Kirk MacGugan Papers, 1941-1996

Summary

Creators:

MacGugan, Kirk

Extent:

Number of containers: 5 cartons, 2 boxes, 2 oversize folders Linear feet: 7.0

Language:

English

Background

Scope and content:

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.

Biographical / historical:

Date	Event
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.

Acquisition information:

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.

Physical location:

For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Location of this collection:

UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US

Contact:

510-642-6481

bancref-library@berkeley.edu

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