Hahn (Harlan) Disabilities Collection

The Harlan Hahn Disabilities collection consists of published books (including several vintage books in unknown language (probably Norwegian), manuscripts, research notes, correspondence, books reviews, book prospectus, articles, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, bibliographies, newsletters, syllabi, research papers and reports, photographs, baby books, scrapbooks, yearbooks, autograph books, greeting cards, bills, milk caps and other small physical objects, and digital materials (physical formats: floppy disk, compact disk, and thumb drive).

The collection focuses on Harlan Hahn’s life and career, and includes biographical materials on Harlan as well as his parents and grandparents. Materials concerning the family include family histories, obituaries, records, diaries, real-estate documents, correspondence of the Hahns and the Tollefsons, family photos, and family books such as the bible. Family correspondence is primarily between Ada Hahn (Harlan’s mother), Harold Hahn (Harlan’s father), Nellie Tollefson (Harlan’s maternal grandmother), and Luther Tollefson (Ada’s brother). The bulk of the correspondence comes from around 1945 while the family was traveling for Harlan’s treatment to Des Moines Iowa, Hot Springs Arkansas, and the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Letters generally concern treatment, family matters, daily life, and struggles the family faced during this time.

Materials concerning Harlan span his entire life from his childhood, battle with polio, schooling, to career. Materials relating to childhood include baby books and scrapbooks. Materials relating to Harlan’s battle with polio consist of newspaper clippings detailing Harlan’s battle with polio, community support, and other families struggles to support their children with so called “window visits”; correspondence with friends and family members while Harlan was in the hospital; get well cards, bills from hospitals including the Mayo Clinic and leg brace manufacturers; treatment plans including the “Kenny technique”, pool treatments, physical therapy, home treatments, medications, and others; correspondence with doctors and leg brace manufacturers; Ada Hahn’s notes of Harlan’s disease; and other materials the family kept regarding polio cases, treatment, products, and informational pamphlets (1946-1952). Also included are over 1000 milk bottle caps Harlan collected while recuperating from polio in the 1940s. Materials covering Harlan’s education and career include school year books, writings, letters of recommendation, autobiographies, Curriculum Vitae, awards, and transcripts.

The bulk of the collection concentrates on Hahn’s writings during his graduate education and tenure as a professor, as well as research materials for those writings. Formats include published monographs, complete manuscripts, drafts, articles, book reviews, correspondence, research notes, bibliographies, and newsletters. Writings focus on health politics and policy, urban problems and politics, and American politics. Monograph books cover minority rights, police society/community relations, political corruption, U.S. citizens and politics, politics and everyday life, Hahn’s autobiography, and sexuality and disability. Article topics include: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), anti discrimination laws, aging and disability, American Disabled for Access Power Today (ADAPT), attitudes toward disability, African American politics, book reviews, civil disobedience and riots, civil rights for disabled persons, physical rehabilitation, the social aspects of disability, political aspects of disability, disability access, employment for persons with disabilities, a wide range of other topics on disabilities, police, urban and minority politics, American politics, urban violence, public policy, and the Terri Schivo case.