A Tribute to Jacquilyn Billey

by Carolyn Dodd

From the Editor: This contribution from Carolyn is one I feared we might not get, and if we had not, the tribute that appears here might never have come about. Jacquilyn Billey was very active in the 80s and early 90s, but finding someone who felt they knew her well enough to do justice to her work was difficult.

Carolyn Dodd spent most of her life as a teacher, but when she decided to change schools, she encountered discrimination and turned to Jacquie and the NFB. Carolyn has been retired for about eighteen years, but she continues by teaching English as a second language and helping those new in the country to study for and pass their tests to become citizens. When I asked Carolyn for a picture, she said she did not want this to be about her but about Jacquie, so here is her article:

Jacquilyn Billey left us on April 10th of this year. Her joyous, selfless spirit caused her to give immeasurably to the National Federation of the Blind. Jacquilyn hailed from Wentworth, South Dakota, where she grew up on her family farm, chewing corn [on the cob], milking cows, and watching the crops grow.

Her first job, at the age of twelve, was working as a switchboard operator at the Wentworth telephone office. She graduated from South Dakota State University. Her fearless energy and ambition took her to New York City where she worked as a teacher and earned a master’s degree in special education at Hunter College. It was there in the early 60s that she met John Billey. They were married in 1963 and became the proud parents of two daughters, Andrea and Sarah. Jacquie taught in Newark, New Jersey, throughout the sixties.

In the 1970s, the Billeys moved to Connecticut where Jacquie initiated and directed a program to train and prepare adults with intellectual disabilities for employment. Consequently, many of these adults worked in mailrooms, cafeterias, supermarkets, etc., as successful employees.

It was in 1971 that the National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut came into existence. I met Jacquie in the early 80s. I was genuinely struck by her engaging, exuberant presence, and we became fast friends. We had many telephone conversations and group meetings. There was no email, Facebook, or texting back then.

Jacquie was president of the Connecticut Affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind from 1984 to 1990. She tirelessly oversaw an extensive fundraising and awareness effort that helped members through scholarships, learning Braille, cane travel, attending college, going to state and national conventions of the National Federation of the Blind, and obtaining needed equipment for their education and careers.

Many of us in the Federation attended and testified at hearings at the Connecticut State Capitol to promote and support legislation which would improve opportunities for the blind. We did so in Washington, DC, annually, where we met with our US senators and representatives for the same purposes.

Jacquilyn visited almost every state in the country, building chapters for the Federation where none existed. This was her mission as she travelled extensively with her white cane—sometimes a challenge but always a symbol of independence.

Jacquilyn received the Jacobus tenBroek Award from the National Federation of the Blind in recognition of her dedication, sacrifice, and commitment on behalf of the blind of our nation.

In the early 1990s, Jacquilyn was ready to set down roots again and took a position as a regional coordinator at the Roswell office of the Commission for the Blind in New Mexico. She worked tirelessly to support blind people in their education and career plans. She also embraced the culture of the Southwest, cooking with Hatch chili peppers and listening to the opera in Santa Fe.

Finally, I would like to express my devotion and in particular my gratitude for the support that I personally received, as did so many others, when an attempt was made to deny me a teaching position I had been offered. Jacquilyn Billey and the National Federation of the Blind arranged for an advocate to accompany me at a meeting in Hartford, Connecticut. When my qualifications and experience were reviewed, they were accepted. Words cannot adequately explain how affirming the Federation’s support was to me again. My blindness was not an obstacle.

Although I write this in sadness and grief in the loss of a loyal and devoted friend, fond memories are forever of one who gave her all to our beloved National Federation of the Blind.