PHOTOS: Fight for disability rights, propelled nationally by ADAPT, was born decades ago in Denver

Kenn Bisio, The Denver Post
Two disabled demonstrators sit near RTD buses on July 5, 1978, near the intersection of Colfax Avenue and Broadway in Denver. They were among more than 30 persons who barricaded two buses to demand accessibility to transportation.
John Prieto, The Denver Post
Police Patrolman K. A. Wilkinson, left, and Policewoman H. A. Rodriguez, right, talk with an unidentified young woman near Colfax Avenue and Broadway on July 5, 1978. About 30 disabled persons participated in the protest in which two Regional Transportation District buses were barricaded by wheelchairs. A major traffic jam and three arrests resulted. Colorado Coalition of Disabled Citizens said it was protesting RTD's "discrimination" in not providing transportation for the disabled.
Glen Martin, The Denver Post
Four demonstrators sleep in the street the morning of July 6, 1978, after spending the night blocking two Regional Transportation District buses near the of corner of East Colfax Avenue and Lincoln Street. They were among about 30 persons who maintained an overnight vigil to dramatize the need for greater accessibility to public transportation for the disabled. The buses, which were stopped and barricaded by about 30 persons early Wednesday, were freed Thursday morning. The barricade has served its purpose, said Wade Blank.
Ed Maker, The Denver Post
Two members of the Atlantis community are wheeled into the special voter precinct set up for the Sept. 13, 1978, primary at 619 S. Broadway by the Denver Election Commission. It's a first for such a precinct.
John Prieto, The Denver Post
Members of the Atlantis Community block a doorway during their sit-in on Sept. 13, 1978, at the offices of the Regional Transportation District to protest the handling of public transportation funds for the disabled. The sit-in coincided with a federal public hearing Wednesday on proposed regulations for the nation's transportation system and services for the disabled. Some of demonstrators who invaded the bus system offices Wednesday were among protesters who gained attention in July by surrounding and blocking buses with their wheelchairs.
Ernie Leyba, The Denver Post
U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., is greeted on March 23, 1978, at the airport by Atlantis community residents. The senator came to Colorado to boost the re-election efforts of U.S. Sen. Floyd Haskell.
Duane Howell, The Denver Post
An unidentified member of the Atlantis Community for the disabled is led out of Regional Transportation District maintenance facilities at 350 S. Santa Fe Drive on Jan. 6, 1981. Between 25 to 30 members of the group protested for the third straight day, trying to persuade RTD to equip 89 buses scheduled to arrive in 1983 with wheelchair lifts. Protesters were escorted outside by police after spokesman Bob Conrad expressed his concerns to RTD official Roy Stanaway.
John Sunderland, Denver Post file
George Roberts, left, and Les Hubbard bludgeon a curb in protest on July 1, 1980. Other members of the Atlantis Community surround them in a demonstration against an obstacle to their mobility.
Ernie Leyba, The Denver Post
Glenn Kopp, left, and Wade Blank debate with John Simpson, right, about accessibility issues for the disabled on Sept. 22, 1978. The debate was sponsored by a Metropolitan State College class, which taped it for broadcast.
Ernie Leyba, The Denver Post
Atlantis Community residents wait outside a broadcast room on Sept. 22, 1978, during the taping of a debate between Glenn Kopp and Wade Blank and John Simpson, regarding accessibility issues for the disabled. The debate was sponsored by a Metropolitan State College class. During the debate, Atlantis Community residents had to wait in the hall, where they couldn't hear the debate.
Denver Post archive photo
Wendy Thompson and her husband Larry talking to Wade Blank, right, on Nov. 10, 1981.
Lyn Alweis, The Denver Post
Protesters gather on Oct. 24, 1983, outside the Hilton Hotel where Elizabeth Dole spoke; Bob Conrad from ADAPT, Denver is at left. The sign, at right, belongs to Dan Mosley of Cripple Creek.
Brian Brainerd, The Denver Post
Atlantis member Beverly Furnice, 41, displays a sign during a Nov. 25, 1984, PUC meeting. She and about 20 of the advocates of accessibility for the disabled wanted to increase awareness of the difficulty in traveling via Greyhound or Trailways buses.
Lyn Alweis, The Denver Post
Mel Conrardy uses a RTD lift to get off of a bus on March 1, 1987, at the corner of East Colfax and Colorado Boulevard. He works at Atlantis. Conrardy had polio at age 16 in 1952.

By Patrick Traylor | ptraylor@denverpost.com | The Denver Post

PUBLISHED: July 4, 2017 at 7:01 a.m. | UPDATED: July 4, 2017 at 5:07 p.m.

In the early morning of Wednesday, July 5, 1978, protesters waited for an RTD bus. It rolled up to a stop at Broadway and Colfax Avenue, one of the busiest intersections in the state. Within seconds, it was swarmed as people in wheelchairs blocked the front and back.

The group, then called Atlantis, had been talking to RTD for more than a year trying to get wheelchair lifts on all buses. A new fleet had just been released but none were accessible. People were angry.

Another bus pulled behind the first. Protesters surrounded it, too, locking both in place. Traffic stalled for miles. Police of increasing rank would come, demanding the group dispersed. But the protesters — known as the Gang of Nineteen – didn’t budge for two days. Not until RTD agreed to add lifts. It was the first public transit agency in the nation to do so.

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