October 1946
Laura Sparks Blossfeld, a Bergen County mother of a child with I/DD, writes a letter to the editor of the
Bergen Evening Record
suggesting
“…each parent can ultimately help his own child by doing something to help all children…..Therefore, I suggest an organization for all parents…..[to] get together and form what may well prove to be the first chapter in a nationwide organization.”
December 1946
After numerous phone calls and letters from similarly concerned parents, a meeting was arranged at the Blossfeld home.
June 1947
The first general meeting of 41 concerned parents was held at the Paterson YMCA, where they voted to form
The Parent’s Group
. Membership was limited to parents of children with I/DD but other interested persons would be welcome.
September 1948
Two hundred parents meet at St. Mary’s School in Essex County as part of
The Parent’s Group Expansion Committee
activities.
October 1948
Laura Blossfeld edits the first issue of
The Parents’ Voice
, a monthly newsletter with the motto
“There is a limit to what we alone can do for our individual children; but there is no limit to what we as a group can eventually do…”
March 1949
The combined expansion committees of the Bergen-Passaic and Essex Units hold the first statewide meeting, with more than 130 parents from 14 counties attending.
May 1949
The statewide association is formed to coordinate efforts of local groups and act as a liaison between the local units and state government.
June 1949
The first State Council of
The New Jersey Parents Group
is elected. Judge Morris Dobrin becomes the first president.
