1947
Judith "Judy" Heumann was born on December 18th, 1947 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to German-Jewish immigrant parents Ilse and Werner Heumann.
1948
After her family relocated to Brooklyn, NY, Judy contracted polio at 18-months-old. She was in an iron lung for three months and then began using a wheelchair for mobility.
1950s
At the age of 5 when registering for kindergarten, Judy was denied the right to attend school. The school was inaccessible and her parents were told Judy was a "fire hazard" due to her wheelchair. Instead, the school district sent a teacher to her house for only 2.5 hours per week.
After years of her parents fighting the school district, Judy finally attended school in the fourth grade. She was put in a segregated classroom for disabled students.
1965
Judy graduated high school and went on to study at Long Island University. She majored in Speech and Theater with a minor in Education.
1969
Judy applied for her teaching license and passed her written and oral exams, but was failed on her medical exam because she could not walk. She sued the New York Board of Education and Judge Constance Baker Motley (the first Black female to become a Federal Judge) urged the board to reconsider.
Judy was granted her teaching license making her the first wheelchair-user to become a teacher in the state of New York. She taught 2nd grade for two years.
1973
Founded in 1972 by Ed Roberts, Judy joined the board of the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley, CA in 1973. She was also the deputy director from 1975-1982.
1975
Judy received a Master's in Public Health (MPH) from UC Berkeley School of Public Health in 1975. In 2000, she was named by the school as one of 16 women who changed the face of public health and Alumna of the Year in 1981.
1977
Judy was a leader in the historic 504 Sit-In in San Francisco. The 26-day protest (the longest sit-in at a federal building to date) led to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act being signed into law. Section 504 ensures that no program receiving federal funding can discriminate against a person with a disability.
1983
Judy, along with Joan Leon and Ed Roberts, founded the World Institute on Disability.
1988
On September 27, 1988 Judy testified before a joint House-Senate Hearing on Discrimination on theBasis of Disability in Washington DC. In this testimony, Judy championed the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in order to encourage the US Government to take congressional action to protect the rights of disabled citizens. The ADA was passed into law by President George H.W. Bush on July 26, 1990.
1992
Judy married her husband, Jorge Pineda after meeting at a MIUSA conference the year before in Eugene, Oregon.
1993 to 2001
Judy served in the Clinton Administration as the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Department of Education.
2002 to 2006
Judy served as the World Bank's first Advisor on Disability and Development. She led and expanded the Bank's disability work, traveling all over the world.
2007
Judy was appointed by Mayor Adrian Fenty as the first D.C. Director for the Department on Disability Services.
2010
Judy served in the Obama Administration as the first Special Advisor on Disability Rights for the U.S. State Department.
2016
Judy gave a TEDx Talk "Our fight for disability rights -- and why we're not done yet" in 2016.
2017
Judy was appointed a Ford Foundation Senior Fellow. She helped establish the President’s’ Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy and wrote the white paper Road Map for Inclusion: Changing the Face of Disability in Media.
2017
Judy created her podcast The Heumann Perspective, where she interviewed disabled changemakers and allies for over 140 episodes. The series first started on Facebook Live and YouTube in 2017, moving to a podcast format in 2021 until her passing in 2023. The podcast won a 2022 Gold Signal Award and was a finalist in the 15th Annual Shorty Awards.
2020
Judy published her memoir Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist, co-authored by Kristen Joiner. It was published by Beacon Press in 2020. The Young Adult version, Rolling Warrior, was published in 2021. Both audiobooks are narrated by Ali Stroker, the first wheelchair user to perform on Broadway.
Being Heumann is currently being adapted into an Apple TV movie, written and directed by Siân Heder (CODA).
2023
