The Willowbrook Legacy Project is inviting the College community to help commemorate the second anniversary of the opening of the Willowbrook Mile on the CSI Campus on Saturday, September 14, with guided tours and open conversations about the site. Tours will run from 10:00am to 2:00pm.

This year, the Willowbrook Legacy Project team will be joined by The Caravan for Disability Freedom and Justice in presenting the tours; walking all or parts of the Mile, depending on visitors’ interests; and answering any questions raised.

“We are really excited to host the Caravan for Disability Justice at the Willowbrook Memorial Day,” said Dr. Catherine Lavender, a Professor in the Department of History and Co-Chair, with Nora Santiago, of the Willowbrook Legacy Project at CSI. “The coming together of these two important calls for the rights of persons who have historically and continue to fight for their rights as citizens is an important reminder that that fight must continue. One of the important things that the Caravan has done across the U.S. is to register people to vote and to help them know their rights and to use their votes and voices.”

The Willowbrook Mile Walk (which spans almost two and half miles in total) is an excellent opportunity to learn more about the legacy of the Willowbrook State School, which occupied the site that is now the CSI campus. Interactive tours shed light on the ways that the College is honoring its legacy, with its direct support and inclusion for members of the intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) community, and in training those who will enter careers of caring, teaching, service, and advocacy for persons with IDD. According to Dr. Lavender and Santiago, revisiting the walk each year helps keep history alive as a living monument to what has been, and what must be in the future. They hope visitors will come learn about why the CSI campus site is a central figure in the ongoing fight for disability justice.

“When the Willowbrook Legacy Project set out to build the Mile, we wanted to make sure that our community understood that Willowbrook is a kind of Ground Zero for the fight for rights for all persons with disabilities,” explained Dr. Lavender. “We wanted to bring the Willowbrook story out of the darkness and show how it is really a beacon of light that shows how a committed group of citizens, parents, care providers, self-advocates could use love to tear down the institutional walls of separation. When we walk the Mile, we can learn more about that story and in walking together, continue to build our community.”

In the event of rain, a Willowbrook Mile Exhibit will be set up inside the Center for the Arts (Building 1P) Atrium, where visitors will be able to tour all the stations indoors and ask questions. Weather permitting, guided tours will visit the permanent outdoor installations.

The event is free, open to all, and appropriate for all ages; participants are encouraged to bring the whole family, friends, and neighbors. Please pre-register at Eventbrite.