The Eric Dibner Papers, 1973-1991 (bulk 1975-1985), document Dibner's work as an accessibility expert for persons with disabilities. Dibner was very active in the disability rights movement, and consulted for variety of institutions and organizations, including the University of California, Berkeley, the Center for Independent Living (CIL), and the California Association of the Physically Handicapped (CAPH). The collection, which includes notes, correspondence, meeting agendas, files, legal briefs, photographs, architectural plans, reports, and publications, also shows the development of architectural accessibility through the momentum of the disability rights movement.

Eric Dibner, born in 1947, enrolled in an architecture curriculum at University of California, Berkeley in 1965. After working at a construction company and an architect's office during the following summer, Dibner found that he did not enjoy drafting, preferring to think and theorize about design. While attending classes in the Fall of 1967, Dibner also began working part-time as an attendant for Scott Sorensen and John Hessler, disabled students in the Cowell Hospital Disabled Residence Program. In 1968, frustrated by his schoolwork and enthralled by the activity in Berkeley, Dibner dropped out of school and accompanied John Hessler to France to work as a live-in attendant while Hessler studied abroad.

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Collection is open for research.