Never Took “NO” for
an Answer
Robert G.
Sampson, Disability Activist, Dies at Age 81
by Jackie Rough
Born with muscular dystrophy
in 1925, Robert Sampson was raised in Chicago shortly before the
Depression. In the financial chaos of the times, his parents lost
their home and struggled to make ends meet. It took them four years
to save enough to buy a wheelchair for young Sampson. Because of
his health problems, Sampson started school several years late, but
his teachers at the Jesse Spaulding School for the Handicapped had a strong influence
on him. They encouraged him and challenged him to succeed. “I was taught
to fight back and never to accept ‘no’ for an answer,” said
Sampson, who graduated at the top of his high school class.
Hoping to be a lawyer, Samp-son’s strong academics earned
him a scholarship. But long before there was a law to protect his
rights, the school told him he “couldn’t be an attorney
in a wheelchair,” and revoked his scholarship. Determined to
not let his disability stop him, Sampson put himself through Loyola
University and DePaul Law School. He worked nights as a hotel clerk
and switchboard operator for 40 cents an hour.
After law school he worked eight
years for the city of Chicago’s
law department. William A. Patterson, founder and chairman of United
Airlines, had heard of Sampson’s achievements and personally
offered him the opportunity to join United’s law department.
He moved up to become vice president of facilities and properties
for United’s Central Division and, in 1975, was named to the
additional post of special assistant to the chairman.
During his career at United, Sampson
was always at the forefront in pushing to hire the disabled and
helped the airline come up with ways to better serve the disabled
passenger. One project he started took inner city children and
disabled youngsters on an hour’s
ride in a Boeing 727 to see the sights of Chicago from above. Each
Wednesday during the summer, about 100 boys and girls got aboard
United Flight 001 for a trip unlike any they had ever had before.
Sampson served as a member of the
President’s Commission on
Employment of the Handicapped during five administrations. He was
also a board member of the Muscular Dystrophy Association and has
participated in numerous Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethons. He received
the Distinguished Alumnus award from DePaul University Law School
and received the FAA’s Distinguished Service award for promoting
the accessibility of aircrafts for the disabled. He was especially
proud of receiving United Airline’s highest honor, the William
A. Patterson award.
When asked about his Horatio Alger
Award, Sampson said, “It
is an honor to be a part of this organization. The work the Association
is doing to help our nation’s youth with their college educations
is outstanding. I am proud to be a part of that.”
Sampson said his life had been blessed
by having loving parents and a supportive wife and three children.
He believed that if he hadn’t been given a chance to do a job as good as or better
than the “so-called able-bodied person,” he’d have
spent most of his life in a nursing home. He said, “You have
to believe in yourself and your abilities.” ![]()
Reprinted
with permission from the Web site of the Horatio Alger Assoc.,
copyright 2005, [www.horatioalger.org/members/member_info.cfm?memberid=sam80]
