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Society for Disability Studies and the Invalid Corps as “Hidden #Disability History”
We were very proud to present at this year’s Society for Disability Studies national conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The Society for Disability Studies (SDS) is a scholarly organization dedicated to promoting disability studiesand their conference examines “multiple and significant possibilities at the intersections of disability and (getting it) right/s” with “hundreds of participants [who] gather every year to share expertise, perspectives, and community.” The story of the Invalid Corps is a part of disability history and it was great speak on a panel about soldiers with disabilities and this “hidden history.”
Although most of the presentation was an introduction to the Invalid Corps and their role in the Civil War, I thought I’d blog a little bit about how I opened the talk. An aspect of “Black History Month” has always struck me: how little of history has been captured that includes the contributions, heroism, sacrifice, and inventions of African Americans. The same for women. History has primarily been written by a certain class of individuals, who were likely men, and white. What that means is that history doesn’t often include mention of minorities. That includes disability.
So, when speaking with the audience I wanted to highlight “bright and shining” examples of disability that, because of the way we view the world, have had their disability erased and that part of the story goes untold. I wanted to include examples of men who meet that description, and although they were never part of the Invalid Corps, they were individuals with disabilities who many people do not know had disabilities – hidden disability history.
Oliver Otis Howard
O. O. Howard is known as a man who was a general in the civil war. He is known as the first head of the Freedmen’s Bureau who was dedicated to supporting the new independence of freedmen. He is known as the founder of Howard University. But what I discovered is that many graduates of the institution don’t realize (I’ve spoken to almost a dozen at this point) that he was also a man with a disability. General Howard lost his right arm at the Battle of Fair Oaks in 1862 when he was still a brigade commander. Disability was so ubiquitous that it was seldom mentioned; everyone had a brother, son, father, husband, or neighbor who had been injured in battle. And over time, this piece of history becomes lost. While it may not seem important in the “broad picture,” when it comes to recognition of disability and its place within our society, knowing this history suddenly becomes quite important.
Mathew Brady
Mathew Brady, the photographer of the Civil War. The man whose thousands of scenes of war give us the vision of the time. We all know the images. We all have seen at least one picture attributed to him (or more likely, his company.) Mathew Brady had a disability. Although Brady had his own studio and permission from President Lincoln himself to photograph the battlefield sites, many of the photos were in fact, taken by his assistants. Brady had an eye condition and his vision began to deteriorate in the 1850s. He was almost totally blind the last few years of his life.
John S. Pemberton
And of course, because we were in Atlanta, I had to mention John Pemberton, inventor of Coca-Cola. Yes, he too had a disability. A Confederate Lieutenant Colonel, he was wounded at the Battle of Columbus, in what was, arguably, the last battle of the war. Shot and then slashed across the chest with a saber, the wound gave him chronic pain. This led to a morphine addiction, ailment that was so common among veterans it was called the “soldier’s disease.” Pemberton invented Coca-Cola as an alternative to the highly addictive morphine. In his own words: “free from opium…a remedy to meet the urgent demand for a safe and reliable medicine.” Whether to address his addiction and/or to manage the pain from his war wounds, Pemberton, inventor of Coca-Cola, was also a man with a disability.
The Invalid Corps story is a part of this “hidden history” and for the SDS attendees, one that they were excited to learn more about. I hope to be able to show their story at the 2016 conference!
The Beginning
The Story page tells you about the Invalid Corps, who they were and what they did; it tells you about the film. What it doesn’t tell you about is how this film project began. There is so much involved in any origin story, but the best place to begin, I guess, is at the beginning. 🙂 It all started about five months ago with a film class and a blog post.
I love learning new things and as I’ve spent the last few years writing fiction I thought it might be an interesting aside to learn about writing for film. So I signed up for a video production class with Professor Adele Schmidt through Docs in Progress. What exactly is a production class? It means that the class was designed to include “hands-on opportunities to learn core filmmaking skills, including story development, video recording, and editing.” And the part that really excited me was this:
Participants will work individually on a video project (2:30 min. max) of their own choice (social media video, trailer, PSA, portrait of a person) combining existing and/or new footage such as interview and B-roll with stills and archival footage. Participants will use pre-existing media and/or record new media (interview, B-roll) with their own camcorder. Participants will use their own laptop and editing software (Final Cut Pro X preferred) to edit the project.
I would get to actually make a movie!
Of course, then came the problem, how does a blind person make a film? I wasn’t sure and will admit, it worried me. It worried me enough to convince my wife to take the course with me – just in case. Surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, I needed her assistance less than I anticipated. Yes, there were things with focus and getting shots “just right” that were challenging but I discovered that I could craft a story, direct exactly what kinds of shots and action I wanted, and be able to edit and organize what materials I had into a final, finished product.
It was exciting, it was thrilling, and it was fun.
But there’s more to the story. Why the Invalid Corps? The story of the Invalid Corps and their creation during the Civil War (though I am aware of the Invalid Corps of the Revolutionary War as well), came up as part of a discussion with my wife. As an archivist and librarian for a local disability non-profit, she provided content for their “Throw-back Thursday” blog posts, usually focused around some interesting and disability-related fact or image. A few months earlier she had written a few paragraphs about these soldiers and I couldn’t let it go.
The story was simple and yet there was so much to it: The Civil War generated thousands of casualties. It wasn’t unusual to have a 30% mortality rate after a battle. And of course this also created more soldiers with disabilities. Many of us are familiar with Civil War stories of the injuries and amputations that many of the soldiers suffered…60,000 of them in fact, but what happened after? “Federals and Confederates alike worried about the immoral and idle behavior that would arise if disabled soldiers did not return to work and provide for themselves.”
These men that were too disabled to return to their post but entirely too able to get into trouble with women and wine and cards. Or such was the concern. The answer came in 1862 when the Union’s medical officers decided to put “convalescent wounded and feeble men” to work around the hospital. It worked so well, a year later General Order No. 105, of the U.S. War Department made it official and thus was created, the Invalid Corps.
It is a story about disability that should be told, not just from a historical standpoint but to understand and recognize the efforts of men and women in uniform today.
“There are lots of people with disabilities who want to serve their country, and can serve…they may not be able to do exactly everything everyone else can do, but they can do within their abilities, and they can provide a lot of support.”
– Senator Tom Harkin (2013)
The Army’s Continue on Active Duty (COAD) program is putting military men with clear, visible disabilities back into combat, and retaining and retraining others for other forms of active duty. As of June 2013, sixty-nine amputees have returned to active duty. Also of note, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, a 100-year old, 47,000-man (and woman) garrison is now commanded by Colonel Gregory D. Gadson. Colonel Gadson is a double-amputee. Perhaps even more impressive is Marine Corporal Garret S. Jones’ recovery and redeployment to a combat zone after losing a leg.
I want the world to know what happened that summer in 1864. I want to tell this story about disability, and sacrifice, about honor, and devotion to duty.
And to leave you with something a little fun, the director of the movie Battleship, Nick Berg, was so impressed with Colonel Gadson, he even gave him a role in the film. Below is a clip from Colonel Gadson where he talks about returning to active duty (and a few snippets from the film too).