History

1954: The Arc of Racine becomes incorporated

Ike was President. On the Waterfront was the top movie and popular TV shows were The Tonight Show, The Ed Sullivan Show and Father Knows Best. It was the first year that the Miss America Pageant was televised and the TV dinner first introduced.

More importantly it was also a year that the fight for civil rights intensified with the landmark decision in Brown vs. the Board of Education. Civil rights (or lack of) for another disenfranchised group of individuals was being discussed. The year was 1954 and The Arc of Racine, then known as the Racine County Association for Retarded Children (RCARC) became incorporated. The purpose of the organization as stated in the original incorporation papers was to “promote the general welfare” of people with disabilities and to “foster the development of integrated programs”.

Those first years of meetings around kitchen tables is where parents shared their stories, their hopes for better futures for their children and others, especially those living in institutions. The national organization (NARC) and the state organization (WARC) had already formed and the Racine group was eager to provide grassroots support to this growing, important organization. Hundreds of people attended RCARC dinners in those early years. There was great involvement back then because there was so much work to do with hope for the future as the driving force.

The next 25 years were full of activity and advances in the area of disabilities. Laws were passed that protected civil rights children with disabilities were now entitled to a free appropriate public education. It was directly because of efforts of Arc members all across the U. S. in cities and villages, like our own, that changes came about that forever changed life events for children and adults with disabilities. The parents and volunteers who began RCARC and worked hard for what many of us take for granted today, deserve our greatest respect and admiration.

Over the years, the organization’s name changed. From RCARC, it became ARC, Association for Retarded Citizens. In 1993, following the lead of the national organization our name changed to The Arc (small r and c). Although the acronym has remained the same, the letters ARC are no longer used together with Retarded Children or Citizens. Instead the name is just simply: The Arc. Although the name changed, the mission of working for equal rights and opportunities for children and adults with disabilities has not changed.