Jennings Randolph Dies at 96

Jennings Randolph Dies at 96

PHOTO/CAPTION: Senator Jennings Randolph

Jennings Randolph Dies at 96

by James Gashel

On Friday, May 8, Jennings Randolph died in a nursing home in St. Louis, Missouri,

where he had lived for approximately ten years. In the history of American politics,

Senator Randolph may be remembered best for serving the people of West Virginia as a

member of the House of Representatives from 1933 to 1947 and later as a Senator from 1958

until his retirement at the end of 1984. When he did retire, Senator Randolph was the only

member of Congress still in office after serving during President Roosevelt's first 100

days.

His legislative legacy includes leadership on behalf of the New Deal programs of the

1930's and support for building the interstate highway system from the earliest days of

its conception in the 1940's. But with all of this, Senator Randolph expressed the

greatest pride in his work to provide opportunities for blind people to become productive

and self-supporting through the operation of small businesses.

Who but Jennings Randolph could have known in 1936 that the operation of "vending

stands" by blind people in public buildings would lead to rewarding, lucrative

employment for thousands in the decades since? A measure of our respect for him is shown

in the fact that Jennings Randolph as a private citizen was named as the second recipient

of the Federation's Newel Perry award, which was established in the 1950's. We presented

him with this special recognition in 1956, although at the time he had not served in

Congress for many years.

From the day he began serving in the Senate in 1958, he displayed the Newel Perry award

in his Washington office with special pride and continued to champion our cause throughout

the remainder of his public life. He demonstrated that fact in a tangible way by

continuing to work on bills to expand the rights and opportunities for blind vendors,

culminating in the Randolph-Sheppard Act amendments of 1974.

This legislation, which is still in effect today, provides a legal priority for blind

people over all others in the operation of businesses on federal property. Proving that he

could change with the times, Senator Randolph fought successfully to scrap the concept of

blind persons' receiving vending stands in favor of far more lucrative opportunities

available in vending facilities, including vending machines, cafeterias, and other

large-scale businesses.

Much of his philosophy of government in providing support for small minorities has been

enshrined in the opening words of the Randolph-Sheppard Act, which have echoed down

through the more than six decades since its enactment. Although the language may not be of

the politically correct style often used and over-used today, the philosophy of this

law—"for the purpose of providing blind persons with remunerative employment,

enlarging the economic opportunities of the blind, and stimulating the blind to greater

efforts in striving to make themselves self-supporting"—is still sound and

up-to-date. This, for blind people, is the greatest legacy of Jennings Randolph and the

reason why he will always be remembered.