Frieda Zames (October 29, 1932 – June 16, 2005) was an American disability rights activist and mathematics professor.[1] With her sister, Doris Zames Fleischer, Zames wrote The Disability Rights Movement: From Charity to Confrontation,[2] a historical survey that has been used as a disability rights textbook.[3]
Life and career
editZames was born on October 29, 1932, in Brooklyn and died on June 16, 2005, in Manhattan.[3] Disabled by a childhood bout of polio, Zames was institutionalized for many years. Because of institutionalization and the school system's automatic placement of physically disabled students in non-rigorous academic tracks, Zames was mostly self-taught, according to friends.[4]
Zames earned an undergraduate degree from Brooklyn College where she was Phi Beta Kappa.[4] Zames' mother accompanied her to college every day and carried her books.[4] Zames, then her family's breadwinner, worked as an actuary at MetLife,[3] then went on to earn a doctorate in mathematics from New York University.[1] In 1966 Zames was hired by the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) in Newark,[3] where she taught classes ranging from remedial to graduate level.[4] She retired with the title associate professor of Mathematics Emeritus in 2000.[3]
Zames' activism began in the 1970s, when she joined the disability rights group Disabled in Action and began to use a motorized scooter, which enabled her to travel to protests more easily.[3] In one of her first demonstrations, she joined a group of paraplegic activists in surrounding a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus during rush hour to protest its lack of wheelchair access,[3] part of a campaign which ultimately resulted in all MTA buses being fitted in wheelchair lifts beginning in 1981.[5] Once the Americans with Disabilities Act took effect, Zames joined in a successful lawsuit to make the Empire State Building accessible.[3] She also participated in campaigns to make the school at which she taught, NJIT, wheelchair accessible.[4] Other work focused on curb cuts, restaurants, subways, ferries, public restrooms and public buildings.[1] Zames' activism included civil disobedience, litigation and advocacy literature to obtain full participation in public life for disabled people.[3]
According to her sister, Doris Zames Fleischer, Zames' sense of social justice included the struggles for equality for women, racial minorities, gays and other disfranchised people.[6] Zames served on the board of Disabled in Action, the New York State Independent Living Coalition, the Disabilities Network of NYC, and WBAI, a radio station.[4]
Awards and honors
editZames won the George Pólya Award of the Mathematical Association of America in 1978, for her work describing the Schwarz lantern, a shape demonstrating that the area of smooth surfaces cannot be accurately approximated by polyhedra that are close to the surface.[7] The corner of First Avenue and East 4th Street in Manhattan was named Frieda Zames Way in 2009 in her honor.[8]
References
editNotes
- ^ a b c Fox, Margalit (June 17, 2005). "Frieda Zames, 72, Advocate for Disabled, Dies". New York Times. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ Fleischer, Doris Zames; Zames, Frieda (2003). The Disability Rights Movement: From Charity to Confrontation. Temple University Press. ISBN 1-56639-812-6. Reviews:
- Berkowitz, Edward (Summer 2002). Bulletin of the History of Medicine. 76 (2): 413–414. doi:10.1353/bhm.2002.0055. JSTOR 44448958. S2CID 72515064.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link) - Bricout, John C. (December 2001). Social Service Review. 75 (4): 698–699. doi:10.1086/339152. JSTOR 10.1086/339152.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link) - Cherney, James L. (January 2002). Argumentation and Advocacy. 38 (3): 192–194. doi:10.1080/00028533.2002.11821567. S2CID 218586811.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link) - Drews, Jeanette R. (February 2002). Affilia. 17 (1): 124–125. doi:10.1177/088610990201700113. S2CID 145473245.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link) - Malhotra, Ravi (July 2012). Socialism and Democracy. 26 (2): 132–135. doi:10.1080/08854300.2012.686288. S2CID 143310366.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link) - Stefan, Susan (May 2003). Psychiatric Services. 54 (5): 752–753. doi:10.1176/appi.ps.54.5.752. S2CID 73289148.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
- Berkowitz, Edward (Summer 2002). Bulletin of the History of Medicine. 76 (2): 413–414. doi:10.1353/bhm.2002.0055. JSTOR 44448958. S2CID 72515064.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Gibson, Alexandra (June 17, 2005). "Frieda Zames, 73, Disabled Activist Urged Accessible Transportation". New York Sun. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f Guarino, Beth (August 2005). "Frieda Zames, Tireless Advocate, Dies". New York Able. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ Moakley, Terry. "Independence Today". Retrieved 18 July 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Activist Frieda Zames, 1932-2005". Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ "Surface Area and the Cylinder Area Paradox". Writing Awards. Mathematical Association of America. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
- ^ Keller, Emily. "Street Named for Frieda Zames, Advocate for Accessibility". Retrieved 18 July 2012.