Dibner, Eric

Biography

Eric Dibner, born in 1947, enrolled in an architecture curriculum at University of California, Berkeley in 1965. After working at a construction company and an architect's office during the following summer, Dibner found that he did not enjoy drafting, preferring to think and theorize about design. While attending classes in the Fall of 1967, Dibner also began working part-time as an attendant for Scott Sorensen and John Hessler, disabled students in the Cowell Hospital Disabled Residence Program. In 1968, frustrated by his schoolwork and enthralled by the activity in Berkeley, Dibner dropped out of school and accompanied John Hessler to France to work as a live-in attendant while Hessler studied abroad.

In the fall of 1969, following his return to California, Dibner became a live-in attendant for Scott Sorensen in Berkeley. After Sorensen died a year later, Dibner worked for the University's Physically Disabled Students Program (PDSP) as a housing coordinator, also filling in for various other duties when needed. Because of his interest in architecture, Dibner became involved with the Coordinating Committee for the Removal of Architectural Barriers (CCRAB), working within the university to promote accessibility for the disabled. Dibner ascribed to the thought that people with disabilities know best what sort of accommodations work, and helped to test new accessibility measures with people from PDSP.

In 1972, Dibner began working for the Center for Independent Living (CIL), a Berkeley community organization for disabled self-help. He worked on a variety of access and housing issues for CIL including accessibility surveys of buildings and sidewalks. In 1974, Dibner worked as a live-in attendant for Hale Zukas, a leading advocate for barrier removal. Zukas became a mentor to Dibner on access issues, policy processes, and design development.

In 1975 Dibner conducted an accessibility survey of BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), and also worked on campaigns and lawsuits to remove grocery store cart barriers that made stores inaccessible. Besides working on these and other public building accessibility initiatives, Dibner also coordinated CIL's move from their University Avenue offices to a new building on Telegraph Avenue. In 1978 and 1979 Dibner worked with the Disabled Law Resource Center of CIL to provide Section 504 compliance training as well as continuing education classes on accessability. Through his work experience Dibner became known as an accessability specialist, frequently working as a consultant and speaking at conferences.

By the early 1980's CIL had many important projects but very little funding, causing the staff to be overwhelmed and underpaid. After CIL administration tried to prevent a union from forming, the staff, including Dibner, went on strike. Disillusioned, Dibner resigned from CIL in 1982. He then worked for Access California, a municipal organization in Oakland, California, and spent much of his time surveying Oakland's street corners for accessability. Dibner was also very involved with the California Association of the Physically Handicapped (CAPH), serving on various housing and executive committees, and as East Bay chapter vice president and later, president, from 1983-1984.

In 1985, Dibner returned to Maine to be closer to his family. From 1986 to 1991, he worked as an accessability specialist for a number of groups, including the independent-living organization Alpha One and the Maine Association for Handicapped Persons (MAHP). He also consulted for the Transit Authority of South Portland in order to help tackle accessability issues on public buses. In 1991, Dibner moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and took a consulting job that focused on technology-related assistance, as part of a project undertaken by the Department of Rehabilitation. Later, he worked on access issues and building codes with the Governor's Committee on Advocating for Disabled Access. Dibner returned to California in the mid-1990's, and worked for the City of Berkeley as the Disability Compliance Coordinator from 1996-2001.

From the guide to the Eric Dibner Papers, 1973-1991, 1975-1985, (The Bancroft Library.)