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The island of Martha’s Vineyard — a glacial moraine settled by the Wampanoag Indians, “discovered” by 17th century Europeans, and now inundated by a thriving tourist industry — has been Jabberwocky's home for fifty-eight years. The island consists of six towns, a full range of public and private services, and a seasonal population that fluctuates between 15,000 and 70,000.
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Jabberwocky emerged in the summer of 1953, when people shunned those with disabilities, services for the disabled were minimal and rights for the disabled were not even an issue. Nonetheless, Jabberwocky sprang forth.
Jabberwocky lives well beyond the borders and definitions of camp. It may have all the outward appearances and necessities of any summer camp, but step into this curious microcosm and the images of a camp quickly fade.
People with disabilities rarely achieve more than footnote status in the pages of history. They have been left out of the account because they have been left out of the culture. Jabberwocky, though, is a different culture. It is a place where disabled folks are at the center of a community rather than at the periphery.
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| Jabberwocky is a community. It has families, and extended families, and grandparents, and children. It has births, and deaths, and marriages. It has oral history, traditions, myths, and legends. It has people with a full range of abilities, skills, and interests. And these people work, play, eat, and create together. They argue and dance together. They write and cry together. And, like people in other communities, they are here year after year. A few come and go each season, but the majority are here living together every summer.
Jabberwocky is not the same old story…
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Excerpts from Jabberwocky: A Brief History of The Martha's Vineyard Cerebral Palsy Camp, Inc. by Clark Hanjian ©1989, Anniversary Edition 2003
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