[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 48 (Thursday, March 12, 2020)]
[Senate]
[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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