From Lyndon Johnson to Joe Biden: A Journey through Sixty Years of White Cane Safety Day Presidential Proclamations

by Kyle Walls

The year is 1963, the month is September. NASA prepares its Project Gemini craft for an uncrewed mission that will launch in seven months. In the world of entertainment, Elizabeth Taylor’s Cleopatra dominates the box office for the third straight month, “My Boyfriend’s Back” by The Angels and “Blue Velvet” by Bobby Vinton top the radio requests, and classic television shows The Fugitive, The Outer Limits, and Petticoat Junction, all premier. CBS becomes the first network to broadcast a half-hour national news show with the premier episode of the CBS Evening News, anchored by Walter Cronkite. In sports, the 100,000th American Major League Baseball game is played between the Washington Senators and the Cleveland Indians (Washington wins 7-2), and the Pro Football Hall of Fame opens its doors for the first time in Canton, Ohio. On the American political scene, the White House confirms in a press release that President Kennedy will be making a now-infamous trip to Dallas, Texas, later in the year, and on September 24, a long-time representative from the state of Pennsylvania, Robert Corbett, at the urging of the National Federation of the Blind, introduces House Joint Resolution 753 in Congress. The resolution reads, in its entirety:

To authorize the President to proclaim October 15 of each year as White Cane Safety Day.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President is hereby authorized to issue annually a proclamation designating October 15 as White Cane Safety Day and calling upon the people of the United States to observe such day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

It takes almost an entire year before the resolution passes the House on August 17, 1964, and is then passed by the Senate a little over a month later, on September 24, exactly one year after its introduction. Just under two weeks later, the resolution officially becomes Public Law 88-628 when it is signed by President Lyndon Johnson. On that same day, President Johnson issues the very first White Cane Safety Day proclamation stating, “A white cane in our society has become one of the symbols of a blind person's ability to come and go on his own. Its use has promoted courtesy and special consideration for the blind on our streets and highways. To make our people more fully aware of the meaning of the white cane, and of the need for motorists to exercise special care for the blind persons who carry it, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved October 6, 1964, has authorized the President to proclaim October 15 of each year as White Cane Safety Day.” And with that, an annual day to recognize blind Americans and our most widely-used mobility aid is born.

Over the next couple of years, the text of President Johnson’s White Cane Safety Day proclamations would remain largely similar to that initial version. However, in 1967, he gets a little creative and decides to recognize the driving force for the proclamation in the first place. The 1967 proclamation reads, in part, “The White Cane has become the emblem of the blind American’s determination to live the most independent, constructive life possible. Since the foundation of the National Federation for [sic] the Blind in 1940, the White Cane has symbolized the aspirations and abilities of the blind. Available to every blind American, it is his passport to self-sufficiency.”

Two years later, President Richard Nixon releases his 1969 proclamation on May 20 (the White Cane Safety Day proclamations of the late 1960s and 1970s were frequently released in the summer, and sometimes even in the spring). As the entire nation would so proudly display its determination and confidence exactly two months later with the moon landing on July 20, President Nixon uses this proclamation to declare the white cane as “A symbol of the blind person's determination to help himself and to live a normal life,” and declare that, “A blind man or woman using a white cane can travel with greater confidence and safety on the Nation’s streets.”

In 1976, as the nation observes the bicentennial celebration of its independence, President Gerald Ford chooses to focus this year’s White Cane Safety Day proclamation on the independence the tool affords to the blind. He writes, “One of the basic rights which we as Americans cherish is the freedom of each citizen to move, without barriers, about this great land. . . the white cane is both an instrument and symbol of independence. . . A pathfinder, not a crutch. . . the white cane provides the confidence to venture forth, to experience the world, and to participate fully in life.”

As the United States approaches the end of a decade marked by an exit from the controversial Vietnam conflict, the Watergate scandal, and a turbulent economy, President Jimmy Carter writes in his 1978 White Cane Safety Day proclamation that for blind people, “the white cane is an invaluable tool with which they can move about confidently and, most important, independently. . . providing assurance that the path ahead is clear and safe.” It is highly unlikely that his words are intended to be a reassuring signal to a distressed nation, but looking back on history, they almost seem that way.

In the 1980s, a decade frequently remembered for its excesses, President Ronald Reagan keeps his White Cane Safety Day Proclamation of 1985 noticeably shorter, but no less on point. He writes, “Americans admire courage and respect independence.” He goes on to proclaim that the white cane is “carried by those blind and visually impaired citizens who believe freedom and independence are meant for all Americans. The white cane tells the world that its bearer expects not pity but fairness and consideration—on the street, on the job, and everywhere Americans’ paths cross.”

As the 1980s become the 1990s, all disabled Americans have another milestone to mark along the path toward equality. In his 1990 White Cane Safety Day proclamation, President George Bush writes, “Each year, during the observance of White Cane Safety Day, we renew our commitment to eliminating physical and attitudinal barriers that continue to hinder the full participation of blind persons in our society. On this White Cane Safety Day we also celebrate the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.” The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law by President Bush less than three months before his 1990 proclamation, but certainly gives cause for some additional celebration this year.

Nine years later, as the country approaches the end of the millennium, President Bill Clinton focuses on a somber moment in Federation history in his 1999 White Cane Safety Day proclamation. He chooses to pay a fitting tribute to an iconic leader of the movement when he writes, “Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, former President of the National Federation of the Blind who died just a year ago this month, was an early advocate of the white cane and the full integration of blind people into every aspect of society. Dr. Jernigan used the white cane himself and recognized its power as a means to allow blind people to leave the confines of their homes for the outside world—to go to school and to work and to make ever-greater contributions to their communities.”

With the turn of the millennium having passed and the fears of the Y2K glitch starting to subside, the United States turns its focus forward to the prospects and promises of a new era. White Cane Safety Day begins to take on a larger meaning. It becomes less about the white cane itself and more about the people who use it. In his 2001 White Cane Safety Day proclamation, President George W. Bush writes a message of hope for Americans with disabilities: “National White Cane Safety Day . . . represents a declaration of freedom . . . The core principles of our country promise freedom, justice, and hope; and these principles should guarantee the opportunity for every disabled American to live full and productive lives. The new millennium brings with it a renewed pledge to ensure that no citizen is prevented from realizing the American dream because of a disability.”

The United States would elect a new president to end the 2000s and usher in the 2010s, and at the beginning of the new decade, White Cane Safety Day would also get a new name to reflect the updated focus of the day begun under the previous administration. President Barack Obama, the nation’s 44th president, and the ninth president to issue annual White Cane Safety Day proclamations, renames October 15, 2011, to Blind Americans Equality Day. He writes in the opening paragraph of his proclamation: “Generations of blind and visually impaired Americans have dedicated their passion and skills to enhancing our national life—leading as public servants, penning works of literature, lending their voice to music, and inspiring as champions of sport. On Blind Americans Equality Day, we celebrate the achievements of blind and visually impaired Americans and reaffirm our commitment to advancing their complete social and economic integration.” The name change sticks, and October 15 of every year going forward is recognized as Blind Americans Equality Day.

Nearly one-fifth of the way into the twenty-first century, and more than fifty years since the first proclamation, the focus of Blind Americans Equality Day has now fully shifted from a day to celebrate the white cane as a symbol of independence and freedom to one that recognizes the potential of all blind Americans if granted equality and opportunity. In his 2018 proclamation, President Donald Trump renews the nation’s focus on the achievements of blind Americans and the importance of ensuring equality when he states, “On Blind Americans Equality Day, we recognize the contributions that Americans who are blind and visually impaired make to our country, and the value of creating greater opportunities for all people to live full and independent lives. Despite facing challenges, Americans who are blind and visually impaired continue to achieve their dreams and strengthen our communities.”

As we approach the end of our sixty-year trip through the history of these Blind Americans Equality Day presidential proclamations, it seems only fitting to use President Joe Biden’s 2022 proclamation as our last stop. In 2022, President Biden uses his proclamation to state both what the day has come to mean and remind us all how it came to be in the first place when he writes: “On Blind Americans Equality Day, we celebrate the essential contributions of blind and low-vision Americans, whose talents and strength shape every industry and every community. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first Presidential Proclamation honoring the independent spirit of blind Americans and calling on us all to help build a more accessible Nation.”

And with that, we have reached our destination. Our journey spanned six decades, eleven presidents, sixty individual proclamations, and countless noteworthy events and milestones throughout the course of modern American history. But this story is far from over. We have merely reached the end of one volume and the beginning of another. For this year, as we celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the first White Cane Safety Day proclamation, we look forward to sixty more, and dream of the achievements of the organized blind that are yet to come. We wonder how those will be forever immortalized in the seventieth, eightieth, ninetieth, or one hundredth proclamations, and how we will reflect on those future milestones every October 15th. Happy Blind Americans Equality Day, Federationists!