The Willowbrook Legacy and the CSI Archives: Collections and New Initiatives
Tuesday, Apr.28
2:30pm-4:00pm
In person in the Library (Building 1L), Room 216 or via Zoom
Free and open to all; CC CLUE available
Please join the CSI Willowbrook Legacy Project for this exciting event at the CSI Library Special Collections and Archives.
A distinguished panel will discuss the College of Staten Island/CUNY’s Library and Archives and Special Collections’ documentation of 75 years of New York and national disability history, in part through gathering collections like that of The Arc New York. Celebrate with us how this new collection enhances existing research archives on the CSI campus, the former home of Willowbrook State School and “ground zero” for Disability Justice.
In 2025, The Arc New York donated its extensive historical archives to the CSI Library’s Archives and Special Collections. The Arc New York Collection documents 75 years of disability history in New York and nationwide. This new collection dramatically enhances existing archival research holdings concerning disability at the College.
The discussion, hosted by the Willowbrook Legacy Project at CSI, will allow the audience to hear short presentations from those involved in making the ARC New York gift to the archives possible. Professor Catherine Lavender, PhD, Co-Chair with Nora Santiago of the College’s Willowbrook Legacy Project, will host and facilitate the discussion. Laura Kennedy, past president of The Arc New York, will highlight aspects of the new collection. Dr. Jessica Murray, project consultant for the New York Disability Rights Archive housed at the College of Staten Island, will give an overview of the materials collected through the initiative. CSI Professor and Archivist Dr. James A. Kaser will discuss the other exciting disability rights collections acquired by CSI over the last 20 years and describe CSI’s 11 Willowbrook-related collections. CSI MA in History and Certificate in Public History alumnus Eli Gottesman, self-advocate and DSP at the GRACE Foundation of New York, will share comments about the importance of these archives, especially for self-advocates.
Following these brief presentations, the panelists will engage in discussion with the audience.
The event will be held in person on the College’s campus, in the Archives and Special Collections room in the Library, 1L/216. It will also be streamed live via Zoom and archived on the Willowbrook Legacy Project’s Youtube channel.
This hybrid event is open to everyone. People with disabilities, their families and friends, advocates, students, and professionals in the field are encouraged to register. Contact Willowbrook@csi.cuny.edu with any questions.
This event is sponsored by the Willowbrook Legacy Project at CSI and the CSI/CUNY Library, College of Staten Island/CUNY, and the New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD).
By Nora Santiago and Catherine Lavender
