activist

educator

artist

legacy

Karen Hagrup

her gifts to us are still

being revealed

her story keeps unfolding

it is a story of challenge, support,

and strength

she gives her story to us

freely

I: Norway

Karen’s story begins

on the northern tundra, a land beyond the tree line

dotted with medieval

stave churches

her father was a minister

her parents had four children

all girls

Karen was the oldest

and a twin

in 1945, when Karen was three years old

she got polio

her back to the camera, this is the last photo of her

before polio

years of isolation and low expectations

did not stop her from exploring the world around her

England…

Germany…

II: USA

life was sometimes lonely and hard

but in her new country

Karen thrived

despite what others thought, including her own parents

Karen knew that she would become a mother

her marriage lasted more than 30 years

and she raised two daughters of her own

she got her PhD and became a professor of education

when her university blatantly

discriminated against her

she found a lawyer who also had polio

and sued the university under the ADA

and won

she started two independent living centers

she gave a paper at the inaugural meeting of SDS

the Society for Disability Studies

and made people think about

disability as a cultural issue

her work in this area was

published in the Oral History Review

in sixty years, Karen had already

done a lot

Karen and her twin, Haldis, at sixty

at the right time, Karen’s marriage

ended

and the third part of

Karen’s life began

III: life without borders

she found new love

her family grew and changed

she began writing down the first two parts of her story

and she found new ways to fight against ableism

institutional power

+ individual prejudice

= ableism

in part, by choosing to fight injustice

everywhere

civil rights movements

proud immigrantgay rights advocate

polio survivor

old and beautifulcareer woman

ally of teachers,polyamorous folks,

Obama supporter

what next?

activist

educator

artist

legacy

Karen Hagrup

happy 70th birthday Karen!!!

we love you

we love you

we love you