[NAGDU] FW: Masters Eye

Tue Oct 1 12:02:57 UTC 2024

This is an article about a guide dog school in the US before The Seeing Eye.  It’s by Peggy Chong, the blind history lady.

Tracy

From: The Blind History Lady <theblindhistorylady-gmail.com at shared1.ccsend.com> 
Sent: Tuesday, October 1, 2024 7:04 AM
To: carcione at access.net
Subject: Masters Eye

Masters Eye 

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October is White Cane Awareness Month. In past years I have written about the cane. Today is about a dog guide school almost forgotten.

Someone once told me that history is to those who write it. I knew what he meant at the time but have come to realize that statement is so true in so many ways. Today we have many sources to receive our news and information from. It is getting harder and harder to determine on face value which source has done in-depth research on any issue and if it is as accurate as possible. 

The blindness community has terrific researchers and references. They work with the material, archives, and professionals available in the blindness field. As many of us know, what little history we have is in print, written for the sighted. The braille/New York Point diaries, letters, files, reports of the past, written by and for the blind are all but gone as family, friends and even agencies for the blind cannot read these formats. So, researchers can only work with what they know about.

Today, I want to highlight a piece of history that pre-dates many of the written articles regarding Dog Guides in the United States. Most of the records from this school were burned in a fire in 1935. Few graduates of the program left written testimony of their dogs and the school. All we have are a handful of personal stories and a few newspaper articles to help us to unearth the first Dog Guide school of our country, Master Eye Foundation of Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

John “Jack” Sinykin, (1891-1984) a Russian, Jewish immigrant from St. Paul, Minnesota owned a successful cosmetic company with endorsements by famous Hollywood actresses. While riding a train between Chicago and St. Paul, he saw a blind veteran of the recent World War asking for assistance in his travels, Jack remembered his dog who saved his life several years back when Jack was thrown from his horse in the middle of nowhere, on his father’s ranch in South Dakota and thought how a dog might have helped that blind man. Jack already was well-known for his ability to train dogs. 

Jack began to investigate dogs and blindness. Germany had a successful program for almost ten years, training dogs to guide blinded veterans. He contacted them and in 1925, the first two of his more than 3,000 dogs trained for the blind came over from Germany. 

Lux came first with no instructions. The dog was extremely agitated by the trip to such an extent that Jack had to take the kennel with Lux inside to a small, private room. Lux only understood German. Jack found a friend who gave him a few German words to calm the dog. Jack almost had second thoughts. He could not bring the dog to his house out of concern for his small child and family dog at home. In a few days, Lux relaxed with the constant companionship of Jack.

Lambert Kreimer, the most successful trainer of dogs for the blind in Germany, arrived several months later. Jack and Lambert worked with the other dogs, helping to enhance Jack’s techniques for guiding the blind.

While waiting for the dogs to come to his La Salle Stables in Wayzata, Jack gave careful thought as to who the first few people to receive his dogs should be. The blind recipient needed to have a high profile as to help promote the idea of a guide dog for a blind person. That blind person also needed to be successful in the use of the dog. Jack chose blind Senator Thomas Schall of Minnesota. 

Jack traveled to Washington D. C. and approached the blind senator in a hallway and laid out his plans. At first, Schall was skeptical. He had been blind 20 years by now and had designed his own methods of travel and blindness techniques. Schall agreed to meet with Jack and later came to La Salle stables to meet and train with the dogs. 

Senator Schall was impressed. Schall learned the German words that Lux trained under until Lux grew accustomed to and understood the English commands. Schall now walked alone to and from places he wanted to go both in Minneapolis and in Washington D. C. Lux and Schall became a team for the next seven years until Lux died in 1933.

The second dog, Eric, was partnered with Colonel Fred Fitzpatrick, (1880-1962). Fred retired in 1919 after 20 years in the Military, a hero of the 1916 Mexican War and World War One. Fred lost his sight about 1923. He headed his own Mortgage firm and was serving as sheriff of Salina, Kansas when he received his dog in 1927.

More German Shepherd dogs were being raised and trained at La Salle Kennels. The third dog, Junker, was assigned to Ruth Hoefer of Michigan, and the fourth, Blackie was paired to Dr. Francis Naegeli, an osteopath of Durango, Wisconsin.

Jack wanted every blind person who wanted a dog as a guide, no matter their race, religion, employment status, or income. He spent his own money to bring the first dogs and trainers to Minneapolis and expanded his own 50-acre stables to include kennels to house and train the dogs. If a potential recipient could not afford to travel to Minnesota to train with the dog, he financed their travel and housing during their stay. After the first few dogs demonstrated the dramatic impact on the lives of the blind men and women who received his trained dog guides, the Twin Cities Jewish community became regular and significant contributors to the Master Eye Foundation (MEF). 

The MEF school raised funds through donations and collaborating with a pet food company. For every few labels from Perk Dog Food cans mailed back to the foundation’s post office box in Minneapolis, the Perk Company donated money to the MEF.

Dog guide schools that followed in the next few years, required the blind person to pay $150 towards their first dog. Their philosophy was that if the blind person paid a significant part of the cost of the dog, the blind person would appreciate the dog and take better care of it. Yet, most adults could not afford the dog on their own. They went to family, community groups, churches, or charities to ask for funding to travel to New Jersey to obtain their guide dog. This brought a higher public profile to the other schools.

The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) in New York warned of several fraudulent schemes regarding the blind and dog guides. Although the AFB never said the Perk labels were fraudulent, their articles had a dampening effect in the many states where Perk was sold.

Celebrity contacts in Hollywood through his wholesale cosmetic company such as V. E. Meadows and Eve Parshalle, raised funds for the foundation. Jack traveled to Hollywood several times in the 1930s when proposed legislation to allow dog guides for the blind into public places was introduced in the California State House. He held press conferences to emphasize his support. The Hollywood contacts hosted glamorous dances, even during the depression for the foundation. 

William A. Christensen, owner of a manufacturer’s distribution firm and chiropractor in Hollywood California received Almo from MEF. William later founded the National Eye Dog Association that began training dogs primarily for WWI vets living in California. Almo was the first dog ever awarded a medal of honor by the city of Los Angeles after awakening his master, alerting William to a fire in the hotel they were staying at. Almo was credited for saving several lives that day.

One of Jack’s most famous students was Geraldine Lawhorn, a Black, deaf-blind actress and pianist. Blondie, her dog received the most public attention after Senator Thomas Schall. 

Yet thousands of owner and guide partnerships that went unmentioned in the media. MEF did not have a PR department, advisory board of influential and wealthy contributors, or the regular support of the blind themselves. A few pictures remain in archives at the University of Minnesota showing blind men and women, white, Indian, Black, and Asian. Sadly, no names grace the backs of the pictures. 

Jack trained dogs for the blind personally until several months before his death in 1984. His son continued for a few more years but the training of dogs for the blind ceased. The assets of the MEF were purchased by Can Do Canines, a dog training school focusing on service dogs for the deaf. 

Jack, all but forgotten.

Peggy Chong is the 2023 Jacob Bolotin Award Winner.

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