Determination
Printer-friendly version
Plymell graduated from California State University–Sacramento in 1960 and then came to the UO to study law. “It was hard,” she remembers. “But I really enjoyed my time in Fenton Hall. I was not sure Dean Hollis would let me in because I didn’t know what he would think about a disabled student coming to the University of Oregon School of Law, but he didn’t seem to have any qualms whatsoever about letting me in.”
After graduating in 1963, Plymell became one of the first women to practice law in Eugene and built a successful practice, despite the physical obstacles. Daily activities that able-bodied people take for granted require extra time and careful planning for Plymell. Elevator buttons are unreachable (her solution: carry a stick), doors are too heavy to open, and parking spaces are far away.
What’s her greatest challenge? “Selling myself to able-bodied individuals,” says Plymell. “People want to be as far away from disability as they can be. They think ‘I am not affected with a disability, so therefore it doesn’t touch and concern me.’”
