By Joyce Scanlan, President

(Editor’s Note:  This address was delivered at the membership seminar for chapter representatives held on March 31, 2007.)

Blind people throughout the world have been coming together for self-protection and mutual support since the Middle Ages.  And in the United States, blind residents of the state of Minnesota recognized a need and organized to address it before the first nationwide organization of blind people came into being.  The Minnesota State Organization of Blind (MSOB) incorporated in 1919 and established itself in the community as a St. Paul property-owner in 1920.  You may wonder what issue could have been so problematic for these blind people that they would take such a daring and innovative step as to create their own vehicle for self-help.  Well, it was the basic need for housing.  Those who established the MSOB were primarily graduates of the state residential school for the Blind in Faribault, probably called the Minnesota Asylum for the Blind at the time, who after graduation came to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul to pursue various careers and found that landlords refused them local housing because they were blind.  Their solution was to set up their own organization and operate a housing facility owned and managed by blind people themselves.  They purchased property and opened the Minnesota Home and Center for the Blind at 1605 Eustis Street in St. Paul.  Their headquarters remained at that address until 1980, when the property was sold for $533,000.

During the early years of the MSOB’s existence, while housing was the organization’s major concern, its members were involved in many other issues in the broader community.  I should point out that minutes of the organization’s meetings indicate clearly that some of the members firmly declared they absolutely would not raise funds or help with any project that didn't involve the Home.  As you can guess, this caused some dissention within the organization.  Of course, other members were interested in issues such as public assistance for blind people, rehabilitation, dealing with the state agency and the Minneapolis Society for the Blind, education of blind children (both at the state residential school and in the metro area public school systems), various employment programs, and of course library services.  The MSOB had a strong voice whenever these issues were addressed.

By 1938, there was a definite division within the membership between those dedicated solely to the Home and those who felt that the organization should be involved more in the community at large.  Those who wanted community participation broke away and formed the United Blind of Minnesota in that year.  All this was before the National Federation of the Blind.

The National Federation of the Blind was organized nationally on November 16, 1940.  Remember that in 1935, the Social Security Act was passed by Congress, and that brought matters of public assistance to the national level.  Individual states could deal with local issues only, but now a national voice for blind people was needed after this federal program under the Social Security Act came on the scene.  As we all know, Minnesota was one of the seven states that came together in 1940 in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania, to form the National Federation of the Blind (NFB).  Now, which Minnesota organization do you believe was the one present at the organizational meeting in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania—the one committed to the Home?  No, it was the United Blind of Minnesota who was interested in community involvement.  Now, at this time, our organization was called Minnesota Organization of Blind, (MOB), and that didn't help us a whole lot.  But the MOB, who operated the Home, became a member of the Federation sometime in the 1940's—no one is sure exactly when, because the original charter was somehow lost.  So Minnesota became the only state in the Federation with two local affiliates—something we will probably never quite live down.

As early as the 1950's, it was becoming obvious that the Home was no longer a profitable business, but the commitment of the older members was holding strong, and the Home continued to operate, draining the organization's treasury and membership energy.

Minnesotans continued to benefit, though, from national participation; national leaders were helpful in broadening the perspective of Minnesota members.  The uplifting philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind reached many members, and more and more people began attending national conventions and bringing back information on valuable issues, such as the "right to organize" legislation, the white cane law, and the idea of state rehab services being provided by a commission form of administration, with blind people themselves having a voice in the agency's operation.  The 1947 national convention was held in Minnesota, and many blind people began to take interest in a broader range of issues.

The next time the Federation came to Minnesota for a National Convention was in 1970.  There were some changes taking place in the state.  We still had two affiliates, and one still operated the Home for the Blind.  I attended a meeting at the Home just prior to the 1970 national convention, and the big discussion during the afternoon was whether the welfare committee should be allowed to visit blind people in nursing homes outside the metro area or only in Minneapolis and St. Paul.  I don't remember the ultimate decision, but the discussion held little interest for anyone under the age of 40 who may have been present.

While some of us may look back on our Minnesota history with a bit of shame and embarrassment over the Home, the restricted view of some of the early members, and the seemingly-localistic perspective of early policies, I for one will be eternally grateful to those wise pioneers who created a viable organization to serve as a mechanism for social change for future generations.  The organization was here for me and for all of us when we finally had the good sense to participate fully in promoting better lives for all blind people.  If those residential school graduates had merely sat around in 1919, whined about their rejection by property owners, and done nothing about it, we today might have no foundation on which to build our current programs.  Without that foundation, could we today be as creative and resourceful as the founders of our organization who built a strong instrument for us to build upon?  While it seems to us that early members may have resisted social change or meaningful progress, we might ask ourselves if we today could deal graciously with proposed major changes without feeling threatened or unduly challenged.  We truly owe them sincere thanks for their personal dedication and undying determination to address a basic need of their time.  The legacy they left for future generations allowed all of us to come together in strength to pursue solutions to the burning issues of our era.

The MOB president in 1970 was a guy named Jim Schleppegrell, who was probably on the younger end of the membership spectrum, and he really encouraged the younger people to join.  After the national convention, he encouraged young members and students to organize a student division in the state.  I can say that the United Blind president told Jim Schleppegrell later that starting the student division was "the biggest mistake he could ever have made." The United Blind withdrew more and more from public involvement, and left the Federation in 1977, leaving NFB of Minnesota the one Minnesota affiliate, finally.  We do have rather a checkered history.

The year 1970 was a very exciting time for Minnesota and the National Federation of the Blind.  State affiliates were changing their names to “National Federation of the Blind of (name of state)”, as did Minnesota in 1972.  We did this to show our solidarity and our unity with one another.  We gained many new members in Minnesota because of the national convention being here in Minnesota.  Probably most important of all, Minnesota organized a student division soon after the national convention.  Many of us were greatly inspired to join this national movement of blind people.  We found our common voice, and our lives forever changed.  I, for one, found the philosophy of the Federation especially uplifting.  Such thoughts as "blindness is respectable," "blind people can compete on equal terms with the sighted," "blindness is just another one of those characteristics—not a handicap—like being left-handed," (which I also live with), and "blind people can participate on a basis of equality with the sighted."  As a teacher, I had experienced discrimination and prejudice because of blindness; and here was an organization ready and willing to challenge such treatment in the courts.  I was thrilled beyond words.

One of my most memorable decisions after attending the convention was to close my case with State Services for the Blind.  That was a terrible burden lifted from me.  I began accompanying other blind people over to challenge decisions they found troublesome when dealing with their rehabilitation counselors.  All of us began to assert our rights and to question the established agencies and their despicable treatment of blind people.

At the time, the Minneapolis Society for the Blind (MSB), now called Vision Loss Resources (VLR), had no blind people on its board of directors.  At our fall convention in 1970, the organization that we all now belong to passed a resolution calling upon MSB to put three blind people on its thirty-member board of directors.  The response was, "No—we want people on our board who can contribute." They made clear that they meant financial contribution.  In other words, blind people couldn't contribute financially, so were not regarded as worthy prospects for board positions.  Not to be put off by such a rejection, we pursued the matter by joining the MSB as members and attending the annual meeting so that we could participate in the election of the board of directors.  That effort failed when the chairman at the annual meeting discovered our intentions and summarily adjourned the meeting.  When MSB ultimately expelled all the blind members, the Federation brought legal action, which lasted for seven years.  Finally, after these seven long years, the State Supreme Court decided in our favor, and the Society was forced to hold a special election—and a nationwide election at that.  The Federation was able to elect eight members to the MSB board of directors.  We asked for three in 1970; we won eight in a court-ordered election.

We had participation from our fellow Federationists across the country for that election.  Nationally, we had far more votes than the Society folks had, but in Minnesota MSB outspent us and gathered up more votes.  That is somewhat surprising in light of the support MSB could have garnered from the nationwide rehabilitation establishment of traditional agencies available to it.  MSB spent $150,000 to NFB of Minnesota’s $5,000.  We felt proud and pleased to have gained eight seats on the MSB board.  Many of us will never forget our celebration dinner at Murray’s Restaurant in downtown Minneapolis after that election on November 14, 1979.

The National Accreditation Council for Agencies Serving the Blind and Physically Handicapped, which we always call NAC, was a major issue in the 1970's and early 1980's.  Federationists held numerous marches with picket signs protesting NAC and other agencies all over the country, including the American Foundation for the Blind, the Chicago Lighthouse, the Cincinnati Association for the Blind, and in Minnesota the Minneapolis Society for the Blind.  Each march was an uplifting experience, through which each of us strengthened our belief in ourselves individually and our confidence in our collective voice.

In Minnesota, we carried out a major public relations campaign.  That is a long story, during which we all learned much about our own capacity to control our lives and to influence public attitudes toward blindness.  Today, I would say, that there's probably no controversy as to who speaks for the blind.  On a regular basis, our office receives calls with questions about blindness.  They ask for our opinions about all manner of subjects related to blindness.  We have established our organization as the authority on blindness.  If reporters go to VLR for information, they never mention it in conversations with us.  They can't really find the Minneapolis “society for the blind,” and they don't know where to go when they can't find it; VLR became the current name after several name changes to avoid the word “blind.”  As we said long ago in one of our NAC chants, "we speak for ourselves!"

I can recount many experiences that Minnesota Federationists have enjoyed over the past three decades.  Probably our most outstanding accomplishment has been the creation of Blindness: Learning in New Dimensions (BLIND), Incorporated, our own consumer-directed training center with Federation philosophy—a completely new choice for blind people who prefer a different approach from the traditional program such as VLR.  We are proud of the name we have selected and see no reason to hide from or be ashamed of blindness as the characteristic that has brought us together.

With our voice gained from the National Federation of the Blind, we in Minnesota can look forward to a future of success.  No problem can block our progress.  We have moved out into the community and the world, and we will be heard.  Our work in the legislature has led to many policy changes for blind people: the passage of the Minnesota Human Rights act; legislation leading to the adoption of an administrative rule for our state agency for the blind to clarify its services and agency policies; the braille literacy law; funding for NFB-NEWSLINE®; and state support of the Help America Vote Act giving blind people nonvisual access and privacy in voting for the first time.  There have been many, many other pieces of legislation dealing with special education, transportation, and funding for our state agency for the blind.  Our annual days at the Capitol and participation in the Federation Washington Seminars over the years have demonstrated the strength of our affiliate in the blindness movement.  To communicate with Federationists in Minnesota and throughout the country, we have had our Minnesota Bulletin since 1934, and the Braille Monitor, our national publication since 1958, keeping us abreast of goings-on with a solid philosophy on all matters related to blindness.

I think there is one major outstanding benefit every member of the National Federation of the Blind has received—an incentive to think and live beyond ourselves, by caring for and focusing on our blind brothers and sisters across the country, and I would even say throughout the world.  All of us, whether blind from birth or experiencing blindness later in life, begin by struggling alone, concerned about our personal future, wondering how we can ever have a good life.  Then, when we become involved in the National Federation of the Blind, and come to know others who are blind within the organized movement of the Federation, we are suddenly faced by a much broader view: we can reach out to one another and begin to live in the world with the love and support of our fellow Federationists.

Probably the time I came to realize that the most was in 1979, when we had our proxy battle with MSB.  We had a struggle going in Minnesota, which affected the life of every blind person in this state.  I personally had unfortunate experiences with MSB, as had many others around the state, but when we in Minnesota saw our colleagues in the Federation from all over the country join with us by signing their proxies to us and not to MSB, we had absolute proof that this Federation was truly more than just a scattering of individual blind people.  It was a national people's movement of individuals who cared deeply about one another, and cared about every blind person in the country—even those in our struggle in Minnesota.  Our national president at the time was Dr.  Kenneth Jernigan and he called me every day to encourage and support us.  Many other leaders throughout the country did that also, but Dr.  Jernigan would say, "We must fight this battle whether we win or lose.  Even if we lose, we will be better off for having fought the fight." Then I would have renewed strength to go forth and rally the troops in Minnesota to move forward with our proxy battle.  And that's how it is in our Federation.

Each of us can reach outside ourselves to help and support our fellows who are blind, and together, we all move forward to better lives.  When Tom Tebockhorst over here started his new job, each of us benefited.  When Jordan Richardson was allowed to do industrial arts in his school system wearing sleepshades, every Federationist rejoiced.  When Charlotte Czarnecki was hired at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, her victory was a triumph for all of us, and on and on it goes.  This has been our history in the National Federation of the Blind, and we hope it will always be thus with our organization and our people's movement, with the shared love and joy experienced by all of us.  As we all learn today how to work together to further build the Federation, we will see a bright future with successful and fuller lives for every blind person.

There you have a thumbnail sketch of the history of our people’s movement in Minnesota and throughout the country.  As we proceed with our recruiting efforts in the coming months and year, let’s remember that we are carrying forward the torch brightly lit for us by our founders, those in Minnesota and Dr. Jacobus tenBroek and Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, and many others at the national level.  We indeed have a history of which we can be justly proud.