s home: it broke certain conventions for how people practiced civil protest. But we had voted to go anyway. I was too angry to worry about protocol. Califano’s power rested in his ability to ignore us. The only way we were going to change anything was if we became impossible to ignore.