Keith Armstrong was a disabled activist and artist who lived In Somers Town Camden, London..

Armstrong campaigned throughout the 1990s and 2000s with the Disabled People’s Direct Action Network (DAN), whose campaigning led to ramps in buses and improvements to Tube and train access, as well as the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act in 1995.

Overview – audio guide

Background

Keith contracted polio during infancy. This disease is caused by a virus that invades the nervous system and can cause paralysis. In his teens, he could just about walk, but at the age of 20 he spent an entire year hospitalised, undergoing complex back surgery. He would spend the rest of his life on crutches and, increasingly, in a wheelchair.

Somers Town

Armstrong lived in Somers Town throughout his adult life, and was active in the local community as a member of Tenants Right to Unite in Somers Town (TRUST), Somers Town Community Association and Churchway Tenants Association. He co-ordinated the legal defence group ‘Defend the 14 Campaign’ from 1974 to 75, joined the Save the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital for Women campaign in 1976, and supported Rock Against Sexism in 1980. He was also an active member of the Camden Community Law Centre, and a founding member of the Liberation Network of People with Disabilities, established in 1979. In 1985 he took part in the National Union of Journalist’s initiative ‘Campaign for Real People’ which sought to address the representation of people with disabilities in the media. The following year, he stood for election in Somers Town Ward, Camden Council, under the banner ‘Accessible Labour’.

‘Semi-professional musician, writer, artist, poet and transport consultant’.

– Keith Armstrong

RUHUMAN?

RUHUMAN is an exhibition of his typewriter artworks, which our museum run over 2023 and 2024. Here is an audio guide.

Introduction – audio guide

Keith’s work included music.

7 inch singles

Video