The over-arching goal of this project is to instill hope for activists and social workers, while simultaneously exploring the narrative of my Great-Grandmother, Mrs. Marguerite Emily Cartwright, whose activist story has never truly been told. Through the use of storytelling and thematic analysis, this research will present the reader with an opportunity to explore the tools and strategies that one woman used to make a profound and lasting influence on disability services, the study of disability and persons with disabilities throughout Ontario in the 1940’s and onwards. The Study of Disability, Disability Studies and Social Justice Studies, along with storytelling literature, are both broad albeit unique areas of knowledge. This unique thesis is based on the analysis of my family’s archives of Mrs. Cartwright’s activism, through original journal entries and newspaper clippings, along with letters and personal correspondences Mrs. Cartwright wrote to prominent North American politicians, offering a window into the mind of the activist herself. Through the use of storytelling and thematic analysis, this paper explores how the themes of wielding personal power, inheriting a moral sense of justice, and the history of disability services in Ontario contributed to the telling of Mrs. Cartwright’s untold story. An analysis of Mrs. Cartwright’s activist strategies demonstrated the intersectionality of disability, critical theory, feminism and justice studies, and the use of self in advocacy. Lastly, I discuss how my own sense of social justice, epistemology and practice of social work has been impacted by the telling of this story. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

Historians have studied mental institutions in the mid-20th century; however, few have discussed them within the context of the period's paternalistic social movements and perceptions. Florida's Sunland program provides a lens for studying the parental role the institutions and general public took toward the intellectually disabled. Specifically, administrators saw residents of the Sunland Training Centers and Hospitals as perpetual children, trapped in an "eternal childhood." The institution was presented as a family unit, abiding by 1950s ideals of the companionate household. When the Sunlands proved generally unsuccessful, Florida's communities began to supplement their efforts. The social movements of the 1960s inspired community care organizations and other special programs in lieu of institutionalization. Reports of neglect and abuse at the Sunlands contributed to the community's subsequent perception of residents as "victimized children," deprived of a "normal" life. Such a view of the intellectually disabled continues to dominate discussions of the Sunlands, community care, and "normalization." This study informs a broad understanding of the past while contributing to these contemporary considerations. Research into the Sunland Training Centers and Hospitals, as well as their surrounding communities, relies on subjective sources. The flagship training center, located in Gainesville, published an internally-circulated newsletter utilized in this work. Detailed studies of Florida's newspapers provide the perspective of Florida's community members, including women's clubs and civil rights activists. Finally, articles and books written on Sunland "hauntings" illustrate recent attempts to define and patronize the intellectually disabled. All of these sources point toward a liberal paternalism that dominated discussions of the intellectually disabled in the mid-20th century.