[MD-AtLarge] An Interesting Story

[Chikodinaka mr. Oguledo]

hello the historyNFB historyLady send this 2debbie president. of
sligoChapter. nfb.md-sligo at nfbnet.org! lets tell the world about NFB
history lady. please I want2meet her some day

On 4/4/20, nfbmd via MD-AtLarge <md-atlarge at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hello All,
>
> Here is an interesting story from the history lady, Peggy Chong.  Peggy
> addressed both of our chapters a few years ago.  Take heart from this blind
> trailblazer.  Enjoy.  Read Below.
>
>
>
> Sharon Maneki, Director of Legislation and Advocacy
>
> National Federation of the Blind of Maryland
>
> 410-715-9596
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> The Blind History Lady weighs in on COVID-19.
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>
> These are strange times, but this is not new to our country. A bit of a
> history lesson. We may not remember the Asian Flu epidemic of 1957, the
> Hong
> Kong Flu of 1967, the Russian Flu of 1976, but we all have a memory of the
>
> H1N1 and others of the recent past. There is a flu epidemic almost every
> year somewhere around the world. Just like spring floods, we seem to have
> that 100-year mark. Today, we are experiencing the 100-year flu, COVID-19
>
>
>
> Wikipedia describes the Spanish Flu (1918-1920) as originating in one of
> three countries China, United Kingdom or the United States. Here is a
> summary of the effects of the flu during World War One, that had already
> demoralized many American.
>
>
>
> "The Spanish flu, also known as the 1918 flu pandemic, was an unusually
> deadly influenza pandemic. Lasting from January 1918 through December 1920,
> it infected 500 million people-about a quarter of the world's population.
>
> The death toll is estimated to have been anywhere from 17 million to 50
> million, and possibly as high as 100 million, making it one of the
> deadliest
> epidemics in human history."
>
>
>
> We have no where reached these numbers around the world yet. We have
> front-line weapons to fight the COVID-19 they did not have back then such
> as
> indoor plumbing, Clorox Wipes, hand sanitizers and much more. These will
> surely keep the numbers down and not exceed the 1918 pandemic.
>
>
>
> I have a story of a blind woman and the Spanish Flu, Fannie Opdyke to help
> us put these times into perspective and to realize that we are in control
> of
> our destiny even now. We, the blind will triumph through these trying times
> and come out better for it, just like Fannie.
>
>
>
> Fannie was born in New York in 1886. She attended the New York School for
> the Blind in Batavia, learning among other skills, typing. She graduated in
> 1908, moved to New York City and joined the Blind Women's Club.
>
>
>
> Fannie became a secretary at the law offices of attorney Catherine V.
> Curry.
>
>
> Her duties included writing letters from a graphophone in the offices. Her
> employer commended Fannie on how fast she picked up the graphophone and the
> accuracy of her work, noting that she was just as good, if not better than
> the other secretaries in her office. Fannie could type accurately, 70 words
> a minute. Through mapping out the forms, understanding how far to roll a
> form into the typewriter and how far to space over, Fannie was able to fill
> out the necessary legal forms without sighted assistance.
>
>
>
> She also worked as a Typist/Dictaphone operator in New York City's
> Condemnation Department in the City's court system, excelling at her work.
>
> She was also quite adept at the six-key, shorthand machine used at that
> time
> by many secretaries.
>
>
>
> As the Flu epidemic began, hitting New York City hard, Fannie and another
> blind girlfriend, Clara Barnum, about 10 years older, decided to take a
> huge
> risk and take the train to move to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where they soon
> found typing jobs.
>
>
>
> Fannie took a job with the law offices of W.C. Reid, the attorney for the
> Atchison Topeka and the Santa Fe Railroads. Her employer told the New York
> School for the blind that because of her skill, Fannie had a higher rate of
> pay than many of the secretaries in the office and soon became the lead
> secretary in the office, earning a salary of $90 a month.
>
> .
>
> Just as she had done in New York, Fannie reached out to join groups for the
> blind as there were no groups of the blind in New Mexico, but found that
> she
> was often ignored by the sighted society women when she tried to get the
> Friendship League for the Blind of Albuquerque to promote braille and to
> help provide canes to the adult blind of Albuquerque to become better and
> independent travelers. Later, she did have an impact and was inspirational
> in some of the first braille classes in Albuquerque for blind adults.
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