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Guide to the Kirk MacGugan Papers, 1941-1996
BANC MSS 97/143 c
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Collection Title: Kirk MacGugan Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1941-1996
Collection Number: BANC MSS 97/143 c
Creator:
MacGugan, Kirk
Extent:
Number of containers: 5 cartons, 2 boxes, 2 oversize folders
Linear feet: 7.0
Repository: The
Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Languages Represented:
English
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft
Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which
must also be obtained by the reader.
[Identification of item], Kirk MacGugan papers, BANC MSS 97/143 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Title: World Institute on Disability Records,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 99/148 z
- Additional related collections may be found under the corporate author heading, "Disabled Persons' Independence Movement," in U.C. Berkeley's online catalog.
- Printed materials have been transferred to the book collection of The Bancroft Library.
- Videotapes/sound recordings have been transferred to the Microforms Collection of The Bancroft Library.
- Medal and a button have been transferred to the Objects Collection of The Bancroft Library.
The Library is grateful to Mary Lou Breslin for her assistance in preserving and making available Kirk MacGugan's papers.
The Kirk MacGugan Papers were given to The Bancroft Library by MacGugan's mother, Ellen Wildman, in April 1997, with an addition
made in July 1998.
Funding provided by a research grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitative Research.
| 1939 | Born in Kirkville, Missouri on February 9. |
| 1951 | Contracts poliomyelitis. |
| 1957 | Graduates from Artesia High School, Artesia, New Mexico. |
| 1960-1961 | Receives B.A. degree from Baylor University, Waco, Texas. |
| 1962 | Receives M.A. degree from the University of the Americas, Mexico City. |
| 1963-1966 | Teaches sixth and seventh grade and Spanish at Santa Barbara Christian Day School, Santa Barbara, California. |
| 1966-1968 | Lecture coordinator and discussion leader for World Civilization, University of Hawaii. |
| 1973 | Marries Thomas MacGugan, a childhood friend. |
| 1968-1981 | History Instructor, Leeward Community College, Pearl City, Hawaii. |
| 1977-1981 | Handicapped Officer and Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 Compliance Officer in Postsecondary Education, Leeward Community College, Pearl City, Hawaii. |
| 1980 | Awarded Ed.D. from Nova University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. |
| 1981 | Director, Projects REACH and ASSIST, Mesa College, Mesa, Arizona and Campus ADA Section 504 Coordinator. |
| Conference Coordinator: Employment of the Handicapped, Scottsdale, Arizona. | |
| 1982-1983 | Executive Director, Phoenix Independent Living Center, Arizona Bridge to Independent Living, Phoenix, Arizona. |
| 1983-1984 | Gallery Interpreter, Mesa Museum, Parks and Recreation, City of Mesa, Arizona. |
| 1985 | Enters Ph.D. program, Department of History, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico. |
| 1987-1988 | Client Advocate, Client Assistance Project, Protection and Advocacy System, |
| 1988-1989 | Consultant, Protection and Advocacy System, Albuquerque, New Mexico. |
| 1990 | Coordinator, Disabled Students Services Program, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico. |
| Co-coordinator, Self-Determination Grant, Protection and Advocacy System, Albuquerque, New Mexico. | |
| 1990-1993 | Physical and Environmental Disability Coordinator, California State University, San Francisco. |
| Continues research and writing of doctoral dissertation, "An Interpretive History of the American Disability Rights Movement, 1945-1978." | |
| 1992-1993 | Member, Board of Directors, Disability Rights and Education Defense Fund, Inc., Berkeley, California. |
| 1993 | Participates in World Institute on Disability tour to Moscow, Russia. |
| Dies of breast cancer on December 13. |
The Kirk MacGugan Papers, 1941-1996, reflect the life of a disability rights scholar, advocate, and educator, and chronicle
her academic career as an historian and professional career as an advocate, administrator, and teacher, as well as her personal
life. The bulk of the collection consists of McGugan's prolific writings, along with a small amount of correspondence and
personal papers.
McGugan's writing includes topics ranging from abstract historical philosophy (
The Historical Helix and
The Toil Coil), to local history (the history of a bank in Poplar Bluff, Missouri), to disability rights heroes (Frank Bowe and Howard
Rusk), Native American issues, and disability rights law. She often developed subjects discovered in the course of her academic
or professional pursuits into published works.
Although she used a wheelchair since contracting poliomyelitis at the age of eleven, MacGugan pursued her education to the
doctoral level, despite the discrimination that barred her way to libraries and opportunities for scholarly travel, scholarships,
and fellowships. Much of her coursework, thesis, and a culminating project from her studies at the University of the Americas
in Mexico City and Nova University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida is included in the collection. Also present is a near-final
draft of her dissertation, "A History of the Disability Rights Movement, 1945-1978," and notes from her research done at University
of New Mexico, Albuquerque, where she had nearly completed her Ph.D. when she died in 1993. Of particular interest to scholars
of disability rights history are the copies of federal records MacGugan gathered from the President's Committee on the Employment
of People with Disabilities, from the 1940s through the 1970s.
Correspondence from MacGugan's professional career is also present, from her early years as a history instructor at Leeward
Community College in Pearl City, Hawaii, to her consulting and advocacy work in and around Albuquerque, New Mexico, and includes
her work for Albuquerque Protection and Advocacy, the New Mexico State Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, and the Southwestern
Indian Polytechnic Institute. Of note is her report and plan for student services for American Indians with disabilities for
the Institute. In addition to some administrative records from her position as Physical and Environmental Disability Coordinator
at California State University, San Francisco, the collection also includes syllabi, notes, and research materials for classes
in the History and Women's Studies Departments, which she began teaching upon her arrival in 1990.
Among MacGugan's personal papers are biographical materials, awards, poetry and prose, and a number of personal journals,
which include her dreams, short stories, travelogues, reading notes, and diary entries. A few photographs, newclippings about
MacGugan, and posthumous tributes round out the picture of MacGugan as a teacher, historian, and an active advocate for persons
with disabilities.