Kitty Cone

Cone was the strategist of the 1977 Section 504 sit-in. She helped build the coalition that kept more than a hundred disabled protesters inside the federal building for nearly four weeks, lining up unions, churches, civil rights groups and sign-language interpreters so the occupation could not be starved or ignored out of existence. Her planning, rather than one charismatic leader, is why the 504 protest has become a case study in how a small, determined coalition wins a policy fight.