Frieda Zames

Frieda Zames (October 29, 1932 – June 16, 2005) was an American disability rights activist and mathematics professor. With her sister, Doris Zames Fleischer, Zames wrote The Disability Rights Movement: From Charity to Confrontation, a historical survey that has been used as a disability rights textbook.

Life and career Zames was born on October 29, 1932, in Brooklyn and died on June 16, 2005, in Manhattan.

Zames earned an undergraduate degree from Brooklyn College where she was Phi Beta Kappa. Once the Americans with Disabilities Act took effect, Zames joined in a successful lawsuit to make the Empire State Building accessible. Zames served on the board of Disabled in Action, the New York State Independent Living Coalition, the Disabilities Network of NYC, and WBAI, a radio station. The corner of First Avenue and East 4th Street in Manhattan was named Frieda Zames Way in 2009 in her honor.