This long-awaited reader explores the history of Canadian people with disabilities from Confederation to current day. This collection focuses on Canadians with mental, physical, and cognitive disabilities, and discusses the ways in which they lived, worked, and influenced public policy in Canada.

Organized by time period, the 23 chapters in this collection are authored by a diverse group of scholars who discuss the untold histories of Canadians with disabilities—Canadians who influenced science and technology, law, education, healthcare, and social justice. Selected chapters discuss disabilities among Indigenous women; the importance of community inclusion; the ubiquity of stairs in the Montreal metro; and the ethics of disability research. Untold Stories: A Canadian Disability History Reader offers an exceptional presentation of influential people with various disabilities who brought about social change and helped to make Canada more accessible.

Nancy Hansen is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Interdisciplinary Master’s Program in Disability Studies at the University of Manitoba.

Nancy Hansen's profile page

Roy Hanes is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at Carleton University.

Roy Hanes' profile page

Diane Driedger has been involved in the disability rights movement at the local, national and international levels for 40 years, with organizations such as Disabled Peoples’ International (DPI), the DisAbled Women’s Network (DAWN) Canada, and Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD). She has published ten books, including four anthologies by women with disabilities, and The Last Civil Rights Movement: Disabled Peoples’ International (1989). She is also a poet and visual artist. Her most recent poetry book is Red With Living (2016). Diane is Assistant Professor in the Interdisciplinary Master’s Program in Disability Studies at the University of Manitoba.

Diane Driedger's profile page

Cover art statement

“The title of My Will Remains is drawn from a quote by Frida Kahlo (1907–1954), the Mexican artist. Her work resonates with me as an artist who has worked lying down, as she did. I have joined her, proclaiming my sisterhood as I work lying down due to my pain and fatigue with my disability. Kahlo is my role model for persisting, for working—lying down does not mean being unproductive.”

—Diane Driedger, artist and editor