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moments in history
When a screen star shone a spotlight

When a Hollywood and TV actor wrote a book about the life of her young child with Down
syndrome in the 1950s, parents felt they no longer had to hide their children away. Susanna
Shapland describes how a story of a short life became a turning point for parent advocacy

obin Elizabeth Rogers, the Moreover, at their autumn 1953
daughter of “singing cowboy” rodeo, Evans and Rogers were
RRoy Rogers and “queen of the delighted to see that among the
West” Dale Evans, was born with hordes of cheering children in the
Down syndrome in August 1950. audience were “hundreds of boys
She died just two days short of her and girls … with Down syndrome, all
second birthday. kinds of kids with disabilities and
After her death, Robin was handicaps”, an unusual sight at a
immortalised in Angel Unaware, time when these children were more
Evans’ account of her daughter’s life. likely to be kept hidden.
Written from the point of view of These families kept coming to the
Robin as she reports back to God safe space the Rogers had created,
about her mission on earth, the book buoyed by the experience of meeting
describes how everything – from her Western way: Roy Rogers and Dale Evans in a TV broadcast other families in the same position.
traumatic birth to her untimely death That is not to say that Angel
to her mother’s decision to return to Parents (especially mothers) were told Unaware single-handedly
work – is part of God’s plan (both parents that their desire to keep a learning-disabled destigmatised having a learning-disabled
were devout Christians). child at home was selfish and misguided, child in 1950s America. Change was
This plan was apparently to use Robin’s as it would inevitably mean husbands and already afoot, and the book was published
disability to destroy the Rogers’ pride and any “normal” children would be neglected, during an upsurge in parental advocacy
give them an appreciation for Christ’s leading to family breakup. They were groups, such as NARC. Another high-profile
suffering, and thus bring them closer to God urged to place children in institutions to person with a learning-disabled child,
– “transforming the lives of the Roy Rogers avoid this – the earlier the better to avoid novelist Pearl S Buck, had written about
family” through her “appalling handicap”. attachment forming between parents and her experience in The Child Who Never
The impact her short life had on the lives child. For all their wealth and stardom, Grew, published in 1950.
and wellbeing of not only the Rogers family the Rogers’ experience was no different. The Rogers family were also privileged
but also children with learning disabilities Angel Unaware recounts the reluctance in a way some found exclusive. When they
and their families throughout the US of embarrassed nurses to tell Evans and decided not to institutionalise Robin, they
would be evident for decades to come. Rogers about Robin’s condition at her built a house for her and her nurse on their
birth, and the awkward silences that ranch, an option not open to most people.
‘Take her home and love her’ followed any proud parental boasting. Similarly, their belief that Robin was a
When Robin was born, there was still Subsequently, they endured a barrage gift from God and they were blessed to be
much stigma attached to having a child of unfeeling advice from doctors telling part of his plan could be too abstract for
with learning disabilities. them to place Robin in an institution for those dealing with day-to-day reality.
Although the influence of America’s the sake of other family members. Nevertheless, the impact of this short,
eugenics movement had sharply declined The one striking exception was the doctor heartfelt book cannot be overestimated.
after the Second World War, the shame it who attended the birth, who urged them Angel Unaware showed that anyone, no
had created by linking learning disability to “take her home and love her. Love will matter how privileged, could have a
with various forms of social deviance had help more than anything else in a situation learning-disabled child and that child
persisted, and learning disabled children like this – more than all the hospitals and could be celebrated, without shame, at
were still seen as all the medical science in the world.” the heart of family life. n
something families So Robin was taken home, and loved.
had to keep secret. Further reading
This stigma was Roaring rodeo success Evans Rogers D (1953) Angel Unaware.
fuelled by an Believing it to be her mission to tell London: Marshall, Morgan and Scott
increased focus Robin’s story, Evans got Angel Unaware to Rogers R, Evans E (1994) Happy Trails: Our Life
on the family in press in 1953, despite rejections from Story. New York: Fireside
Garrison M (1956) The Angel Spreads Her
this period, to several publishers. It became a bestseller, Wings. The Inspiration of Angel Unaware and
which children with all royalties going to the National the Influence of the Roy Rogers Family on the
with learning Association for Retarded Children (NARC). American Home. Westwood: Revell
disabilities were Its simple message resonated strongly Noll S, Trent Jr JW (eds) (2004) Mental Orange County Archives
seen as posing with ordinary American families, as shown Retardation in America: a Historical Reader. New
a threat. by the thousands of letters Evans received. York and London: New York University Press

30 Vol 33 No 1 | Autumn 2019 Community Living www.cl-initiatives.co.uk