"Virtual Imprisonment. The lengths they go to stop me from going places is incredible." scibe said. "It is as if not being able to legally jail artists the way Congress did with the Hollywood Ten, they have devised ways to put artists under what amounts to virtual house arrest. The disabling accidents are just one part of this system."

The lack respect for artists with disabilities which I now saw in observing how scibe was treated made me very angry, but I did not know what to say. That she almost never complained. That she walked miles on her crutches. What she had accomplished. Yes. But I had known her before. They are two separate things. The need for people to accept people with disabilities as they are; their extraordinary capabilities. To celebrate their courageous coping with their lives. And at the same time, in cases such as scibe's, the importance of acknowledging that something was taken.

"Your work is extraordinary, " I said, "And I know how hard your life has been."

It was August 18, 1955. Seeger testified to a HUAC Subcommittee. The Committee members present were Francis Walter, Edwin Willis; and Gordon Scherer. At my suggestion, some of Seeger's testimony is printed on the wall below the painting.

Pete Seeger: "I feel that in my whole life I have never done anything of any conspiratorial nature and I resent very much and very deeply the implication of being called before this Committee that in some way because my opinions may be different from yours, or yours, Mr. Willis, or yours, Mr. Scherer, that I am any less of an American than anybody else. I love my country very deeply, sir."

Chairman Walter: "Why don't you make a little contribution toward preserving its institutions?"

Pete Seeger: "I feel that my whole life is a contribution. That is why I would like to tell you about it."

Chairman Walter: "I don't want to hear about it."