Repository

Heinz History Center

Title

Holly and E. Paul Dick Papers and Photographs

Creator

Dick, Holly

Creator

Dick, E. Paul

Collection Number

MSS 1177

Extent

9.75 Linear Feet (4 boxes, and 3 o/s folders)

Date

1940-2021

Abstract

Elmer Paul Dick was born on March 10, 1940, near Claysburg, Pennsylvania to Violet Stiffler and Charles Oliver Dick. Dick contracted polio at the age of fourteen in 1954 and used a wheelchair for the remainder of his life. Due in part to the mobility difficulties he faced, Paul Dick became an advocate for fellow people with disabilities in Western Pennsylvania, fighting for access to public transportation and buildings. Holly Van Ormer Dick was born on June 1, 1941, in Cumberland, Maryland. Holly Dick, who was diagnosed as legally blind at the age of 6. Eventually reintegrating with her former public school classmates, Holly excelled academically with the use of modifications such as large print books and magnifiers. Holly Dick was the first female rehabilitation counselor at the Pennsylvania Office for the Blind before she transitioned to the mental health field. She has been became an advocate for accessible public transportation in Western Pennsylvania for over 40 years. The Holly and E. Paul Dick Papers and Photographs contain educational materials, professional papers, personal papers, and photographs of Holly and E. Paul Dick during their lives as advocates for people with disabilities.

Language

English .

Author

The guide to this collection was written by Bryan Brown.

Sponsor

The acquisition and processing of this collection has been made possible by the Western Pennsylvania Disability History and Action Consortium (https://www.wpdhac.org/).

Publisher

Heinz History Center

Address

1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org

Biographical / Historical

Elmer Paul Dick was born on March 10, 1940, near Claysburg, Pennsylvania to Violet Stiffler and Charles Oliver Dick. From a young age, Paul regularly assisted on the family farm, enjoyed fishing, and stoked what would become a lifelong passion for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The oldest of six siblings, Paul contracted polio at the age of fourteen in 1954. Within weeks, two of Paul's siblings were also diagnosed with polio. Initially, Paul was completely paralyzed and spent time in an iron lung in Altoona Hospital before regaining movement in his upper body. After months in the hospital, the only means of transportation available to him was by ambulance. This experience sparked Paul to become a lifelong advocate for accessible transportation. Following release from the hospital, he went to a polio rehabilitation facility created by President Roosevelt in Warm Springs, Georgia. Local organizations raised the funds necessary to charter a private plane for his transport to the facility.

Paul used a wheelchair for the remainder of his life. He attended Greenfield-Kimmel High School during his junior and senior years. Unable to take the bus, his father drove him to school each day and a teacher drove him home. After completing high school in 1958, Paul left for college in 1959 and went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Elizabethtown College and a Master of Education in vocational rehabilitation counseling from the University of Pittsburgh. A scholarship from the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation allowed him to continue his education, and a portion from the National Merit Scholarship paid fellow students to push him in his wheelchair and carry him up and down the stairs of campus buildings, which were inaccessible at the time. During his graduate studies, Paul was unable to utilize Pittsburgh's public transportation system, which was inaccessible to people with mobility disabilities. Instead, he had to bear the financial burden of booking a taxi from travel to and from a graduate internship. This continued into his early employment until he purchased his first vehicle, which was adapted with hand controls for his use.

Due in part to the mobility difficulties he faced, Paul became an advocate for fellow people with disabilities in Western Pennsylvania, fighting for access to public transportation and buildings. As a member of Open Doors for the Handicapped, he contributed to the operation of Magic Carpet Transportation Service, the first grassroots paratransit system for people with disabilities in Allegheny County. Magic Carpet contributed to the creation of ACCESS, the Allegheny County-sponsored paratransit system, in 1979. In 1975, he served on the Department of Transportation's National Advisory Committee, to write legislation to provide access to public transportation for individuals with disabilities across the nation. Paul advocated for the implementation of universal design principles for newly constructed commercial and residential buildings in the county.

During his life, Pauul also served on the Port Authority's Committee for Accessible Transportation, Mayor Caliguiri's Committee for Architectural Barriers, Committee for Accessible Housing, the Pittsburgh City Planning Commission, the Board of Directors of United Cerebral Palsy, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Planning Commission's Advisory Committee on Employment of the Handicapped, and a member of the Advisory Board that established the Three Rivers Center for Independent Living. He also volunteered his services to local churches and businesses, providing them with recommendations on making their facilities more accessible. He was also a former board chairperson of Community Living and Support Services (CLASS).

Paul worked for the St. Francis Health System from 1965 to 1996, predominantly as director of the personnel training center and vice president for human resources for the hospital system. Dick met Jean Holland "Holly" Van Ormer while they both attended graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh. Dick and Van Ormer married on December 11, 1965, and had two sons, Andrew and Douglass. Holly Van Ormer Dick was born on June 1, 1941, in Cumberland, Maryland to Theresa Jean Holland and Dr. William Alfred Van Ormer. The oldest of three children, Holly was diagnosed as legally blind at the age of six. Following medical recommendations at the time, Holly was disenrolled at school and kept at home from school for a year in an effort to conserve her eyesight. She was discouraged from reading and favored listening to the radio. She attended Maryland School for the Blind in Baltimore for two years. Eventually reintegrating with her former public school classmates, Holly excelled academically with the use of modifications such as large print books and magnifiers. She did not learn about audio books (then known as Talking Books) until she was a sophomore in high school. Holly was editor of her high school's nationally ranked newspaper and was president of the United Nations Club before graduating as salutatorian.

Holly first used audible textbooks from Recording for the Blind (now known as Learning Ally) when she started college. Bachelor of Arts in history with minors in English and education from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Upon graduation from college, Holly received a national achievement award from RFB and was selected to meet President Kennedy in recognition of her extensive use of textbook audio recordings in her coursework. Holly aspired to become a teacher. Despite of her academic achievements, she was not permitted to student teach because of her visual impairment. Undeterred, Holly attained a Master of Education in rehabilitation counseling and special education from the University of Pittsburgh in 1964. Holly employed fellow students at times to read textbooks to her during undergraduate and graduate studies.

Holly Dick was the first female rehabilitation counselor at the Pennsylvania Office for the Blind before she transitioned to the mental health field. For 20 years, Holly Dick ran Developmental Evaluative Services for Children, a program that evaluated preschool children with developmental delays due to emotional trauma at St. Francis Hospital. Dick was also the president of the St. Francis Hospital Auxiliary. Due to a lack of funding, Holly Dick transferred to St. Francis' children's department to provide therapy and psychotherapy for children and parents of children with emotional disorders in public schools. After leaving St. Francis, Holly Dick worked at ACCESS for twelve years until her retirement in 2012. She has been an advocate for accessible public transportation in Western Pennsylvania for over 40 years. She has been an active member of the Committee for Accessible Transportation. Holly has helped to shape the eligibility requirements for ACCESS Transportation Systems and leads periodic training of Port Authority bus drivers on interacting with and supporting riders with disabilities.

As of the writing of this finding aid, Holly Dick is still an active member of the Committee for Accessible Transportation, Advisory Committee to UPMC's Disability Resource Center, the Advisory Council to Allegheny County Area Agency on Aging, the Pittsburgh City Planning Commission, the FISA Foundation, and the Western Pennsylvania Disability History and Action Consortium. Holly also participated in the League of Women Voters of the North Hills in addition to her volunteer work with the Radio Information Service.

E. Paul Dick passed away on March 24, 2010, in Shadyside Hospital at 70 years old.

Scope and Contents

The Holly and E. Paul Dick Papers and Photographs contain materials documenting the lives of Holly and E. Paul Dick following their journey as children with disabilities, their educational careers, their professional careers, and careers as advocates for people with disabilities. Records in this collection include high school and college yearbooks, school newspapers, transcripts and diplomas, newspaper clippings, newsletters, correspondence, meeting minutes, resumes and biographies, and photograph albums. Due to Holly's vision impairment, several papers within this collection contain braille.

The oversized materials in this collection include oversized images of Paul, Holly's Dickinson College diploma, and Paul's University of Pittsburgh diploma.

Arrangement

The Holly and E. Paul Dick Papers and Photographs has been arranged into two series and further arranged into subseries:

Conditions Governing Access

A portion of Holly Dick's scrapbooks are restricted due to fragility. Copies have been made and are available in the collection.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Copyright may be retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Holly Dick on October 15, 2018 and November 22, 2021. Archives Accessions 2018.0167 and 2021.0215

Related Materials

Robert Schmitt Oral Histories, "In Celebration: Ten Years of Transportation Advocacy More or Less in No Particular Order," 2006-2015, 2018.0208, Detre Library & Archives, Heinz History Center.

Ervin Roszner Papers and Photographs, MSS 1280, Detre Library & Archives, Heinz History Center.

Lucy Spruill Papers and Photographs, 2022.0085, Detre Library & Archives, Heinz History Center.

Separated Materials

A braille watch, braille slate and stylus used by Holly Dick were transferred to the Museum Division (Museum Acc. No. 2018.138)

A feeder apparatus, sliding board, steering wheel knob, two license plates, a stick used by Paul Dick to vote, a baseball autographed by the 1955 Pittsburgh Pirates, and two pairs of Paul Dick's trousers were transferred to the Museum Division (Museum Acc. No. 2018.138)

Processing Information

Collection processed by Bryan Brown in August 2020. Additions were added to the collection by Sierra Green in November 2021.

Preferred Citation

Holly and E. Paul Dick Papers and Photographs, 1940-2021, MSS 1177, Detre Library & Archives, Heinz History Center

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