“A summer camp for the handicapped run by hippies.” That’s a description of Camp Jened, a summer camp located in upstate New York in the 1970s. It was a place for teens with all kinds of disabilities — to spend time together. They played baseball and guitar, made out in the woods.
Some of the Jened campers later teamed up to force big changes in civil rights law, culminating in the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act.
This story is told in a new Netflix documentary called “Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution.” It’s the latest documentary from Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground.