Guide to Disability Research Resources

Students, including one in a wheelchair, at the Library, circa 1967

Women using the library, circa 1967.

Beginning in 1948, the University of Illinois developed the nation's first comprehensive program and set of services for students with disabilities. This web site provides access to the archives of this ground-breaking program and to the papers of its founder, Tim Nugent.

The programs documented in the archives helped empower people with disabilities and had a profound effect on public attitudes, policy, and the law.

The records available in the University Archives were arranged, described, and digitized with support from the University President's Office, and they include over 100 boxes of correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks, films, and other materials.

Holdings: The DRES archives have been organized into twenty record series. The links on the holdings page provides a convenient way to browse the full descriptions of these materials. All materials are available at the University of Illinois Archives, please contact us for assistance.
Digital Collections: Selected items from the collection have converted to digital format. The links on the digital resources page provide access to these surrogate items.