Making Hay

In 1993, Dr. Jernigan wrote about "making hay" in a Kernel Book of the same
name. One of the major concerns of the blind (as is true for the rest of the population of
America) is how to earn a little money. In doing this, Dr. Jernigan taught himself an
important lesson-one that would stand him, and the blind students he taught, in good stead
for decades thereafter. Here it is:

To Park or Not To Park

TO PARK OR NOT TO PARK

by Kenneth Jernigan

As those who have read previous Kernel books know, I have been blind
since birth and grew up on a farm in Tennessee. After attending the state school for the
blind and going to college for undergraduate and graduate degrees, I returned to the
Tennessee School for the Blind for four years as a teacher, hoping not only to teach
something useful to blind youngsters but also (if I could) to serve as a role model and a
stimulus to accomplishment.

To Park or Not To Park

In the same year, 1992, he edited As the Twig is Bent. In this volume he spoke
of the need to think of blind children, to plan for their future and to help them (and
blind adults) gain maturity. The "Editor’s Introduction" and his article,
"To Park or Not to Park," contain the following information.

Competing on Terms of Equality

In 1992, Dr. Jernigan spoke of his own changing attitude about blindness in an article
entitled, "Competing on Terms of Equality" from the Kernel Book The Freedom
Bell. This is what he said:

GROWING UP BLIND IN TENNESSEE DURING THE DEPRESSION

Growing Up Blind in Tennessee During the Depression

by Kenneth Jernigan

Editor's Intro to What Color Is the Sun by Kenneth Jernigan

Part 3: Sewing the Seeds--Creating the Kernel Books

Part III:
Plain Talk and Home Truths:
Sewing the Seeds-Creating
the Kernel Books

Kenneth Jernigan: The Master, The Mission, The Movement

The Definition of Blindness

These thoughts caused much speculation about the nature of blindness. In response to a
request for a definition of the term, Dr. Jernigan identified the essential
characteristics. Here is the definition of blindness:

The Federation at Fifty

Part I: Beyond the Barricades: Marching into the Millennium

Dr. Kenneth Jernigan understood the meaning of history. He took delight in studying and
teaching it, and he was amused by the notion that he himself was a significant factor in
making it. In 1990, at the convention of the National Federation of the Blind, on the
occasion of our 50th anniversary, he delivered an outstanding address
illuminating the causes that founded the National Federation. This address is entitled
"The Federation at Fifty."