Sharon Rae Hovey Wilkin (July 1, 1941 – March 8, 2014) was an American vocational rehabilitation counselor and disability rights activist. She was named an Outstanding Handicapped Federal Employee of the Year in 1977.
Sharon Hovey Wilkin | |
|---|---|
 Sharon Hovey Wilkin, from a 1965 publication | |
| Born | Sharon Rae Hovey July 1, 1941 Ashville, New York |
| Died | March 8, 2014 (aged 72) Fairfax, Virginia |
| Occupation(s) | Disability activist, federal employee |
Early life and education
editSharon Rae Hovey was born in Ashville, New York, the daughter of Raymond Hovey and Evelyn Hovey. In 1958, as a teenaged exchange student from Chautauqua Central School, she survived a serious spinal injury after falling from an amusement park ride in Genk, Belgium, and was quadriplegic after that.[1][2] She attended the University of Illinois as part of a pioneering program for physically disabled students,[3] directed by Tim Nugent,[4] in which the university offered rehabilitation, counseling, and adaptive sports along with their academic studies.[5] She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1963, and earned a master's degree in vocational rehabilitation there in 1965.[6]
Career
editWilkin was a vocational rehabilitation counselor in Washington, D.C., and an employment specialist at the Employment Standards Administration of the United States Department of Labor. She investigated claims of employment discrimination, and monitored hiring practices of government contractors. In 1977, she was named one of the Outstanding Handicapped Federal Employees of the Year.[7] She testified before a 1980 Congressional hearing in support of programs covering personal assistance services for federal employees, and was a member of the board of directors of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association.[8] She attended the 1990 Rose Garden signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act.[9] She retired from federal employment in 1995, and went to work for Evan Kemp Associates as a consumer editor.[10]
Personal life
editIn 1965, Sharon Hovey married mathematician Jonathan Wilkin; they met in the disabled students' program at the University of Illinois.[11][12] They divorced in 1984. In 1997, a shoulder injury necessitated her move into a motorized wheelchair, with other powered supports in her Vienna, Virginia home.[9] She died in 2014, aged 72 years, in Fairfax, Virginia.[6]
References
edit- ^ United States Congress House Committee on Education and Labor (1960). Special Education and Rehabilitation: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Special Education of the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives, Eighty-sixth Congress, First [-second] Session, on H.R. 1119 ... [and Other] Bills Regarding the Field of Special Education and Rehabilitation ... U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 184–187.
- ^ "Speaker Well-Versed". Wellsville Daily Reporter. 1959-06-13. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-05-14 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Wolfe, Sheila (1961-10-16). "Education – in Wheel Chairs!". Chicago Tribune. p. 53. Retrieved 2022-05-14 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Kiester, Ed (1962-04-08). "Miracles on Wheels". Press and Sun-Bulletin. pp. 18, 19. Retrieved 2022-05-14 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Courageous is the Word for Wheel Chair Co-Ed!". Chicago Tribune. 1960-04-24. pp. 35, 38. Retrieved 2022-05-14 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Sharon Rae Hovey Wilkin Obituary". Tribute Archive. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
- ^ Whitaker, Joseph D. (1977-10-20). "Handicapped Workers Cited for Achievements". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
- ^ United States Congress House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service Subcommittee on Civil Service (1980). Personal Assistants for Handicapped Federal Employees: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on the Civil Service of the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, Second Session, on H.R. 7466, a Bill to Amend Section 3102 of Title 5, United States Code, and Section 7 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act to Permit the Employment of Personal Assistants for Handicapped Federal Employees Both at Their Regular Duty Station and While on Travel Status, August 20, 1980. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 42–47.
- ^ a b Dean, Nicholas L. (2008-11-27). "Thankful for 50 more years | News". Spinal Cord Injury Zone!. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
- ^ "Alumni Updates" (PDF). Sigma Signs: 46. 1995–1996.
- ^ "Alumni Briefs". Sigma Signs: 40. 1965 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Homes for Busy Couples". Sigma Signs: 24–25. 1965 – via Internet Archive.