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[Page S1737]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
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REMEMBERING ELEANOR ELKIN
Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to Ms.
Eleanor Elkin, who passed away at the age of 103 on December 4, 2019.
Eleanor served as one of Pennsylvania's most distinguished disability
advocates. It is important that we remember a remarkable life dedicated
to the betterment of others. Eleanor transformed the love for her
family into a life of advocacy whose impact will be felt for decades to
come.
Eleanor's commitment to equality was evident long before her time as
one of Pennsylvanian's most prominent disability rights leaders. Born
in 1916 in Philadelphia, she graduated from Germantown High School in
1934 and married Philip Elkin in 1939. They raised two adopted
children, Margo and Richard. Richard was born with a disability, and
Eleanor came face to face with the discriminatory laws experienced by
those with disabilities. The State of Pennsylvania did not realize,
however, that it was about to confront a true fighter. Jim Wilson,
former president of the Arc of the United States, said it best when he
described Eleanor as ``a white glove, tenacious fighter who would not
accept `no' for an answer.'' That fighting spirit served Eleanor well
when the State put up roadblocks to adopting Richard simply because he
had a disability. When Richard was 2 years old, he was forcibly placed
in a State-run institution. Eleanor went to court to get Richard back
home. From that point on, she fought for his rights, beginning with a
fight for him to attend preschool. At a time when it was common to deny
children with disabilities access to education, Eleanor persuaded his
elementary school to create a classroom for him and other children with
disabilities.
The numerous obstacles faced by Richard convinced Eleanor to expand
her advocacy beyond her family. She was among a group of parents who
joined together and created The Arc of Philadelphia in 1948. She
founded a mothers' support group in Bucks County, which became The Arc
of Bucks County in the 1950's. She was integral to the development of
The Arc of Pennsylvania, and became the organization's president in the
1960's. She went on to become president of The Arc of the United States
in 1967 and 1968.
At a time when the norm was to force children with disabilities into
institutions, Eleanor was a leader in the fight to bring people with
disabilities into the community. She partnered with the Public Interest
Law Center of Philadelphia to expand the rights of people with
disabilities. She helped to win a significant victory in 1971 with the
ruling in PARC v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which overturned a
Pennsylvania law that permitted schools to deny public education to
children with disabilities. This battle established the principles that
eventually led to the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in
1975, which is now referred to as the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act.
Eleanor also joined forces with the Public Interest Law Center in one
of the most consequential fights of her life, the closure of the
Pennhurst State School and Hospital. Pennhurst was an institution in
Pennsylvania for people with disabilities that was exposed in the
1960's as a center of abuse and neglect and which came to symbolize the
shameful belief that people with disabilities should be isolated and
hidden from view. Eleanor contributed her advocacy to the landmark 1974
case Halderman v. Pennhurst, which ruled that the constitutional rights
of the residents of Pennhurst were being violated. This was a stark
break from the common beliefs of the time which afforded people with
disabilities little respect and even fewer rights. The case helped fuel
the larger movement away from institutions and was an important step in
the eventual closure of Pennhurst in 1987.
On behalf of the people of Pennsylvania and our grateful Nation, we
extend our belated condolences to the family of Eleanor Elkin.
Throughout her life, she fought for the dignity and well-being of
people with disabilities. Whenever she saw injustice, she also saw an
opportunity to make the world a better place. Celia Feinstein, director
Emeritus of the Temple Institute on Disabilities, said that Eleanor was
once asked how she would like to be remembered, and Eleanor replied
simply that, ``I don't know that I need to be remembered as much as I
would want to know that what I've been doing [will] continue.'' I have
no doubt that thousands are ready to continue her work on behalf of
people with disabilities. Pennsylvania and all of America are better
places because of Eleanor's commitment and extraordinary efforts. We
may have lost Eleanor Elkin, but we will never lose the positive change
she brought to countless lives and the impact she had on disability
policy in our country.
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