A major figure in the disability rights movement, Heumann was born in Philadelphia and raised in Brooklyn. She contracted polio at age 2, and used a wheelchair. She earned an MA in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley in 1975.
Heumann successfully sued the New York Board of Education when she was denied a teaching license (because they claimed her wheelchair would be a safety hazard in case of a fire), and led several demonstrations, including one that shut down traffic in Manhattan after President Richard Nixon’s veto of the 1972 Rehabilitation Act, and another that resulted in a 26-day sit-in at a federal building in San Francisco to demand enforcement of Section 504 of the revived Rehabilitation Act. She helped develop the legislation for the Disabilities Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She served on boards for Human Rights Watch, Save the Children, the US International Council on Disability, and the American Association of People with Disabilities.
Heumann moved to DC in 1993, to serve as the Assistant Secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services under President Bill Clinton. She also served as an advisor on Disability and Development for the World Bank, and as Special Advisor for International Disability Rights at the State Department under President Barack Obama. She was DC’s first Director for the Department on Disability Services. She was an active member of Adas Israel congregation. She was featured in the documentary film Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution.
Heumann is the co-author (with Kristen Joiner) of a memoir, Being Heumann (2020), and a young adult version of the book, Rolling Warrior (2021).
The Homes
3133 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC (The Kennedy-Warren)
The Kennedy-Warren is the largest and best example of an Art Deco apartment in DC, and was the first building in the city to make extensive use aluminum. The building overlooks the National Zoo and Kringle Valley; built on a steep slope, the lobby level is on the third floor. Stone carvings are in the Aztec Deco style, influenced by ancient Mexican stonework, and includes images of griffins, eagles, and a frieze of elephants and starbursts. Before air conditioning was installed, the building had an unusual air-cooling system which used three enormous fans at the back of the apartments to force cooler air through public corridors. Residents could open metal louvers above their doors to create cross-ventilation. The uncompleted south wing and a parking garage were constructed in 2004. An extensive renovation and restoration of the main building took place in 2009. The Kennedy-Warren was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994, and won the Award of Excellence for Historic Resources in 2005 from the American Institute of Architects.