LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Through a new traveling exhibition, discover an overlooked moment in U.S. history when people with disabilities occupied a government building to win their rights.

The exhibit “Patient No More: People with Disabilities Securing Civil Rights” will be on display at the Lower Lake Schoolhouse Museum from Aug. 15 to Oct. 4.

The exhibition uncovers the stories behind a turbulent April in 1977, when people with disabilities successfully launched protests across the nation to get Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 signed into law.

In this exhibition, visitors will get a chance to appreciate how the occupiers built networks of support, from unions to the Black Panthers; how protesters influenced the media and changed the language used to cover the protest; and the controversies of 504, especially in regards to race and deafness. Above all, this exhibition reminds all of us that disabilities are a source of creativity and innovation, not pity or tragedy.

Large print, braille copies of exhibition text, audio descriptions, and audio-described and captioned videos combine to make this show as accessible as possible.

Additional related programming includes a speaker series:

– Saturday, Aug. 24, at noon: Photographer and disability rights activist Anthony Tusler will be speaking on his experience at the 504 sit-in.

– Saturday, Sept. 14, noon: Illene Dumont and other members of People Services Inc. will be speaking on the history of People Services and on disability in Lake County.

Additional speakers are pending. Please check the Museums of Lake County Facebook page for more dates and speakers.

Patient No More is presented by the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University, made possible with support from California Humanities, and traveled by Exhibit Envoy.

The Museums of Lake County raised funds to bring this exhibit to Lake County through private donors as well as through Lake County Department of Mental Health’s Prevention Mini-Grant Project.

The Lower Lake Schoolhouse Museum is open Thursday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is located at 16435 Main St.