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Question for Katie & Steve
What is the history of
the wheelchair?
Thank you for asking a
question that I didn’t know the immediate answer to. But I knew the
people to help me investigate and find your answer. I called Paraquad, an
independent living center and talked to Sara, the information and referral
specialist.
According to
WheelchairNet in Pittsburgh, PA the earliest found image of a wheelchair
was in the 6th century in China followed by King Phillip of
Spain who used an elaborate "rolling chair" in the 16th century. In 1700 King Louis XIV used a "roulette" that turned
him around while he recovered from an operation.
The first chair to
resemble today’s wheelchairs was developed in the 18th century with two large front wooden wheels and one caster in the back.
Then in the 19th and 20th centuries, following the
American Civil War and World War I, the first wheelchairs were built with
wooden frames, wicker seats, adjustable arm rests, foot rests and large
spoked wheels.
In 1894 a US patent was
filed for the first self-propelled wheelchair and in 1932 Herbert Everest
(an injured mining engineer) and Harold Jennings (a mechanical engineer)
designed the first folding chair and formed the now popular company
E&J. Sam Duke also developed a folding chair at the same time. In the
1950’s E&J developed the first powered wheelchair. They followed the
development of transistor-controlled motors and adapted their interest by
adding a motor to their manual wheelchair at the same time.
Wheelchair sports
started taking place in 1952 in England and the first Paralympics took
place in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. In 1975 Bob Hall completed the Boston
Marathon in a manual wheelchair.
The 70’s and 80’s
brought on lighter weight chairs with designs specific to wheelchair
sports. The 80’s gave wheelers microprocessor-controlled wheelchairs,
which allowed for the customization of controls, to meet specific
"driving" needs. Finally the 90’s established a revolution in
powered wheelchairs based on design, style, range and method of travel.
Thanks again for the
question. I learned a lot and I hope you did too!
Katie R. Banister
