"Each Man Has Value"
A Celebration Breakfast - October 10, 2006
On the morning of October 10th a group nearing 400 people gathered in a ballroom at the Pierre Hotel in New York City for an event that was 40 years in the making. Educators, advocates, business leaders and artists, politicians, family and friends came to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the publication of Burton Blatt’s seminal work Christmas in Purgartory (co-authored with Fred Kaplan) that led directly to the signing by Governor Hugh Carey of the 1975 Willowbrook Consent Decree, Dr. Blatt’s work and words serve as an inspiration and guide for those who continue the work at the Burton Blatt Institute - which shared the celebration to mark it’s one-year anniversary.
On the program that morning were speakers and an honoree with personal connections to the issues and challenges faced by individuals with disabilities. Matt Sapolin, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities of New York City was Master of Ceremonies. Peter Blanck, Chairman of the Burton Blatt Institute, renowned for his work in the field of disability law, spoke of the work of the institute. Nancy Cantor came to the podium as Chancellor and President of Syracuse University to share her vision of Scholarship in Action and also spoke poignantly as a mother of the challenges and triumphs of her son with autism. George F. Will, Syndicated Columnist and author, delivered the keynote address on the movement inspired by Burton Blatt and included the story of his son who has Down syndrome. Perhaps the most moving moment of the program came with the introduction of honoree Hugh L. Carey by Bernard Carabello who is a disability rights activist and recognized national leader of the self-advocacy movement and who spent 18 years of his life shut away inside the Willowbrook State School. Governor Carey took to the podium to accept his most deserved recognition.
The celebration breakfast guests filtered out of the Pierre Hotel, accompanied by colleagues, family and friends into the warmth of that October morning, newly inspired and filled with a hope for a not too distant future where everyone is included.
Peter Blanck, Larry Bashe, Shelley Kaplan, Joshua H. Heintz
George Will, Governor Carey, Nancy Cantor, Peter Blanck
Steven L. Hammerman, Eleanor Hammerman, George Will, Peter Blanck, Ethel Blatt, Charlie Hammerman
Charlie Hammerman, Nancy Cantor, Don McPherson
[standing] Wendy Kislik, Peter Blanck, George Will, Richard Blanck
[seated] Dean Hannah Arterien, Bertha Blanck
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