2.1.6 Graduation recording
Photograph caption dated September 22, 1947 reads, "Fourteen-year-old Charles Packard, victim of incurable hemophilia, makes recording for his graduation tomorrow from Charles Leroy Lowman School for Physically Handicapped. Charles, who was one of seven graduates of school, spends most of his life in hospital bed, getting special anti-hemophilic transfusions. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Theo Packard, North Hollywood, operate recorder at bedside."
Another special celebration for many families is a school graduation. In this photo, 14-year-old Charles Packard makes a recording for his graduation ceremony. Because of an illness, Charles was unable to attend school each day, but he was able to graduate from the Lowman School, a school within a hospital in Los Angeles. What do schools do now for students who are too ill to attend? What should they do?
Pictured here is student preparing to graduate from the Charles Leroy Lowman School for Physically Handicapped, which today is a Special Education Center within the Los Angeles Unified School District. Educating children with special needs was something relatively uncommon until this school began. In 1926, Dr. Lowman spearheaded legislation to create special education schools for disabled children; one of the first was this school, named after him.
But it was not until the post-World War II era when Americans with disabilities became a protected class, which meant that federal and state regulations changed to provide accommodations so that everyone could access a “free and fair education.” Students who view this image may wish to make connections between people in their lives who have different abilities, or they may note the importance of families and graduations in celebrating milestones in life.
