American disability rights advocate and political activist who had Poliomyelitis which she contracted at age three. Villines worked for both the state of Iowa and the federal government as an advocate. The Des Moines Register called her a “nationally known spokeswoman for the disabled” in 1992.
When she turned nine, she was placed in the Crippled Children’s Hospital in Iowa City, and she remained there until she was 16 years old. At the hospital, she was punished for crying. She, and other patients in the hospital were “paraded naked in front of medical students ‘as the possessors of warped and crippled bodies.'” She had 14 surgeries to improve her chances of being able to walk while she was a teenager.
Villines served on multiple committees during her career. From 1965 to 1975, she was the Executive Secretary of the Iowa Governor’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped. On the committee, she worked to educate others about what people with disabilities can do and also to work towards greater public accessibility. She was elected president of the Iowa Rehabilitation Association in 1968. In 1971, she named the chair of the women’s division for the Easter Seal Campaign in Polk County. She was honored with the National Award of Gallantry from the Easter Seal Society in 1977.
She then became the Director of Development at Iowa Lutheran Hospital in Des Moines until 1979. After that, she transferred to the Easter Seals Society of Iowa, Inc. as the Director of the Client Assistance Program from until 1991. During her time at the Easter Seals Society of Iowa, Inc., she became a motivational speaker, presenting her famous “In the Name of Love” speech to various international organizations.
In 1994, President Bill Clinton assigned her to be a member of the Purchase from People Who are Blind or Severely Disabled, where she remained for 5 years before being reassigned for another 5 years in 1999. She was invited by President George H. W. Bush to the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to be a witness.
Villines had three children. She died on 30 September 2017 at the age of 87 at Mercy Hospice in Johnston, Iowa. In 1994, Iowa state placed her into the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame.
Link to Wikipedia biography