Window into 1957: Pima County Club of the Blind

Window into 1957: Pima County Club of the Blind

Braille Monitor
April 2015

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Window into 1957: Pima County Club of the Blind
by Anna Kresmer
From the Editor: The following is another in our series of historical documents in the Jacobus tenBroek Library. Anna Kresmer is the librarian for the Jacobus tenBroek Library, and she provides an introduction and some historical context for this document:
The 1950s were a tumultuous time for the National Federation of the Blind. Not only would the decade see the Federation grow larger than it ever had before, with forty-seven state affiliates, it would also see the very foundations of the organization shaken by what would come to be known as the NFB Civil War. Perhaps the best example of both the highs and lows that the organized blind of America experienced in this decade can be found in the records for a comprehensive history of the NFB that never came to fruition.
Readers of the Braille Monitor may remember that back in January 2013, we highlighted a letter from Dr. Jacobus tenBroek in 1955 asking affiliate presidents to appoint a state historian and submit detailed histories of the organized blind movement in their states. It was his intention to compile and edit these documents into an extensive history to mark the occasion of the NFB’s twentieth anniversary. Unfortunately this appeal went out shortly before the internal struggles of the Civil War began to heat up. As a result this book was never written and, until recently, it was unclear whether any affiliate histories were ever submitted.
As so often seems to happen in the NFB archives, while looking for something else entirely, a cache of chapter histories sent to the president’s office in 1957 was discovered in the Jacobus tenBroek Collection. It appears that, instead of submitting histories at the state level, some affiliates chose to let their individual chapters speak for themselves. These documents provide a unique look at the formation and activities of the NFB at the local level in a time when the outlook of and expectations for the blind were very different from what they are today. Each story is different and yet very familiar.
Here is an example from the NFB of Arizona, known at the time as the Arizona Association of the Blind. Please note that writing styles have changed since 1957. To preserve the historical authenticity of the document, the text, including spelling errors, has been transcribed exactly as it appeared in the original:
December 1, 1957
PIMA COUNTY CLUB OF THE BLIND
TUCSON, ARIZONA
HISTORY OF THE ORGANIZATION
The Pima County Club of the Blind grew out of the attempt on the part of a few blind people and a few sighted friends to provide social activity and to teach Braille and crafts to some other blind persons in the community. It grew rapidly at first, as it was about the only outlet for many blind people in the immediate area. It began in 1946 and has continued to the present. Its membership fluctuated considerably, but its average membership stays at approximately twenty-five.
In 1947 Arizona blind began to hear of the National Federation. The Tucson club, which by that time had adopted the name of Tucson Club of Adult Blind, became interested in the activities of the NFB, and we began reaching out to contact other blind people in the state with a view to forming a state organization which could then become affiliated with the NFB. Contact was made with a blind attorney in Prescott, Arizona, who, with the help of a sighted friend, Mrs. Jessie Griswold, had formed a small club in that town. Mr. Rush probably deserves more credit than any one [sic] in the state for the formation of the Arizona State Association of the Blind. He made numerous trips at his own expense to Tucson and Phoenix in an effort to interest people in a statewide organization. Richard Stotera was at that time the first president of the Tucson club and joined Mr. Rush in his organizational work in Phoenix. By 1947 three clubs were established and the state association was formed and affiliated with NFB. Since that time two more clubs have been added so that the Pima County Club of the Blind is one of five affiliated organizations. Unfortunately as the Tucson club became larger, it drew in people who were more interested in social activities than in any political or economic advancement. More recently, however, emphasis has again been placed on the more serious aspects--community and national life as it affects blind citizens. Richard Stotera, who had been out of the state for several years, returned in the summer of 1956 and was elected president of the club in January, 1957. The following month, February, the club, which had lapsed into a very loosely organized form of social club, was reorganized under the name of the Pima County Club of the Blind and given a constitution, a copy of which is enclosed.
A brief glance at the Constitution will indicate the aims of the present organization. Since January, 1957, the club has lost two members through serious illness but has gained three who promise to be active, and at this time another blind person is seeking membership. The total enrollment is now twenty-five. Members range in age from twenty to sixty-five or seventy. These are people who come from various walks of life and have varied interests. It is a representative group, a cross-section of the blind of the community, and a serious effort is being made to integrate blind people into community life and through the state and national organizations to interest them in assuming their places as self-respecting citizens.
ACTIVITIES OF THE ORGANIZATION
The Pima County Club meets on the second Thursday of each month except July and August. Meetings usually open with a prayer by one of the members; the business meeting usually lasts an hour, during which time an effort is being made to acquaint all members with the activities of the NFB and any community movements in which the blind may take part; meetings usually close with a period of entertainment, consisting for the most part of musical programs provided by various sorority and high school groups.
A great deal of credit should be given to the Tucson Downtown Lions Club, which provides transportation to and from club meetings for those who need it and who are becoming increasingly amenable to the idea that working with the blind is far more beneficial to all concerned than working for the blind.
Respectfully submitted,
Richard Stotera, president
Pima County Club of the Blind

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