Norah Fry - what can we learn from history?

Accessible Summary The Norah Fry Research Centre is named after Norah Fry who was one of the first women to stand up for people with learning disabilities. Over a 100years ago Norah Fry visited people with learning disabilities and their families in Bristol and Somerset to find out what they needed to enjoy better lives. She wrote reports about what she had found and people wrote down what she said should be done to make life better. When she died she left money to the university to be used for teaching and for finding out more about the needs of people with learning disabilities and those who were mentally ill. We can now look back on the changes that she wanted to make and the problems she faced in trying to bring about change. SummaryThis paper explores how Norah Fry's concerns of 100years ago have been relevant to the work of the Norah Fry Research Centre. In 1898, Norah Fry began to investigate the social conditions and educational needs of people with learning disabilities living in Bristol and Somerset. In reporting her findings to a Royal Commission in 1905, she set out her vision for the future. For over 50years, she was a champion for people with learning disabilities. She canvassed support for schools for those excluded from education; she led campaigns to close the parish workhouses; and she sought to establish new patterns of residential support. This account of Norah Fry's life and legacy explores the results of the social investigations which she carried out, the policies that emerged from her work and the resistances she encountered in working for change.