National Organization on Disability

The National Organization on Disability (N.O.D.) promotes the full and equal participation of America's 54 million men, women and children with disabilities in all aspects of life. N.O.D. was founded in 1982 at the conclusion of the United Nations International Year of Disabled Persons. Funded entirely by private sector contributions, N.O.D. is the only national disability network organization concerned with all disabilities, all age groups and all disability issues.

On January 5, 2001, the National Organization on Disability’s five -year campaign to erect a statue of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his wheelchair at the FDR memorial in Washington, D.C. came to a successful conclusion. On that day, President Clinton unveiled and dedicated the “Wheelchair Statue” at a ceremony in front of the memorial. N.O.D. President Alan Reich and N.O.D. Chairman Michael Deland joined disability advocates from around the nation and members of the Roosevelt family, including FDR’s granddaughter Anne Roosevelt, at the ceremony.

The campaign to erect the statue, chaired by Deland and Roosevelt, raised $1.65 million in private funds over five years. The life-size statue was designed and executed in bronze by sculptor Robert Graham. To learn more about N.O.D. and about its other projects and programs, visit www.nod.org.