Ray Bloomer: NPS Accessibility Advocate

This article was developed from three oral history interviews with Raymond Bloomer that Perri Meldon conducted in 2018 for her master’s thesis research about the history of accessibility in the National Park Service. Meldon donated the interviews to the collection, “Telling Our Own Untold Stories: Civil Rights in the National Park Service Oral History Project." Recordings and transcripts are archived at Harpers Ferry Center. Meldon recorded the interviews over the phone, so you may have to listen closely to audio excerpts.

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Finding His Calling

When Ray Bloomer joined the National Park Service at Independence National Historical Park in 1976, he was the first blind person to be hired as an interpretive ranger. As a ranger who navigated Independence Hall by memory and with use of a cane, Bloomer attracted national publicity, including an appearance on the game show “To Tell the Truth.” The Philadelphia site was also where he found a career and calling—to make NPS sites and programs accessible for all and advocate for the rights of NPS employees with disabilities.

Years later, Bloomer discovered that the chief of visitor services at Independence Park had hesitated to hire him because he was blind. She had no doubt that his historical knowledge and presentation skills qualified him for the job. “But she just did not believe that a blind person could fulfill all the duties,” Bloomer learned. “That seemed to be the only barrier. She just could not imagine that a blind person could actually do that job.” Toward the end of the job interview, she thanked Bloomer and promised to let him know whether or not he got the job.

• Ray Bloomer: Surpassing Expectations

  
  

  Ray Bloomer shares a story involving a hat and his interview to be an interpretive ranger at Independence National Park, recorded in a 2018 oral history interview conducted by Perri Meldon.

  Credit / Author:

  NPS Park History Program

  Date created:

  10/14/2021

  Audio Transcript

  BLOOMER: So I left. And this is the way this was related to me later was that she looked down at her desk and realized that--I wore a hat at the time--I left my hat on the end of her desk. She just assumed that she could quickly run downstairs and give it to me before I exited the building. When she got down to the bottom of the steps, she asked the receptionist, ‘Is there a man who is blind here?’ They said, well, no, he left. She felt that was awfully quick. Stepped out the door, assuming she could see what direction I went in, and she didn’t see me at all. So she picked what direction she would try to chase me down. Fortunately, it was the right direction. And in about three blocks she finally caught up with me and said, “Oh, here, you forgot your hat.” I apologized for having left it behind and said thank you. And the way the story was related was that by the time she got back to her office she realized that if I could get away from her that quickly, that I got the job. (laughter)

An Advocate for Visitors with Disabilities

Quickly, Bloomer became attuned to the sensibilities of Independence Park visitors with disabilities. At the Liberty Bell Pavilion, for example, he noticed that nondisabled rangers often spoke to the spouse or companion of a person with a visible disability, while ignoring that person altogether. Bloomer knew exactly how it felt to be ignored. Before long he was training his colleagues about how best to address individuals with disabilities, reviewing which buildings and programs were accessible, and creating documents to inform rangers about accessibility at the park.

Ray Bloomer reads a sign in front of a three-dimensional model of the Jefferson Memorial.

Courtesy of Raymond Bloomer

Training became a hallmark of Bloomer’s career. He expanded accessibility course offerings when he moved to Boston National Historical Park, a new NPS unit whose managers wanted to make its facilities and programs accessible from the start. Soon his work on behalf of persons with disabilities generated interest throughout the North Atlantic Region and accessibility became a full-time job.

It Was Serendipity

Bloomer arrived at the National Park Service at a fortuitous time. In the 1960s and 1970s, disability rights activists successfully championed federal legislation that recognized the civil rights of persons with disabilities. Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act as amended prohibited discrimination against people with disabilities in programs that received federal financial assistance; in 1978 President Jimmy Carter signed an executive order extending its reach to include all entities of the federal government. At the same time, NPS leaders were taking a new interest in making parks accessible. Before long, Bloomer began to lead Service-wide trainings for interpretive rangers from all over the country and was invited to represent the NPS at national meetings about accessibility.

• Ray Bloomer: It Was Serendipity

  
  

  In a 2018 oral history interview, Ray Bloomer reflects on how he came to be a leader in NPS accessibility training and awareness in the 1970s.

  Credit / Author:

  NPS Park History Program

  Date created:

  10/14/2021

  Audio Transcript

  BLOOMER: I did not go into the Park Service with this in mind at all. My intent was that I would be a park ranger interpreter. It was serendipity, in a way. I mean, the fact that I just happened to have seen and recognized the need to interact differently with people with disabilities was just something that I pursued.

In 1979, the NPS formalized its commitment to accessibility. It created a new division to address the needs of persons with disabilities, headed by Dave Park, a recreational therapist by training. Bloomer collaborated with the national office as the courses he offered multiplied. At his urging, parks in the North Atlantic Region appointed accessibility coordinators to prioritize the needs of visitors with disabilities when they planned programs and new facilities.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Bloomer’s work with park planners expanded. One high-profile project involved the renovation and restoration of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. When disability rights advocates expressed concerns about accessibility, Bloomer encouraged the NPS to listen to their recommendations. Over several years, disabled consultants reviewed construction plans and exhibit designs to ensure that people with sensory, cognitive, and physical disabilities could enjoy the sites. “I think it was a great relationship,” Bloomer said, “and it was a really good example of getting that consumer involvement by people with disabilities.” The partnership resulted in what he describes as a “model of accessibility for the Park Service.”

From Laws to Policies to Practices

The 1990s were a turning point for disability rights and for Bloomer’s career. The Americans with Disabilities Act, passed in 1990, codified goals for which activists had fought for years. Discrimination against a person with disabilities was now a violation of federal law. Yet ensuring that government agencies and private businesses offered equal opportunities in the areas of employment, education, housing, transportation, and other aspects of life required constant advocacy and vigilance.

Ray Bloomer stands at an accessible interpretive exhibit that combines a visual and audio display.

Courtesy of Raymond Bloomer

In 1992 Bloomer moved to a new duty station at the National Center on Accessibility at Indiana University, an NPS partner. As the Director of Education and Technical Assistance, he does the painstaking work of teaching, writing guidelines and regulations, and building alliances. Bloomer joined the U. S. Access Board’s Federal Regulatory Negotiating Committee, which helped to set standards for outdoor activities including beaches, trails, campgrounds, picnic areas, and scenic overlooks. Heightened accessibility standards mean more opportunities for people with and without disabilities to enjoy park resources and participate in all programs, including walks, talks, and tours. Today, visitors to parks like World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, Gulf Islands National Seashore, the White House Visitor Center, and the redesigned Gateway Arch National Park benefit from Bloomer’s expertise in accessibility.

Most people recognize physical accessibility, but they are slower to grasp programmatic accessibility. “For many, many years,” Bloomer said, “it was very, very easy for people to understand architectural standards. You go to the book and if a ramp was not supposed to exceed a certain slope, it was easy to identify. Doorways had to be X wide. All the elements that are in the architectural standards are very easy to identify. Program access has a greater effect on people with sensory, intellectual, and cognitive disabilities in ways that are not as easy to understand as it is for individuals with physical disabilities.”

In 1999, NPS accessibility specialists asked park superintendents and managers to rate accessibility at their sites. Most perceived their parks to be far more accessible than they really were. When asked if they offered “things like captioned films, assistive listening systems, alternative formats, tactile experiences—most of them said ‘no, they didn’t have that.’” The study revealed that NPS personnel equated accessibility with ramps and grab bars, and how much they still needed to learn about making films, exhibits, and other interpretive programs accessible to a wide variety of visitors.

That’s why Bloomer hammers home the importance of education by leading workshops ranging in topics from historic preservation to universal design and outdoor recreation. These trainings encourage parks to evaluate their programs, services, and activities and find the funding to eliminate barriers.

Taking the Long View

When Perri Meldon ended her interviews with Bloomer, she asked him to identify his greatest achievements. He could have named official recognitions—the 2009 NPS National Accessibility Leadership Achievement Award or the 2010 John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Award for Excellence in Accessibility Leadership. He might have highlighted specific accomplishments—numerous consulting assignments with prestigious universities or advocating for the rights of his colleagues as a co-founder of the NPS Employees for the Advancement of Persons with Disabilities Employee Resource Group. Instead, he took the long view.

His greatest success? He persisted.

• Ray Bloomer: Persistance and Progress

  
  

  Ray Bloomer shares what he considers to be his greatest personal success and the gradual changes he has seen - and influenced - during his National Park Service career.

  Credit / Author:

  NPS Park History Program

  Date created:

  10/14/2021

  Audio Transcript

  BLOOMER: The fact that I haven’t given up. (laughter) I don’t say that being totally facetious. I think that I’ve had many people over the years ask me how have I been able to maintain the level of passion that I hope that I still have. I think one of the reasons is because I have seen change take place over the years. I know that it’s incremental. And it may be, as I mentioned earlier, a bit on the glacial side. It might be slow in coming. But it still progresses. I know that we’ve got a long way to go, and it’s going to take the involvement of many people to achieve it. But I feel that I’ve played my part. I feel that I have influenced many people over the years. I hope to still be able to continue to do that, so that they will do their part.
  
  I can still remember days when I would be traveling in a city with somebody who’s a wheelchair user. And with me being blind, I would have a hand on their wheelchair. We were going down the street between the first lane of traffic and parked cars, because we couldn’t get a wheelchair up on the sidewalk. We would do that for blocks on end, until we got to the address where we needed to be, and I would assist that person up on the sidewalk. Today you go in cities and it’s very rare that you find curb corners without a curb ramp. So we’ve come a long way. Still have a long way to go.

Ray Bloomer uses his fingertips to read an interpretive wayside.

Courtesy of Raymond Bloomer

Lu Ann Jones is the oral history program coordinator for the National Park Service Park History Program in Washington, DC. Learn more at the NPS Oral History Website.