INKPRINT EDITION
VOICE OF THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
The National Federation of the Blind is not an organization speaking for the blind--it is the blind speaking for themselves
N.F.B. Headquarters
2652 Shasta Road, Berkeley 8, Calif.
MAY ISSUE 1960
THE BRAILLE MONITOR
Published monthly in Braille and distributed free to the blind by the National Federation of the Blind, 605 South Few Street, Madison 3, Wisconsin.
Inkprint edition produced and distributed by the National Federation of the Blind, 2652 Shasta Road, Berkeley 8, California. Subscription rate--$3.00 per year.
EDITOR: GEORGE CARD, 605 South Few Street, Madison, Wisconsin.
News items should be addressed to the Editor. Changes of address and subscriptions should be sent to the Berkeley headquarters of the National Federation of the Blind.
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BRAILLE MONITOR
(May, 1960)
House Committee Reports on Disability Insurance
by Jacobus tenBroek
Disability Fair Hearings and the Right to Know
by Jacobus tenBroek
The Means Test in Vocational Rehabilitation
by Russell Kletzing
Hope Deferred: A Review of Reviews
by
John Taylor
Rehabilitation Proposal Poses Severe Setback for Blind of Oregon
by
Stanhope Pier
The Movement for Abolition of Residence Requirements
by
Jacobus tenBroek
Knights Templar Program
by
Clyde Ross
New "Right to Organize" Law Pays Off in Pennsylvania
by
Walter Moran
Alaska Makes Forty-Seventh
by
Floyd Matson
by Jacobus tenBroek
The need for substantial liberalization of the federal disability program--with respect particularly to age limitations, unemployability, fair hearing and appeals procedures, and the interpretation of sheltered employment--has received encouraging emphasis in the newly published report of a congressional subcommittee studying the disability program.
Released under the title 'Administration of the Social Security Disability Insurance Program," the preliminary report was submitted by a special Subcommittee on the Administration of Social Security Laws appointed last year by the House Ways and Means Committee. Members of the subcommittee, under the chairmanship of Representative Burr P. Harrison of Virginia, include the following congressmen: A. S. Herlong, Florida; William J. Green, Pennsylvania; John C. Watts, Kentucky; Lee Metcalf, Montana; Thomas B. Curtis, Missouri; Jackson E. Betts, Ohio, and Albert H. Bosch, New York.
The report of the subcommittee is the fruit of extensive hearings and investigations conducted last fall. Among the numerous organizations presenting testimony at the hearings was the National Federation of the Blind, represented by John Nagle. That our arguments were not without effect is evidenced by the fact that the NFB's testimony was twice referred to by name in the report.
Concentrating upon "certain problem areas" in the disability insurance program under the Social Security Act, the subcommittee report was broadly critical of discretionary and arbitrary practices on the part of the administering Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and its subordinate Bureau of Old Age and Survivors Insurance-- as reflected in "the persistent complaints as to the strict interpretation of the act, and the amount of time consumed in making a disability determination and in the appeals process."
The constructive attitude of the report is illustrated in its contrast of "ability to do a job versus ability to get a job." Noting that the Bureau of OASI has defined employability for program purposes solely in terms of ability to do a job, without regard for other factors such as discrimination which may hamper the employment of the disabled, the report emphasized that disability determinations should "be carried out in as realistic a manner as possible, and that theoretical capacity in a severely impaired individual can be somewhat meaningless if it cannot be translated into an ability to compete in the open labor market. The subcommittee believes that the Department should make a thorough study of this situation to see if criteria can be developed which retain the basic emphasis of the program on major medical impairment but at the same time allow for a more realistic assessment where there are multiple bars to employment, e.g., age, employer bias in hiring, and other factors that limit job opportunity." The subcommittee's emphasis upon various factors connected with disability which prevent the handicapped person from getting a job, as well as those which keep him from doing the job if he does get it, embodies a principle of the greatest importance. The principle may subsequently be lost in the departmental study which the committee has recommended; but, on the other hand, the committee itself may well continue to be a force for constructive development in this area.
It might be pointed out that some federal judges have interpreted the language of the act to mean that "substantial gainful activity" will in effect be different for various individuals and that it cannot be equated with the concept of being unable to perform any gainful work. For instance, Judge Kaufman of the southern district of New York has declared: "Even assuming that plaintiff was physically capable of engaging in clerical work it does not necessarily follow that he was able 'to engage in any substantial gainful activity.' " The subcommittee remarked in its report that "implicit in this criterion is that the gainful work be commensurate with the plaintiff's educational attainments, training and experience." It is true, however, that Judge Kaufman's opinion is a minority view at variance with the rulings of other judges as well as with the policy of the Bureau of OASI.
The controversial issue of whether sheltered-shop employment is to be regarded under the act as "substantial gainful activity" was discussed by the subcommittee at the request of a representative of the National Federation of the Blind. The subject was treated with a degree of liberality and sympathy for the condition of sheltered workers conspicuously at variance with prevailing administrative practice. The report stated: "The subcommittee is not convinced at this time that it would be desirable to assume that work in a sheltered workshop per se indicates inability to engage in 'substantial gainful activity.' The Department maintains that the nature of such employment varies greatly and blanket exception would infringe on the policy of deciding each disability case on its own individual merits. The subcommittee believes, however, that the criteria which govern the terms 'sheltered work,' 'made work,' or 'subsidies' should be put into published regulations at the earliest possible time. This is another illustration of an area where the basic substantive guides are contained in the confidential manual and are not available to the claimant.... Many of these people are unable to develop the skill and efficiency needed to earn more than negligible amounts or to qualify for employment outside the sheltered workshop. It should be a rare case in which a severely impaired individual who can market his skills only in a sheltered workshop and is capable of productivity resulting in very low earnings would be found able to engage in 'substantial gainful activity.' "
Still more sharply worded was the subcommittee's expression of concern over "the lack of uniform and comprehensive statistics in the rehabilitation area," as reflected in the "considerable confusion in the definition of terms" and in the conflicting figures reported by such agencies as the Bureau of OASI and the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation. The Secretary of HEW was called upon to "explore means of deriving more meaningful and more uniform data covering this aspect of the program so that the Congress and the American people can be given a better picture of the impact of rehabilitation on the disability program. "The report further noted that, out of a total of 1,417,000 disabled persons referred for vocational rehabilitation by September, 1959, only "about 4, 000... were reported as having been rehabilitated by the end of June, 1959."
Among the recommendations of the subcommittee which are of particular importance to the blind and other disabled groups was its proposal for extension of the twelve-month trial work period to all beneficiaries who seek to rehabilitate themselves, whether they are in state-supported programs or not. The report quoted the testimony of Dr. Henry H. Kessler, a well-known expert on rehabilitation, that "the principle now being discussed by most of the pension systems throughout the world is giving them [beneficiaries] financial incentive and rehabilitation service."
The subcommittee report also proposed elimination of the six-month waiting period for disability insurance beneficiaries who have had a prior period of disability.
Finally, at least tacit approval was given by the report to the removal of the present 50-year age requirement for disability benefits in a short discussion which took note of the evidence favoring such removal and demonstrating that no administrative or cost considerations stand in its way.
by Jacobus tenBroek
The existence of an urgent need for greater protection of the rights of disability insurance claimants--in particular their right to full information and a fair hearing upon appeal--was sharply underscored by the House Subcommittee on the Administration of the Social Security Laws in its recent report on the federal disability program. (See article immediately preceding.) The subcommittee also voiced unusually severe criticism of a wide range of arbitrary policies and practices by the federal agency at all stages of its hearing and appeal process.
The committee emphasized the "importance of providing each disability claimant with the kind of information and assistance he needs... and of giving him an explanation of his legal rights and remedies. "It was found that at the level of the district office "the applicant does not always have completely adequate independent advice in making crucial decisions such as whether to file an application or whether to appeal his case if benefits have been denied." The committee added that, of a total of 151 applicants surveyed, only 60 "reported that they had been given any explanation as to how disabled one has to be to qualify for benefits."
The committee was especially critical of the "so-called 'denial letter' " sent to every disallowed applicant, which was described as "merely a form letter" containing no explanation of the reasons for the denial of the applicant's claim for disability benefits--thus making it impossible for the client to know on what grounds he may appeal. Noting that many who received such letters "adopted a 'what's the use' attitude, " the committee expressed "a lingering concern that some people in this group might have been awarded benefits if they had appealed." The specific recommendation of the committee report is worth quoting in full: "We believe that many misconceptions about the program could be cleared up and that the claimant's rights would be more adequately protected if better means could be found at this point to communicate the rationale underlying the complex medical-legal State agency determination to the claimant. It would also pin-point where his evidence did not meet the requirements of the act, and assist him in exploring the possibility of developing further evidence to meet this deficiency."
With respect to the district office, furthermore, the report flatly questioned whether its administrative personnel could successfully "wear the 'two hats' of their position--that of protector of the claimant's rights and protector, as well, of the disability trust fund." Despite agency insistence that its clients always get their rights, the committee pointedly observed that "the question remains, however, whether claimants' rights are always just what the Social Security Administration says they are. A number of court cases would indicate the contrary."
By far the strongest criticism of the subcommittee study was reserved for the handling of appeals under the disability program. The committee pointed to the fact that "numerous materials are available to the hearing examiner which are not available to the claimant or his representative. These include the confidential State manual,... memorandums from the Office of Hearings and Appeals of a broad policy nature or commenting on specific cases, General Counsel's opinions, and decisions of the Appeals Council." The committee collected evidence to show that these materials had more than an advisory character and influence, and that hearing officers often regarded them as binding, fearing that failure to follow their directives might invite reversal. In order to counteract this tendency and to meet "basic considerations of fairness," the subcommittee called for the publication of all precedent material including "so-called training materials which could affect the content of hearing examiner decisions." It invoked the basic principle that "it is essential to a fair hearing that the Bureau, hearing examiners, and claimants read from the same book."
The congressional report also warned of the potential injustice to claimants arising from the prevailing use of "medical consultants" as aids to hearing examiners on particular cases: "When the consultant can urge a particular line of questioning, or urge that certain types of evidence be obtained it is fiction to say he is not in a position to influence the examiner's decision." Accordingly, the subcommittee recommended limitation of the use of such consultants to general training sessions or in the role of witnesses whose testimony would become part of the hearing record.
In an especially caustic reference to the supervisory apparatus of the Office of Hearings and Appeals--recently reorganized and strengthened by "efficiency experts"--the subcommittee declared that such machinery "can always be used to exert pressure on hearing examiners who have disregarded unpublished precedent material and policy directives or otherwise 'fallen from grace.' " Still more shocking, not to say scandalous, was the report that "some examiners, in their reply to the subcommittee survey, alleged that they were subject to administrative interference in a variety of forms, including with-holding of pay, assignment of cases, failure to approve necessary travel expenses, denial of adequate staff, and undue regulation of mail and telephone service. Most examiners indicated that they had experienced no interference, but many expressed concern about possible interference in the future under the new economic setup.
In general, the report of the House subcommittee reveals a broad and increasing concern on the part of members of Congress with the striking inequities of an appeals system in which a single hearing officer effectually occupies the roles of judge, jury, prosecutor, and defense counsel--owing partly to the intimate supervision of the administrative agency, partly to the bureaucratic emphasis on efficiency and "productivity," and partly to the lack of knowledge of disabled appellants of their rights of counsel and of information and assistance in the effort to establish their claim to eligibility for insurance benefits under the program.
by Russell Kletzing
The means test, with its origin in the Elizabethan poor laws, has always constituted a pall on programs for the blind in this country. Its effects have been particularly unfortunate, however, in the case of programs for vocational rehabilitation--but not sufficiently noted due to our preoccupation with the role of the means test in public assistance.
Many of the important federally financed rehabilitation services are conditioned on the means test and require that an applicant dissipate any resources he has above the barest minimum. The income and resources that may be retained are, in many states, less than allowed under public assistance programs. Among the classes of rehabilitation services subject to the means test are reading services, books and supplies for students, training equipment and tools, maintenance during training, including on the job training, physical restoration services, and provision for transportation during training. These constitute some of the most important requirements in the rehabilitation and job placement of many blind people.
The means test is diametrically opposed to some of the principal ingredients in a sound vocational rehabilitation program. For many jobs and professions, it is necessary for any person starting out, blind or sighted, to have at least modest reserves of resources. An attorney requires a library; a farmer requires a truck and a tractor; and a mechanic requires the tools of his trade. In all cases where it is applicable, the means test prohibits the accumulation or retention of adequate resources to provide these essentials to successful programs for self-support. In many cases due to monetary or other restrictions, vocational rehabilitation programs do not provide the tools or equipment that are required to enter a field of endeavor. This may and has resulted in blind people who are trained for highly specialized jobs not entering such fields because the means test has precluded them from accumulating the reserves necessary to purchase the tools for their trades.
The means test in rehabilitation programs is also in fundamental contradiction to the psychology of independence, self-worth and dignity that are so important to an applicant if he is to undertake a program of rehabilitation that will achieve self-support. A striking example of this occurs in the operation of the means test as it applies to college students. Here every effort should be made in the rehabilitation program to give the students a feeling of self-confidence and self-respect. The "pauper's oath" requirement of the means test, the investigation of resources, and the resulting humiliation militate in exactly the opposite direction. Under many rehabilitation programs, even the retention of scholarships earned through academic achievement is penalized. This is more restrictive than the general public assistance standards in many states which allow the retention of scholarships. Moreover, the means test altogether prevents many students from obtaining such vital services as reading from rehabilitation programs.
The means test is unrelated to the objective of a sound vocational rehabilitation program. Such an objective--to place blind people in remunerative self-supporting jobs--benefits society equally whether the applicant is rich or poor. Moreover, by denying important services and by destroying dignity and self-respect, the means test works against the successful rehabilitation of blind individuals.
by John Taylor
One year ago this month Hope Deferred, by our president Dr. Jacobus tenBroek in collaboration with Floyd Matson, was published by the University of California Press. Subtitled "Public Welfare and the Blind," the book has since attracted wide attention across the country for its detailed and incisive critique of such major social programs as public assistance, vocational rehabilitation, sheltered workshops, and vending stands. The critical reception of the study has ranged all the way from blanket condemnation on the part of one or two sheltered shop and blind agency spokesmen to almost equally unqualified praise by other reviewers both inside and outside the agencies.
On the negative side are two well-known agency administrators, Dr. Philip S. Piatt, (formerly executive director of the New York City Lighthouse) and Alfred Severson (formerly director of the Chicago Lighthouse)--both of whose commentaries may be described without exaggeration as bitterly hostile. Much more restrained in tone and qualified in content, but still generally negative, was the response of Burnham Carter, national director of Recordings for the Blind, whose criticism appeared in The Saturday Review.
On the affirmative side are a considerable number of reviews which, if occasionally critical on minor points, have been highly favorable and even glowing in their appraisal of the book as a whole. Notable among these are the reviews of Dr. Joseph S. Himes, professor of sociology at North Carolina College, published in The New Outlook for the Blind; Professor Werner H. Marti of California Polytechnic College, in Frontier Magazine; Perry Sundquist, director of Aid to the Blind in California, in the California Social Welfare News; and a lengthy statement in praise of the book by the Honorable Walter S. Baring, congressman from Nevada, printed in the Congressional Record. Monitor readers will also remember the review prepared for this journal by Kenneth Jernigan, director of the Iowa Commission for the Blind.
A recent addition to the list of broadly favorable reviews has appeared in the professional social work journal, Social Service Review (March, 1960), under the authorship of Professor Emil M. Sunley of the University of Denver's School of Social Work. His review reads in part as follows:
"Social workers, especially those in public welfare departments, should read this provocative volume. It is thoughtfully put together, extremely well documented, and relatively up to date. The authors, in less than three hundred pages, have cut through the old stereotypes, mythology, prejudices, and poor-law principles concerning the care of blind people and have attempted to develop the concept that such people have 'the same physiological processes as all other human beings--and the same requirements for healthful and happy living.' They twit the professional social workers along with parents, employers, and teachers for supporting many of the ancient prejudices and superstitions concerning blind people, and in so doing they gently 'pull the legs' of faculty members of social work."
Meanwhile the Braille edition of Hope Deferred--as indicated in last December's Braille Monitor--has been published for the Library of Congress by the Howe Memorial Press of the Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, Massachusetts. The book appears in seven Braille volumes, and is priced at one dollar per volume ($7.00 for the set). Although the deadline for ordering copies from the Howe Memorial Press has passed (it was set at January 15), Hope Deferred should be on the shelves of all regional Braille libraries now or in the immediate future, and thus available to all blind persons on a loan basis.
At the same time a number of National Federation affiliates and chapters have made plans to put Hope Deferred on tape, and some of them have already completed the job. In addition, we are informed by-Bill Taylor of Pennsylvania that plans are going forward to have tape-recorded copies of the book run off by Thomas Benham of Haverford College. As soon as such copies become available, full details will appear in the Monitor.
by Stanhope Pier, Chairman, Committee on Legislation, Oregon Council of the Blind
There has been a flurry of activity in recent months on the part of administrative efficiency experts--who are more interested in the theory of organization and the easy working of a department than they are in the special needs of handicapped human beings--to centralize all services to handicapped persons under one administrative tsar. So now, among the many problems confronting the blind of Oregon and the USA, comes a proposal from the Director of the State Division of Rehabilitation to establish a Department of Rehabilitation to administer all categories of work for all handicapped persons in Oregon, without regard for any special needs of the blind.
The director would be appointed by the Governor and apparently would be practically a dictator with power to appoint all personnel and determine policies and methods without any advice or control by any board or commission. It would seem to be a one-man show. A one-man commission seems all right in such departments as the corporation department or perhaps fish and game, but certainly not where thousands of human beings are concerned. Wagering on a "benevolent despot" is not always a sure bet.
The department would take over all divisions of service now under the Commission for the Blind. The present commission is composed of nine members, five of whom are ex-officio, administrators of the department of health, welfare, special education, ophthalmology, rehabilitation. Four lay members, appointed by the Governor, representing: employers, labor, two members at large, one of whom must be a "qualified" blind person. All this decision making is now to be entrusted to one man, the director of the department.
The bill would repeal all laws covering the present Division of Rehabilitation, under the Department of Education. It does not, in its present form, repeal other sections covering the vending stand program, social security for workers in the Industries for the Blind, the readers fund for blind college students, now under the commission. This complicates matters for it calls for taking over these programs. As provided in this bill vending stands are "to be operated by severely handicapped individuals," opening this limited field to any handicapped person. There are not enough good locations now for the blind alone.
Gifts to the new department would be "unconditional" to be used at the wish of the director, thus limiting, if not eliminating, the possibility of special gifts and bequests being accepted as was our Ella Munro Burdin bequest for the sole benefit of the blind.
In the Welfare Department of Oregon with 33,000 on the rolls and about 600 blind recipients in various categories, the blind are "lost in the shuffle." That is why, in our Aid to the Blind bill, we call for a Division for the Blind (within the Department of Welfare) which definitely recognizes the special needs of the blind. We lay no claim to any degree of perfection under the present setup of the Commission for the Blind--though we rank right at the top of the 13 western states--but the principles so long worked for by the organized blind, the NFB and the various affiliates, would receive a decided set-back by this watering down, as proposed in this bill, of the much needed emphasis on the specific and different needs of the blind. As in the Welfare, if the blind are allowed to go under general Rehabilitation they would inevitably be eating at the second table on the neck of the chicken.
For many years the organized blind have struggled for recognition of two fundamental principles, "the right of the blind to organize" and the right to be heard in the council of those who plan and carry out programs for the blind. The author of this bill is president of the National Rehabilitation Association, which organization is vigorously opposed to the Kennedy-Baring bill, embodying the above principles. As matters now stand in Oregon, representatives of the OCB are frequently consulted by the commission and members of the staff with regard to programs affecting the blind. Can we afford to give up this part in shaping our destiny?
No attempt has been made to consult with representatives of the OCB as to the attitude of the blind themselves toward this proposed arrangement. Who will be more concerned than the blind themselves? Very few officials or professional people ever attend a meeting of a chapter or convention of the OCB.
In this proposed law there is nothing to indicate any intention to confer with or include any of the people most concerned, sighted or blind, in any consultation or opportunity to make suggestions for plans for helping the handicapped. The power to think, plan and do for the blind is to be placed in one man who is supposed to know better than they do themselves what they think, want and how to get it. This is in no sense a disparagement of the need and proper place of professional talent and skill in helping to solve problems of rehabilitation of the blind, but rehabilitation must be a mutual endeavor.
We believe that passage of this measure would be a severe set-back to the progress already made in true rehabilitation of the blind in Oregon and the USA. We believe that all blind who know the facts and have given it any study are strongly opposed to it and will work for its defeat.
by Jacobus tenBroek
A major plank in the National Federation's legislative program, this year as for the past two decades, is the proposed abolition of length-of-residence requirements in state laws governing aids and services for the blind. The proposal is currently embodied in H. R. 30, introduced into the present session of Congress by Representative Walter S. Baring of Nevada.
When the Social Security Act was first adopted in 1935, the states were permitted to retain, if they chose, the traditional residence requirements controlling eligibility for public aid if they did not exceed five out of the last nine years. Although for some years thereafter there was a trend toward liberalizing the restrictions on length of residence, today only five states (Connecticut, Hawaii, Mississippi, New York and Rhode Island) have abolished all such requirements, along with the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands. In the remaining states residence requirements of varying length are still in effect as conditions of eligibility for aid; and in 22 of the states the maximum restriction permissible under the federal law (five years' residence out of the nine preceding application) remains on the books. Moreover, many states refuse to take any responsibility whatever for otherwise eligible persons who fail to meet the residence requirements.
In its long-time promotion and support of legislation for removal of these medieval barriers to public assistance and other welfare services, the Federation has steadily gained allies and has now become part of a veritable movement aimed at the abolition of residence laws in health and welfare programs of all sorts and as applied to all groups of aid recipients. Some of the more significant recent developments, and sources of support, within this movement are:
1. Secretary Flemming of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare has expressed himself as definitely opposed to residence requirements in state welfare programs and as favoring their abolition.
2. The National Advisory Council on Public Assistance, in its official report released in January of this year, flatly labeled all such limitations on residence as "anachronisms," and declared that "it is time for a change in the matter of state-determined residence requirements for eligibility under the Federally-aided public assistance programs." The Advisory Council stated that its members could "see no reason why a needy person should be precluded from getting essential aid solely because he is caught in the technicalities of residence laws."
3. Numerous bills--among them H. R. 30, introduced by Congressman Baring of Nevada and supported by the National Federation--have been sponsored in the present session of Congress for the general purpose of reducing or eliminating state and local requirements on residence with respect to welfare and other public services.
4. A great many articles and monographs have appeared during the past two or three years both in learned journals and popular periodicals in support of the movement for abolition of residence requirements.
5. The conference of state governors, at its 1959 annual meeting, passed a resolution urging the reduction of residence requirements under social security to a maximum of one year, and also calling for an interstate compact under which persons moving from one state to another "will not be denied some form of aid if they are in need, irrespective of residence requirements otherwise existing."
6. The National Social Welfare Assembly has created an ad hoc committee for the purpose of collecting and disseminating information, as well as stimulating interest, on the problem of residence laws with the aim of bringing about their elimination.
7. Committees have also been established by the American Legion and the National Travelers Aid Society to study the problem and work with other groups towards its solution.
8. Resolutions of support for the "abolition movement" have recently been forthcoming from increasing numbers of other social welfare organizations, both national and local, many of which have held panel discussions and heard reports directing attention to the need for removal of the outmoded and discriminatory statutes imposing residence limitations as conditions of eligibility for the welfare services of the states.
The major arguments in support of the elimination of residence requirements which the National Federation has systematically presented in public testimony may be briefly summarized:
Free movement across state borders and from one community to another is a basic right of all Americans, bound up with the right to opportunity and free expression, and encouraged by our economic system and our political commitment to individual liberty. The motives of blind persons in their movements are no different from those of other people: either they result from the search for broader horizons of opportunity or they are impelled by reasons of health. More immediately pertinent is the fact that the right of blind men and women to be unrestricted in their movement, in their departure from one state to take up residence in another, is intimately related to the announced purposes of self-support and self-care under the Federal-State public assistance program. It follows therefore that the residence barriers presently erected in most state programs of aid are contradictory of these purposes.
It is not the blind alone who suffer from the discrimination and deprivation wrought by state residence barriers. But the effects are substantially the same for the blind as for those economically disadvantaged groups whose right to movement was upheld by the Supreme Court in the famous case of Edwards vs. California (314 U.S. 160, 1942). "Any measure," wrote Justice Jackson in that case, "which would divide our citizenry on the basis of property into one class free to move from state to state and another class that is poverty-bound to the place where it has suffered misfortune is not only at war with the habit and custom by which our country has expanded, but is also a shortsighted blow at the security of property itself." Justice Douglas in the same case warned that any state prohibitions upon the free immigration of persons who are poor "would prevent a citizen, because he was poor, from seeking new horizons in other states. It might thus withhold from large segments of our people that mobility which is basic to any guarantee of freedom of opportunity. The result would be a substantial dilution of the rights of national citizenship, a serious impairment of the principles of equality."
The imposition of residence requirements as conditions of eligibility for public assistance, accordingly, constitutes a denial to blind recipients of that right of free movement which is indispensable to opportunity. Now that self-care and self-support have become part of the declared purpose of the Federal program of public assistance, such requirements deprive the recipient of aid of one of the primary and frequently essential means of achieving that goal --namely, the right to follow the path of economic opportunity and personal improvement whereever it may lead.
It was with shock and a deep feeling of personal loss that I learned this morning (April 11) of the passing yesterday, at the age of 60, of my old and trusted comrade-at-arms, Tom Jantzen of Grinnell, Iowa. As reported in a recent issue, Tom had been hospitalized much of the past year and the prognosis had not been favorable. Both the Iowa Association of the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind will mourn the loss of a member whose loyalty and devotion has been unsurpassed anywhere. For 14 years he had been a hard-working member of the National White Cane Week Committee and he will be sorely missed there also. His contribution to organization work was great but his capacity for warm and lasting friendship was even greater.
by Clyde Ross
Late in 1959 Henry F. Fritsch, high in the Knights Templars, approached me with a program to help persons needing eye surgery or treatment but who cannot afford either. He felt that the Summit County Society of the Blind would be interested and could provide information and referrals. We have already made three referrals, which the Knights Templars have processed to the great satisfaction of all concerned. We want other NFB affiliates to know about this program.
The Knights Templars Eye Foundation was organized in August, 1955, and incorporated in Maryland, but did not begin to function until 1957. There are approximately 450,000 Knights Templars in the United States. Each is assessed an annual fixed amount for the support of the Foundation. In addition many contributions and bequests are received. There has been no public appeal for funds. The Foundation has a 3-fold purpose. Needy persons are provided both medical and surgical treatment to prevent blindness and to alleviate eye pain. The applicant does not have to be a pauper to avail himself of this service but his income must be fixed and limited. The Foundation also aids in the development of all aspects of the Eye Bank program and makes outright grants to eye research laboratories.
Organizations of the Blind can be of help. We can locate persons in need of this service. We can help publicize the program.
Applications must be signed by a Knights Templar. If there is none in your locality, contact Clyde E. Ross, 858 Orlando Avenue, Akron 20, Ohio. We believe that this project may prove to be one of the most beneficial ever undertaken.
by Walter Moran, Secretary, Blind Merchants Guild, Pennsylvania
Heretofore operators of vending stands in Pennsylvania have been obliged to pay a service charge of 4% on their gross receipts, with the exception of those grossing under $600 a month, who paid 2%. By statute this money goes into a revolving fund to be used for the acquisition and maintenance of vending stands, and, further, the fund may not exceed the ceiling of $75,000. In view of the infrequency of the acquisition of new stands, we have long believed that the ceiling had been exceeded, but the state agency always brushed off our protests. Last June it introduced S. 804, to increase the charge to 10%. By dint of a heavy mail campaign, we persuaded the senators to kill the bill in committee. Arguing that the grant of the right to be consulted carried with it the corollary right of access to data, we demanded permission to study the operation of the fund. This was categorically denied us. While we were considering an appeal to the courts, however, the Department suddenly announced that the charges had been reduced so that those grossing under $1,000 a month will pay 1/2%; those between $1,000 and $2,000, 1%; those between $2,000 and $3,000, 2%, and those grossing more than $3,000, 3%.
The Miami chapter of the Florida Federation of the Blind is anxious to receive the active cooperation of other affiliates in setting up an exhibition in the Fiesta Room on the mezzanine floor of the New Everglades Hotel. All of the NFB convention functions, July 1-4, will be held on this floor. What is desired is that as many chapters as possible send material which will symbolize, describe or represent special chapter projects. Quoting from the official notice: "As a suggestion, subjects covered by exhibits may include education, rehabilitation, communication and travel. Arrangements--Exhibits brought by a member of the exhibiting group will be accepted at any time and given any available space. Exhibits may be mailed or expressed to Dolores Gamble, 832 Santiago Street, Coral Gables 34, Florida, and should reach there before June 29. Note--Exhibits sent without all charges being prepaid will not be accepted. Note--Three copies of carefully listed items in exhibit should be made: one for files of secretary of exhibiting group, one for chairman of local exhibit committee, and one for use of attendants of exhibition. The local committee would like to exhibit something from every Federation chapter in the country."
An influential newspaper in Trenton, the capital city of the state, has given considerable publicity to one of the bills sponsored by the State Council of New Jersey Organizations of the Blind. This measure calls for the naming of three blind members to the Board of Managers of the New Jersey Commission for the Blind. The blind appointees are not to be employees of the commission, "...or related by blood, marriage or adoption to any employee of the commission." The Council's recommended legislation does not seek to remove present members of the board but calls for the appointment of blind persons to fill vacancies upon the next three expirations of terms. The Board of Managers is the policy-making panel of the Commission for the Blind and if the present bill becomes law it would be a long step forward toward the securing by the blind of New Jersey of a voice in the determination of policies which vitally affect their own welfare.
The following comes from Robert McDonald, president of our Virginia affiliate:
"Thanks for your interest and helpfulness in contacting and aiding Mrs. Ruth Miller of Dayton, Virginia, in her endeavors to organize a chapter of the VFB. Last weekend John and Virginia Nagle, George Drummond, Milton Perry, Marion and I went to Dayton to help the people there plan an organization meeting. We worked out a suggested constitution with them and during the week it was whipped into shape by Mrs. Miller. Saturday, March 12, they held their organizational meeting in the home of Mrs. Lucy Mennes of Bridgewater. I was pleasantly surprised at the attendance and interest. We discussed the high spots of Federationism as simply and completely as it was possible in so short a time. They selected 'Skyline Federation of the Blind' as the name of their chapter. This is a very appropriate name because the famous Skyline Drive is nearby. They elected the following officers: President, Mrs. Lucy L. Mennes, North First Street, Bridgewater; vice president, Harry Vandevander; secretary-treasurer, Mrs. Ruth Miller; board members, Harold L. Miller and Bobby Shifflet. We are very happy to welcome this fourth chapter."
"...I want to thank you for the Braille Monitor. It is the best, in fact the only Braille magazine that keeps us informed about the blind of other states--keeps us alert. I read of the May K. Houck Foundation at Sarasota, Florida. I was interested, and got in touch with Mr. Moffett.
The result was that my wife and I spent two weeks there. It was everything they said it was, citrus groves and all, but the weather was strictly left-handed and out-of-joint. Had the pleasure of attending a chapter meeting there. Mr. Walter Jones, the state Federation treasurer and Sarasota chapter president, is a former Pontiac businessman and Lions Club member. We had quite a reunion, all by way of the Monitor. ..." Ray McDonald, Pontiac, Michigan.
"...Mr. Nagle has probably received many additional suggestions since his list of Federation legislative goals appeared in the Monitor. The following may be worth some consideration.
"There are many substandard vending stands being operated by blind persons. By substandard I mean those businesses which do not pay the proprietor the national minimum of $1.00 an hour. As a loyal union member and as a loyal Federationist, I believe that all welfare agencies should be compelled to live up to the same standards as private enterprise. Money from a good paying business should not be used to subsidize a poor spot. I hear about people putting in many hours at substandard locations. In addition, they must send all bills and weekly reports to the agency--which means that a sighted person must be asked to help, and this is a service which must often be paid for. These people are on supplementary relief, which subjects them to periodic prying, from which not even the most private and intimate details of their lives are exempt. I believe much of the burdensome paper work required by blind stand operators is unnecessary red tape. ..." Mike Sofka, Newark, New Jersey.
"I have been wanting to write to you for a long time in regard to the inkprint copies of our Monitor. Many of our blind friends say that they don't care to receive the inkprint copy, saying that they know no one to give it to who would be interested. They just accumulate in vast piles of unread material. Now, as long as our funds are so limited, this seems to me a great waste, and we could save a lot of money by discontinuing this practice. I think it would be a good idea if you would put a notice in the Braille Monitor to the effect that all those who do not wish to receive the print copies should notify your office. ..." Mrs. Earl Middaugh, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
"The Grand Haven Chapter of the Michigan Council of the Blind 17 held a meeting Saturday, March 26. Our members are very happy to contribute $10.00 to the Braille Monitor.... The Monitor is a very informative magazine and we do not want it to contain fiction--there is plenty of that available in Braille and on Talking Books from our regional libraries. ..." Mrs. Mona Le Mieux, Grand Haven, Michigan.
"I want to commend you on the swell job that you have been doing on the Monitor. I have a difficult time trying to retain all the information, so I keep the copies at hand and read them over to get some of the intricate points. ... I want to call your attention to a statement in the last issue which was in error. The real founder of the Philomatheon Society was not Harry Stiller but Mrs. Ed Werenett.... There are a lot of terms used by social workers which sound silly to me. I am glad the Monitor is written in English instead of Gobbledygook." George Holben, Canton, Ohio.
"I was interested in the article regarding speed of reading on Talking Books. I have found that Talking Books can be clearly understood when played at 45 rpm. Are there any machines which allow adjustment to a faster or slower speed to suit the material being read?
(Editor's note: It is reported that the American Printing House has now given permission for the use of Talking Book records on commercial phonographs which have a light tone arm. Such machines, of course, can be adjusted to 45 rpm.)
"...I certainly have enjoyed the letters from Dr. Grant. I heard her on the floor at Boston, but didn't get to meet her. I think this year could very well be the most rewarding of her life. She has been a voice calling the attention of our readers to the great needs of others. We think the work for the blind in this country needs to be stepped up--and it does--but put alongside the conditions of the blind as shown in Dr. Grant's letters, we are in real good shape here. Her efforts in Karachi impress me very much, and the fact that so many finished the 6-weeks instruction arranged by her speaks volumes for her courage and abilities. I think her letters could very well be some of the most important things that you have squeezed into our Monitor--the space has been well used. ..." John L. Cooley, Spartanburg, South Carolina.
"I am a blind man. I have a broom-making machine. I would like $50.00 for it. It is in good working order. I am 72 years old, so won't want to make any more brooms. I have 1 foot-power winder, 1 sewing press, 1 seeder, complete with electric motor, and 1 cutter. All machines in working order. ..." Oscar Severson, 3319 Cedar Avenue, Lynwood, California.
"...I, too, feel we of the state affiliates ought to be willing to give up some of the greeting card profits for a bigger Monitor....
"Just yesterday I received an ad in the mail that intrigues me. It was from the St. Martin's Press, and was about a book by Dr. Allan Eaton, called 'Beauty for the Sighted and the Blind.' It seems that the author has made a collection of art objects beautiful both to the eye and to the touch, and tries in this book to present them. 'Sighted readers,' he says, 'will find the tactile exploration of these objects worthwhile and enlightening.' It is supposed to break down one of the major barriers of communication between blind and sighted, and furnish the blind with a new avenue of esthetic pleasure. Now I should like to know just how the author goes about this in an apparently average-sized print book, but I don't know as I'm curious enough to rush out and pay $4.50 for the book. Therefore I wish some qualified person, like yourself, would get hold of the thing and review it for us in the Monitor.
"I, too, would cast a vote against inclusion of fiction in the Monitor. ..." Mary Walton, El Dorado, Kansas.
(Editor's note: If any Monitor reader is able to examine the book to which Miss Walton has referenced, the Monitor editor would be glad to receive and publish his or her impressions.)
"One of the local members of the NFB has been lending me his copies of the Monitor. I have read this magazine from cover to cover, believe me. It has proven interesting and informative. For its literary quality and journalistic standard it ranks high. It is truly representative of the goals and standards of the National Federation. ... It is my intention to become a member in the very near future. There are many organizations and clubs in this country which clearly have no definite programs and whose accomplishments are few. The aims of the Federation are clear and definite. ..." David Ruprecht, Eden Valley, Minnesota.
"I like your practice of keeping the articles short. Nothing is more discouraging for me to tackle than an article 20 or 30 pages in length with only an occasional paragraph indentation. ... I have read about how the blind Associations of South Carolina and Massachusetts are publishing brochures for statewide distribution. It is a fine accomplishment." Wilbur Sheron, Marion, Indiana.
"We of the organized blind in Arizona have been very grieved during the last year over the death of 5 of our members; among these was our founder, Miss Sarah Cumby. Our youth division is planning a trip through the Grand Canyon again. Ours is the only group of blind people who have ever gone through. We hope to break our record. We made one-fourth of our annual budget by holding a concert with all blind talent. We are planning to hold the Red Cross First Aid Course next. We are hoping to find out a lot about our employment situation for the blind here in April when we hold our work survey. We would like to thank the states that sent us their publications and tell them that we found them to be most educational." Jerry Fields, Tucson, Arizona.
"Frank Van Vliet has delegated to me, as publicity chairman for the New Hampshire Federation of the Blind, the fun of reporting that we have just welcomed a new chapter to our state organization from the Littleton area. It was organized March 23 and adopted the name of Profile Chapter. Officers: president, Roger Everest; vice president, Mrs. Nona Pyer; secretary treasurer, Harold Veigue, all of Littleton. As you can well imagine, we are truly happy to see the New Hampshire Federation gaining membership and, through this, becoming a power to be reckoned with for the good of the blind citizens of the state (and the country and the world)." Mrs. Dorothy Parker, Manchester, New Hampshire.
" 'Letters from Our Readers' and 'Here and There' are the two features of the Braille Monitor which I enjoy the most but I certainly appreciated John Nagle's article on 'Key Bills' in the March issue." T.F. Moody, Houston, Texas.
"...I want to tell you just a little about our Jamestown chapter. As you will remember, we were a very small group to start with, but in the past three years we have come quite a long way. We now have 32 blind members and 30 sighted associate members. We still meet the 4th Thursday in the month, at the Unitarian Church. The pastor of that church has been wonderful to us. We have to plan for from 45 to 50 people at each meeting and, in addition to chapter business, we have a program of either music or a good speaker.... Our members enjoy the Monitor very much. ..." Mrs. Bertha Jacobson, Jamestown, New York.
"...Thanks to your magazine I am becoming educated with respect to a lot of conditions that I never knew existed, and what is being done to correct them." Harry Vandevander, Harrisonburg, Virginia.
(Editor's note: Dr. Price is an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Education at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the NFB and member of the Advisory Committee on Book Selection of the Division for the Blind of the Library of Congress. The following is a portion of the testimony which Professor Price gave before the Subcommittee on Special Education of the United States House of Representatives, Committee on Education and Labor, February 18, 1960, in Jersey City, New Jersey. The complete text of this testimony may be obtained from NFB headquarters, Berkeley.)
"...First, the aims and objectives of educating and rehabilitating blind persons are not, in their nature, different from those of the education and rehabilitation of any other group.... The capacities, interests, talents and tastes of blind children and adults are of no peculiar sort. They range over as wide an area as do those of sighted persons. ... A person is educated to the degree that he has acquired the means of exercising his capacities, realizing his interests, and developing his talents and tastes. He is rehabilitated to the degree that the obstacles to earning his livelihood have been overcome. Since blind children and adults, as such, do not exhibit any peculiar psychological structure, there should be no restriction on the direction which their education should assume, and almost no restriction on the kind of economic activity toward which their rehabilitation should aim.... Their blindness in no way limits the kind of education they may legitimately require, and the kind of rehabilitation (with a very few obvious exceptions) for which they may properly hope.... The business of education and rehabilitation of the blind is that of enabling them to learn and to do what might be learned or done by anyone else, but to learn and to do it in a different way.
"II. In the light of this objective, there are two kinds of needs from which blind children and adults suffer, and which are now not adequately satisfied.
"1. First, there is the need for materials which will enable blind children and adults to become aware of what the world contains, i.e., to become aware of the contents of their cultural heritage, as well as of the physical universe. These materials are of two kinds. The first are books.
"(a) The chief source of books for blind children and adults is the Division for the Blind, Library of Congress. This is not the only source. The American Printing House for the Blind makes available to the lower schools such books as its presently restrictive quota system permits. But it remains true that the Library of Congress, Division for the Blind, is the largest single source for reading materials for blind children and adults generally.
"The holdings of the Division for the Blind, Library of Congress, consist chiefly of Braille books (both machine made and hand-transcribed) and of books recorded in voice media (chiefly on discs, talking-book records). These books are sent to blind persons throughout the nation, in part through the medium of state libraries and in part directly from the Library of Congress.
"The holdings of the Division for the Blind, Library of Congress, are altogether inadequate to meet the educational needs of blind children and adults. They consist almost wholly of books of light entertainment. Their character is, generally, bland, escapist, and mediocre. The great imaginative and descriptive literature of the world is almost unrepresented. Serious novelists, poets, and dramatists make almost no appearance on the shelves and the literature of the social and natural sciences (mathematics, physics, biology, etc.) of philosophy, theology, and the humanities generally, is almost completely absent. There is a great need for a collection of books in Braille and on voice records which is representative of the world's literature; and this collection would naturally grow out of an improvement of the holdings of the Division for the Blind, Library of Congress.
"I would like to suggest that the subcommittee consider legislation which would increase the appropriation for the Library of Congress, Division for the Blind, in order that its collection of Braille and voice-recorded books should be made adequately representative of the world's literature, and that it consider, further, the advisability of offering an amendment to the appropriate statutes which would insure this kind of improvement of the collection held by the Library of Congress, Division for the Blind.
"(b) The second kind of materials which would be of enormous use to blind children and adults are three-dimensional models. These models would serve two uses. First, they would provide representation in three dimensions of important works of sculpture and architecture. Secondly, they would provide in an immediate form, much more effective than verbal descriptions, the nature of many physical facts, e.g., geographical structures, such as continents, islands, etc., and astronomical concepts, such as the ecliptic. At present, a variety of such models are available to the sighted who have the advantage of observing both their tangible and abstract forms but the blind have no such privilege. Blind children and adults are, consequently, entirely cut off from one important dimension of life. They have no way of knowing or understanding the arts of architecture and of sculpture. This phase of their education is almost utterly neglected. The use of models to explain geographical facts and astronomical concepts is not quite so meager but very nearly so. It would be an enormous improvement in the education of the blind if models were readily available which could bring them an acquaintance with Chartres, St. Peters, the White House, the Guggenheim Museum, or, for that matter, the building in which this subcommittee is holding these hearings; and if they could be shown what the great sculptors of the past and the present had created. Their learning of what the physical world contains would be greatly facilitated if the number and variety of relief maps and similar materials were greatly increased.
"I suggest that the subcommittee consider measures which would make available to blind children and adults models of sculpture and architecture and other models helpful in showing what the world is like; and that the subcommittee consider making these materials available through the Library of Congress, Division for the Blind, on a loan basis.
"I suggest, further, that the subcommittee consider federal support of research, the purpose of which would be to investigate the possibility of translating painting, drawing, and other kinds of two-dimensional art into three-dimensional relief. Little is known about how much can be translated from a medium which is primarily visual into one which is primarily tactual, but since it would be a great improvement in the education of the blind if they could know something about the history of two-dimensional art, this research would be very much worth carrying on, no matter what its outcome.
"(c) I should like to mention, now, a third aspect of unmet needs with respect to the Library of Congress, Division for the Blind. The materials held in the collection of the Division are used by blind children and adults who live throughout the entire nation. Books which the Division contains are distributed through state and other libraries. The users of the collection cannot be expected to travel to the state or other distributing library, or to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., in order to find out what books are available to them. The blind reader cannot look through the collection of books in Braille or in voice recording which are presently available to him. Moreover, there is a considerable number of books available to blind readers in libraries which have no connection whatever with the Library of Congress, but which are available to blind readers on a nationwide basis.
"I would like to suggest that the subcommittee consider taking measures which would insure the creation of a comprehensive union catalog of Braille and voice-recorded books presently held by the Library of Congress, as well as by other libraries, to which catalog regular supplements would be made with sufficient frequency to guarantee reasonable currency.
"2. The second kind of unmet need from which blind children and adults suffer is a need to be considered as individual human beings in their own right. There is a very widespread tendency among administrators of programs for the blind to regard those whose advancement their programs should further as little more than things to be manipulated in accord with the routines which they have inherited from their administrative predecessors. The blind child or adult is all too frequently thought of as something to be helped in a specified and familiar way. The administrator forgets that the subjects of his administration are persons and not simply things to be dealt with according to a certain set of rules, and according to a certain pattern of administrative behavior--that the test of those rules and that pattern is utility in advancing the proper purposes of his administration.
"This failure is typified in what, as far as I can tell, is the attitude which actuates the administration of the Library of Congress, Division for the Blind. An examination of the books which are made available to blind children and adults under the aegis of this organization unavoidably suggests that these books are selected on the principle that the blind reader is something to be protected against the world rather than instructed as to its contents. Only such an attitude could explain the blandness and the mediocrity which typifies the collection. This attitude, no doubt, is much the most comfortable for the administrators of a library. It encourages among the readers a lack of imagination and independence of thought, while it assures the absence from the Library shelves of any books sufficiently interesting to incur objection. What it does not do, however, is what it ought properly to endeavor-- namely, to further the exercise of the right to read on the part of the blind, which right on the part of others other libraries genuinely endeavor to foster and enable.
"But the Library of Congress, Division for the Blind is by no means the only organization which, for whatever reason, succeeds in frustrating the aims of education and rehabilitation. To treat the blind child and adult as something to be helped according to uncritically accepted rules, independent of any question of their utility, is a practice widespread in the administration of education and rehabilitation programs. It is easier to treat the blind in this way since any attention to the individual and unique capacities of such children and adults requires more work and effort. This is no indictment of the motives of individual persons. It is a statement, rather, of a natural tendency of all administrative organizations. The tendency on the part of those who make them up is to simplify each part of their work in view of the time-consuming functions which they are expected to perform. Nonetheless, it must be said that the primary objective of educating and rehabilitating the blind, the objective of furthering the realization of those interests and capacities which each blind child and adult harbor is presently frustrated by administrative inertia.
"The administrator's failure to further the rights and interests of blind children and adults can be greatly diminished if blind persons are consulted, from time to time, upon the efficacy of existing programs, and upon the need for new and more imaginative policies.
"I would like to recommend that the subcommittee consider legislation which would assure that those who administer programs of education and rehabilitation of the blind would, from time to time, consult representatives of the blind themselves upon the efficacy of their programs and upon ways of improvement. ..."
by Floyd Matson
On April 9, 1960, the 47th affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind came into being--the Alaska Federation of the Blind. Russell Kletzing spearheaded the organizational effort with excellent cooperation from the blind people of Alaska. At the highly successful organizational meeting its constitution was adopted and it was voted unanimously to affiliate with the National Federation.
The following officers were elected, all of whom are blind: Kelly Smith, 331 East 9th, Anchorage, Alaska, president; James Trietsch, first vice president and treasurer; Mary Smith, second vice president; Laura Nagozruk, third vice president and secretary. The meeting was preceded by extensive publicity, including television interviews, radio announcements and newspaper articles. One of these was a picture of Russell Kletzing and Kelly Smith discussing the new draft of the constitution.
Russell says that Alaska presents a really outstanding challenge but one that he assures the very able leadership of the new affiliate will be able to meet. By far the largest state in the Union, the scattering of population that occurs in other states is often dwarfed to nothing by the distances in Alaska. Anchorage, the largest city with a population of about 100,000, is separated from Fairbanks, the second largest city, by a 12-hour train ride. Planes are much faster, but expensive.
Alaska presents a real opportunity to get an outstanding program for the blind established. There is almost no legislation on agency work involving the blind now. "If we act swiftly and boldly," says Russ, "we can avoid the opposition and mistakes that most of the other states are now facing. The energy, spirit, and quality of leadership in the new organization is truly remarkable."
There are now 2 chapters, instead of 1, in the Miami, Florida, area. The old Dade County chapter is now called the Miami chapter and members who live in Miami Beach now have their own organization, the Beach chapter, of which Sam Sitt is president. Both are, of course, affiliated with the FFB. The Beach chapter is planning a unique service, which will be of special interest to the numerous visitors who come to this section every year. A list of names and addresses of blind residents and visitors is being prepared and this list will be made available to all blind visitors so that they will be able to look up their friends.
The spring convention of the California Council of the Blind will be held at the Hotel Commodore, Los Angeles, May 21-22. Committee meetings will begin on the evening of May 20.
The Alumni Association of the Kansas School for the Blind will hold its annual convention at the school on June 4 and 5. Meals and room accommodations at the school are free to graduates and their spouses, but rooms will be held on a first come first served basis. Requests for reservations should be made directly to the superintendent, Mr. D.W. Olson, 1100 State Avenue, Kansas City 2, Kansas.
Loyal E. (Gene) Apple has been given a permanent appointment as head of the rehabilitation center for the blind at the Veterans Administration Hospital at Hines, Illinois. A native of Oklahoma and a graduate of William Jewell College, Liberty, Missouri, the 29-year-old appointee was blinded by an accidental hand grenade explosion while in the army 4 years ago.
Normal, Illinois, March 28 (AP): "Barbara Winters is just one of many Illinois State Normal University seniors who have signed teaching contracts for next fall. But Barbara is different. She is totally blind. The 21-year-old Miss Winters, blind since birth, has been employed to teach English and social studies to junior high school youngsters with normal eyesight in Palatine, a Chicago suburb. ..."
On March 26 the Luzerne County Federation of the Blind, home chapter of Frank Lugiano, dynamic president of the Pennsylvania Federation, dedicated its new headquarters. Among speakers were the Wilkes-Barre mayor, a state senator, a state representative, and John F. Nagle.
From The Machinist: "If the American Medical Association would spend as much energy and as much money in trying to find a solution to this problem of the aged as they do in fighting my bill, we would have a solution by this time."-- Congressman Aime Forand.
By reason of the fact that 10 tape recorders are now being operated by inmates of 2 Massachusetts prisons, the National Braille Press, 88 St. Stephens Street, Boston 15, Massachusetts, is emphasizing the fast service it can give to blind persons everywhere. Students and others will find this service valuable. Tape may be purchased from the Press. Recording is at either 3 3/4 or 7 1/2 inches per second, as desired. All books should be directed to Mrs. Madeleine Jacobs at the above address. Names, addresses and telephone numbers are not to be affixed to a book itself; such information should be recorded on a 3 x 5 card and inserted in the book.
Her many friends back in the Empire State will be pleased to learn of the glowing tribute paid by Herman M. Hoff, associate executive director, Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, Florida, to the work of one of his newest employees, Mrs. Sam Sitt, the former Gertrude Finch of Syracuse, and later of New York City. Mr. Hoff says: "We were at first very concerned and somewhat dubious that a blind secretary would be able to function adequately in our medical records division. Now I just wish we had more such people as Mrs. Sitt. She is doing a very excellent job, is extremely capable and, if she continues at this rate, she will probably exceed the others in her volume of work very shortly. As a result of Mrs. Sitt's placement we are now considering another such individual for the department of radiology."
From the Nebraska Observer: "Herbert Hughes, deputy administrator of business and defense services in the Commerce Department, has been appointed by President Eisenhower to represent that Department on the committee which handles the purchases of blind-made products. ... A group of federal observers will be here in Nebraska to study the results of the decentralized orientation and adjustment program that is being carried out in this state. This type of program has drawn national interest and is under close observation as to the results, benefits and advantages over centralized orientation programs or centers."
From The Eyecatcher (New York): "F.W. Severne, one of Watkins Glen's most illustrious citizens, died December 29, aged 99. He had been blind since the age of 10. Governor Dewey had called him the 'greatest graduate' of the Batavia School. He had been active all his life in business politics and education, and had been owner and editor of a local newspaper. He was still serving on the board of managers of the Batavia School at the time of his death.... The Rochester chapter had a financially worthwhile Christmas candy sale. Profits will be in the neighborhood of $200, plus much wisdom--which will make this venture a far greater success next year.... Bob Dupont has given 52 times to the Rochester blood bank. As Bob stated to a reporter, 'People always think of the blind as receiving help from others. This is one way we can give something to some one else.' "
The Michigan Council of the Blind Bulletin reports that Mrs. Pearl Sharlow, wife of the president of the Muskegon chapter, has been seriously ill in a local hospital and may have to undergo surgery.... The Michigan state agency had strongly opposed certain liberalizing sections of the public assistance bill which the Council supported last year and which passed the lower house. The agency has now reduced its objections to writing and this may serve as a basis for fruitful negotiations. Paul Kirton has written an exhaustive analysis of the agency's position, which is expected to be of great assistance to the Council.
From Listen (Boston): "Eight young men and women, selected from applicants across the nation, will start training as mobility instructors in a pioneer course scheduled to begin at Boston College next June. The unique breakthrough program--first of its kind in the world--will be inaugurated under a federal grant authorized in February by OVR. To qualify for the program an applicant must be a graduate of an accredited college or university and must be in good physical condition, with eyesight correctible to 20/20. Said John Mungovan: 'The establishment of a course for mobility instructors on the graduate level marks a giant step forward in rehabilitation services for blind persons. '...It is being predicted that enrollment at the Hadley Correspondence School for the Blind, Winnetka, Illinois, will increase from the present 1, 500 to from 3,000 to 5,000 and the number of courses will jump to 150 within the next 5-year period. Through cooperation with the University of Chicago a college degree is 'in prospect.' "
Mrs. Gerald ("Polly") Salters--formerly of Little Rock, Arkansas, and now a teacher at the Kansas School for the Blind--sends the following: "Mr. James Coutz, who has represented the Kansas State Association of the Blind at national conventions, has received an invitation from President Eisenhower to attend the May 5-6 meeting of the President's Committee for the Employment of the Physically Handicapped, to be held in Washington, D.C. Jim was also awarded a citation recently by the Governor of Kansas for his success in overcoming his own handicap of blindness and because of his contributions in the field of employment of the handicapped. "
From The Eye Opener (Detroit): "There has been a 98% reduction in retrolental fibroplasia cases since the findings of Dr. V. Everett Kinsey, Detroit, were published in 1954.... The user of a white cane who fails to keep it prominently in front, so as to warn approaching drivers, invites trouble. In this city, at least, nearly all drivers are alert to the blind pedestrian, thanks to the superb educational job done over many years by the Lions and the Detroit Police Department, particularly in the public schools."
Word has just come that D.W. Overbeay, superintendent of the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School and member of the Iowa Commission for the Blind, has resigned these positions and will become superintendent of the Ohio State School for the Blind as of August of this year.
Elena Landi has resigned as president of the Rhode Island Federation of the Blind and has been succeeded by Antone Santos, 71 Wendell Street, Providence.
The Georgia Academy Alumni Association will hold its annual meeting at the school in Macon, May 28-29. For particulars write to Miss Alma M. Hamilton, 1222 East 7th Street, Columbus, Georgia.
The third annual convention of the State Council of New Jersey Organizations of the Blind will be held October 8-9 at the Roger Smith Hotel in New Brunswick.
From a Madison, Wisconsin, newspaper: "Jerry Higgins, the smiling Irishman who operates the state capitol's concession stand, is sensitive to colors, even though he is blind. He likes shamrock green and wore a shirt, tie and hat Thursday (March 17) that would make St. Patrick very happy. He strongly dislikes orange and in his good natured way posted a sign at his stand to prove it. It read: 'Top o th' marnin' to yez, B'Gorrah! Take notice: There'll be no Orange drink sold here this day. Neither will any orange ties be tolerated a-tall.' "
From a Madison, Wisconsin, newspaper: "Jerry Higgins, the smiling Irishman who operates the state capitol's concession stand, is sensitive to colors, even though he is blind. He likes shamrock green and wore a shirt, tie and hat Thursday (March 17) that would make St. Patrick very happy. He strongly dislikes orange and in his good natured way posted a sign at his stand to prove it. It read: 'Top o th' marnin' to yez, B'Gorrah! Take notice: There'll be no Orange drink sold here this day. Neither will any orange ties be tolerated a-tall.' "
At the March 27 meeting of the executive board of our New Jersey affiliate, a new chapter--the Progressive Social Club for the Blind, Newark--was granted a membership charter. An application from another group, the Light Brigade, of Bergen County, was read and action deferred until the next meeting. A member reported that in two New Jersey municipalities a blind person may now dial a telephone number to hear a recorded summary of local news and that attempts are being made to introduce this service in Newark.
From The Lone Star Leader (T.F. Moody, editor): "...At the annual meeting of our credit union, January 22, the report of the treasurer, Charles E. Garrett, was received with enthusiasm. As of January 1 there were 110 members, 25 outstanding loans, total assets of $5,575.70, cash on hand, $2,459.58. To date there have been no delinquent loans.... Through a cash loan the Houston chapter has added still another to the list of blind persons whom it has enabled to get started in business."
Reliable information has finally been received as to the actual damage resulting from the fire which for a time threatened the total destruction of the Overbrook School for the Blind, Philadelphia, one of the nation's oldest and best-known institutions of its kind. The most tragic aspect was the death of one fireman and serious injury to several others. The auditorium was completely destroyed. The gymnasium suffered water damage and will be out of use for some time. The dormitories, classrooms, halls and offices were untouched by fire or water; the library was not disturbed, and classes are in session, with very little absence among the pupils.
From a Burlington, Vermont, newspaper: "Walter W. Hollister, 59, of Bennington was awarded $10,000 Thursday by a jury in United States District Court here from the Hoosier Engineering Company of Delaware. Hollister, a blind man, had sued for $100,000. He claimed his hearing was injured by a dynamite blast December 16, 1957, near his home. He claimed impairment of his hearing prevented him from using a 'seeing eye' dog."
The reappointment of our national president, Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, by Governor Pat Brown to a four-year term on the California State Social Welfare Board--which was announced in the March issue of the Braille Monitor--was formally confirmed last month by a unanimous vote of the California State Senate. Meanwhile Dr. tenBroek has taken on additional responsibilities as chairman of the Welfare Board, a post to which he was elected by the newly constituted Board at its first meeting in February.