[nfb-talk] Fwd: REMEMBERING BOB HUNT

[David Andrews]

> From Ed McDonald:




>For many of us the death of Bob Hunt on Friday, July 20, has meant 
>the loss of a dear friend and respected colleague. Bob has been very 
>much in my thoughts the last couple of days, and I am sure we will 
>pay tribute to his life and memory during our upcoming state convention.
>
>Meanwhile, for those who may be interested, I thought I would share 
>the tribute that was prepared in 2008 when we inducted Bob into the 
>NFBWV Hall of Honor.
>
>Rest in Peace.
>
>Ed
>
>
>
>
>Bob Hunt was born May 22, 1924, and grew up in a Barbour County, WV, 
>coal camp.  He was eleven years old and in the sixth grade when a 
>fellow student gave him a dynamite cap of the kind used in coal 
>mining.  While examining and playing with the cap, Hunt caused it to 
>explode.  The explosion destroyed his right eye and caused the loss 
>of three fingers on his left hand.  Two years later, while in the 
>eighth grade, he lost the remaining vision in his left eye.
>
>
>
>Bob enrolled at the West Virginia School for the Blind in 1940 and 
>graduated in 1944.  He earned his undergraduate degree from Alderson 
>Broaddus College in Philippi, WV, and a master's degree from 
>Marshall College (now Marshall University) in Huntington, WV.  He 
>has also completed extensive graduate study at West Virginia University.
>
>
>
>As a young man fresh out of college, he earned a living as a 
>merchant and cab dispatcher and even dabbled in the trucking 
>business as a coal hauler. At the age of 24, he was elected to the 
>first of two two-year terms in the West Virginia House of Delegates, 
>representing his home county.  Several years later he taught for two 
>terms in the public schools of Lincoln County, WV.  Then in 1959 he 
>joined the faculty of West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, 
>where he served as a professor of history for nearly 35 years.
>
>
>
>Bob joined the West Virginia Federation of the Blind (now the 
>National Federation of the Blind of West Virginia) during the early 
>1960s.  He was a leader of the newly formed Morgantown chapter while 
>attending West Virginia University.  He served as second 
>vice-president and then as first vice-president of the state 
>affiliate before succeeding to the presidency upon the death of 
>NFBWV pioneer Chris Cerone.  He was then elected to the presidency 
>in 1967 and held that position--except for one year--until 1979. 
>Since then he has remained active in the organization as a member of 
>the board of directors, president of the Members at Large Chapter, 
>member of the legislative and agency relations committees, and in 
>various other capacities.
>
>
>
>Bob and his wife Ruth are the parents of two adult children, Merrilee and Rob.
>
>
>
>But these are just some of the basic facts of Bob Hunt's 
>biography.  They are the ingredients of an impressive resume, but 
>they tell only part of the story of why he deserves a place in the 
>Hall of Honor.  His pioneering spirit of independence and 
>self-confidence as a blind person; his keen sense of universal 
>justice, equality, and human dignity; his strength as a leader; and 
>his commitment to lifelong learning are just some of the personal 
>qualities that make him worthy of respect and recognition--not just 
>by the National Federation of the Blind of West Virginia, but by 
>anyone who has had the good fortune to know him as a student, a 
>colleague, or a friend.
>
>
>
>Consider, for example, his spirit of independence and self 
>confidence as a blind person and how it came to be.  At the time Bob 
>lost his sight, the creation of a social action organization of 
>blind Americans (the National Federation of the Blind) was still 
>just a dream in the mind of a scholar and visionary named Jacobus 
>tenBroek.  Bob's mother and father had no National Organization of 
>Parents of Blind Children to turn to for guidance about how to help 
>their young son who had suddenly become blind.  The only blind 
>person Bob himself had ever seen was a street musician with a tin 
>cup attached to the neck of his instrument.  Otherwise, during those 
>pre-war depression days, opportunities for a blind person to live an 
>independent and productive life--especially in rural West 
>Virginia--were virtually non-existent.
>
>
>
>Neither of Bob's parents had even a high school 
>diploma.  Nevertheless, they recognized the importance of getting a 
>good education and developing a strong sense of personal 
>responsibility.  They made sure their children did well in school 
>and had chores to do at home.  Even after the explosion had 
>destroyed some of Bob's vision, they insisted that he remain in 
>school and complete eighth grade.  In addition, Bob's father, who 
>worked as a coal miner, set a personal example of courage and 
>determination by becoming involved in the labor union movement--an 
>unpopular and sometimes even dangerous thing to do at that time in 
>the state's history.  Even after his father died prematurely in 1939 
>at the age of 37, his mother insisted that Bob continue his 
>education at the West Virginia School for the Blind in Romney, the 
>only viable educational option available to him at that time.
>
>
>
>Despite the school's strong academic program, it was at the School 
>for the Blind that Bob first encountered attitudes of low 
>expectations and inferiority regarding blind people--even the 
>unspoken but very real notion that totally blind people were somehow 
>perceived as being inferior to those with so-called "partial 
>vision." But he also learned from his fellow students the many 
>things that blind people really were able to do, and he discovered 
>new and effective ways to bolster his own self-confidence.
>
>
>
>One of those techniques for building self-confidence involved what 
>he describes as "breaking the rules of the institution," a technique 
>that he occasionally employed in his adult life as well.  Things 
>like venturing off campus without the requisite "sighted guide"; 
>finding ways to buy beer at a downtown restaurant; and daring to 
>walk across the railroad trestle that spanned the South Branch 
>River--these were all activities strictly forbidden by school 
>rules.  Nevertheless, engaging in such activities--even at some risk 
>to one's safety--was one way for a blind teen-ager to assert his 
>independence and strengthen his confidence in his own inherent abilities.
>
>
>
>Bob would be quick to remind us that behavior which others may 
>regard as simply a display of self assurance on the part of a 
>sighted person may be interpreted as arrogance or conceit when 
>displayed by a blind person. Nevertheless, this spirit of self 
>confidence--call it conceit if you want to--served him well after 
>graduating from the School for the Blind. Pursuing a college 
>education was not all that common among young blind people in those 
>days, and the matter of starting a business of your own was even 
>less common.  But conducting a campaign, getting elected, and 
>serving in the state legislature is still a pretty remarkable 
>accomplishment for any young man in his early 20's--not to mention a 
>young man in 1948 who happened to be blind.
>
>
>
>In 1959, when Bob joined the faculty of West Virginia Wesleyan 
>College, blind people throughout the nation were still struggling to 
>secure the fundamental right to organize.  Dr. tenBroek and a few 
>others had worked their way into academia, but teaching at the 
>college level was not, by any means, a popular profession for blind 
>persons.  It is therefore a testament to his persistence and 
>determination as well as his academic credentials that Bob was able 
>to secure such a position and make it his life's work for more than 
>three decades.
>
>
>
>He continued, however, to hold his employer to the same standards of 
>non-discrimination that he would expect from anyone else.  Although 
>he had not earned a Ph.D., he became eligible after fifteen years of 
>teaching for advancement to the rank of full professor.  Years 
>passed, however, and he received no such advancement, while 
>colleagues in similar situations were becoming full professors.  He 
>recognized a blatant case of discrimination based on blindness and 
>carefully considered how to respond. Finally--despite advice from 
>friends and colleagues not to make waves, he ultimately decided to 
>file a complaint with the West Virginia Human Rights Commission, a 
>right that had been secured several years earlier through the 
>efforts of the Federation.  The Commission ruled in his favor, and 
>the college complied appropriately.
>
>
>
>It was virtually inevitable that Bob should become involved in the 
>work of the National Federation of the Blind.  His father's example 
>as a union miner taught him the value of collective action as a way 
>to solve social and economic problems and bring about needed social 
>change.  His legislative experience taught him something about how 
>to bring about change through the political system.  What's more, 
>that sense of independence and self-confidence assured him that the 
>principles which the Federation fought for were indeed right.
>
>
>
>He led the Organized Blind Movement well in West Virginia--expanding 
>the membership and forming new chapters, raising the necessary funds 
>to support the organization, raising public awareness of blindness 
>issues and the accomplishments of blind people, and supporting the 
>passage of vital legislation in such areas as basic human rights for 
>blind West Virginians. One of his crowning moments occurred when he 
>confronted Governor Arch Moore in a public forum.  While Moore 
>addressed a statewide gathering of individuals leading up to the 
>White House Conference on Disability, Bob challenged the governor's 
>alleged acts of political cronyism that had seriously weakened the 
>state's Randolph-Sheppard vending program, a major source of 
>employment for blind West Virginians.
>
>
>
>On a very personal level, Bob and Ruth were successful in navigating 
>through the process of adopting two children.  Back in the 1960's 
>and even today, this is an area in which blind persons often face 
>unwarranted challenges and discrimination.
>
>
>
>These are but a few snapshots from the life of Robert L.  Hunt--a 
>life that stands as both a positive example and an inspiration for 
>blind people everywhere.  It seems almost prophetic that the letter 
>L, the middle initial in his name, stands for Loyal.  Throughout his 
>life he has remained "loyal" to those fundamental principles of 
>equality and justice that have sustained him and given him the 
>strength and determination to achieve so much.
>
>
>
>There is far more to the story of Robert Loyal Hunt than space here 
>allows, but surely this is enough to establish his worthiness of the 
>honor that we have bestowed upon him.
>
>
>
>Bob, we call you our colleague with respect, we call you our friend 
>with love, and we are proud to receive you into the Hall of Honor of 
>the National Federation of the Blind of West Virginia.
>
>