Finding collections relating to d/Deaf, disabled and neurodiverse people

One of the aims of our project is to make collections relating to d/Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people more visible – and to share some of the objects our Fellows and Trainees are discovering.

Some will have quite obvious connections to disabled people’s lives – a walking stick, some braille or images of disabled people. But we will also be exploring less obvious connections too. Sometimes the significance of an object is its owner; its part in a bigger story, or the way someone with lived experience of disability has responded to it. In this way we hope to broaden the ways that d/Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent stories are told.

Collections

GEORGE WOOD PHOTOGRAPH, MAN WITH ARTIFICIAL LEGS (Photograph)

Rights information: Copyright: Hastings Museum and Art Gallery

Description

Photograph of a man with artificial legs in conversation with a group of people on the promenade.

George Woods (1852 – 1934) ran a drapery business in Wokingham, Berkshire, with his older brother William until 1883. Following his father's death and the inheritance of investments, he sold the business and decided to move to Hastings with his wife, Mary, and daughter Margaret. Woods dedicated his time to photographing local people and scenes, taking thousands of photos on his plate camera of everyday people and life. 2,000 of his photos still exist.

- Jack Guy, Curating for Change Fellow, Hastings Museum and Art Gallery