Biography
Pauline Portugalo was an unemployed secretary with a spinal disability who helped organize New York City’s League of the Physically Handicapped. On May 29, 1935, she joined the sit-in at Emergency Relief Bureau headquarters demanding access to relief employment for disabled workers. She remained with Hyman Abramowitz and Morris Dolinsky until June 6, when the three were carried out on stretchers. The league continued demonstrating for jobs and challenging the government’s exclusion of disabled applicants.
