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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><h2>TELLING OUR STORY: THROUGH THE NFB NATIONAL CONVENTION<o:p></o:p></h2><p class=MsoNormal>by Deborah Kent Stein<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Every national convention of the National Federation of the Blind has its own character, but all conventions have the same sound. The unique sound of the national convention is the tapping of hundreds, even thousands, of long white canes. It is a sound that is heard nowhere else on the planet, for the national convention of the National Federation of the Blind is the largest gathering of blind people in the world.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Caption: A view from above shows the hotel lobby thronging with conventioneers at the National Federation of the Blind Convention in Atlanta in 2004.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Although the sound of that army of canes is an integral part of NFB conventions today, it was unknown and unimagined only a few decades ago. In the 1940s and 1950s, and even into the 1960s, very few convention attendees used canes or knew how to travel independently. “It was common for blind people to form trains to go from place to place,” remembers Mary Ellen Jernigan, who attended her first NFB convention in 1966. “One person, often a sighted person, would lead the way, with six or seven blind people trailing along behind, all of them holding onto one another.”<sup>1</sup> “I remember talking to a blind couple who came with their twelve-year-old sighted daughter,” says Diane McGeorge of Colorado, looking back at her first convention in 1961. “They said they were there only because they could bring their daughter along to guide them.”<sup>2</sup><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Today the canes in the lobby of the convention hotel form a vast percussion chorus. It is the compelling beat of people on the move, independent, fearless, and determined. The transformation of our national conventions represents the growth and transformation of the organized blind movement since its founding seventy-five years ago.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h3>Building the Movement<o:p></o:p></h3><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The national convention is the governing body of the National Federation of the Blind. It is a forum where members exchange ideas and pass resolutions that determine the organization's policy on issues affecting the blind. Board members are elected, awards are presented, and groups and divisions conduct their annual meetings. Yet the convention is far more than a series of business meetings. It brings together blind people of all ages and backgrounds to share their experiences and learn from one another. “It has been said that the conventions of the National Federation of the Blind resemble nothing so much as the gathering of the Scottish clans,” Dr. Kenneth Jernigan once stated. “We come together to renew friendships, show off our children, engage in feasting (and a little carousing), pray together and have fellowship, celebrate our victories, plan wars, lament our losses, welcome new members to the family, mourn for the departed, make foreign alliances, discuss business, contemplate the future, and remember the past.”<sup>3</sup><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Fifteen delegates from seven states (California, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) attended the founding convention of the National Federation of the Blind in 1940. Only a year later, at the 1941 convention in Milwaukee, 104 people were in attendance, nearly a sevenfold increase. Nebraska, Iowa, Louisiana, Washington, and Colorado had joined the Federation, and more affiliates were on the way. The number of attendees continued to rise year by year.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>For most blind people in the United States, the expense of attending a national convention posed a financial hardship. Estimates suggest that in 1940 only five thousand blind people in the entire United States held jobs, including those who worked in low-paying sheltered workshops.<sup>4</sup> Nevertheless, growing numbers of blind people struggled and saved in order to attend convention, wherever it was held. To help conventioneers avoid the cost of restaurant meals, the Presidential Suite supplied sandwiches, salads, and other food items. Hazel tenBroek, the wife of NFB President Jacobus tenBroek, became famous for providing salami and San Francisco sourdough French bread. Many a famished Federationist headed to the Presidential Suite to enjoy a meal and partake of Mrs. tenBroek's gracious hospitality. The practice of serving meals at the Presidential Suite survived until 1985.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In the early years, convention lasted only four days. Sessions were concerned primarily with strategies for dealing with the Social Security Administration and the sheltered workshops. The convention program was planned by the leaders of the Federation, and people attended to listen and learn.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The National Federation of the Blind began life in the early 1940s, when the United States was embroiled in World War II. In 1943 the Office of Defense Transportation requested that organizations avoid holding conventions unless such conventions were deemed necessary to promote the war effort. The decision whether or not to hold a convention was left up to each organization. President tenBroek polled the Federation's executive committee (the equivalent of today's board of directors), and the committee voted almost unanimously not to hold a convention that year. Again in 1945 convention was canceled due to war-related concerns. Apart from those two years, the National Federation of the Blind has held its national convention consistently every year.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>By 1952 the Federation was gaining public recognition. At the 1952 convention, held in Nashville, Tennessee, Dr. tenBroek addressed a nationwide audience on NBC's radio network. His speech, “The Blind in a Democratic Society,” carried the Federation's message of empowerment to blind and sighted listeners across the country.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In 1965, when the Federation celebrated its silver anniversary, its presence on the national scene was indisputable. The 1965 convention took place at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. Speaker of the House John McCormack delivered the convention's keynote address, and 103 members of the US Congress attended the convention banquet. Among the celebrated banquet guests were Sen. Robert F. Kennedy of New York, Sen. Walter Baring of Nevada, and Sen. Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota. As master of ceremonies at the banquet, Kenneth Jernigan invited each of the dignitaries to speak for thirty seconds. Hubert Humphrey, who later became US vice president under President Lyndon B. Johnson, was made honorary president of the NFB. “That was the week that was,” proclaimed the <i>Braille Monitor,</i> “the week of television cameras pointed like howitzers at the speaker's stand from both sides of the packed auditorium . . . of news reporters and photographers circling about the platform, scribbling notes and popping flashbulbs . . . of microphones clustered like metal bouquets on the rostrum . . . of radio interviews and TV broadcasts beamed to all parts of the country.”<sup>5</sup><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Caption: US Speaker of the House John McCormack addresses the 1965 NFB National Convention at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Until the late 1960s, the final act of the convention was to vote on the site where the next convention would be held. In 1969 the delegates from Hawaii made an irresistible pitch to host the next convention. They draped conventioneers with leis, served punch and pineapples in their suite, and made glowing promises of beaches and sunshine. When it was time to vote, Hawaii was selected to be the site for the convention in 1970.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The task then fell to NFB President Jernigan to find a hotel in Hawaii that could accommodate the convention. Within a few months he reported that none of the hotels he visited could offer the space needed for the convention at affordable rates. He requested permission to explore other possibilities and find a location that would meet the needs of the organization. In 1970 the convention chair was authorized to make any decision about the location of future conventions. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>By today's standards, room rates in the first decades of the Federation were astoundingly low. In 1947 single rooms ranged from $3 to $5.25 per night, and doubles from $4.25 to $6.75. Banquet tickets cost $1.50 in 1946, and rose to $2 in 1947. At the 1973 convention, a room at New York's Statler Hilton could be had for only $8. The Federation continues to negotiate for low room rates, making every effort to keep convention affordable for members in all income brackets. Many affiliates offer financial assistance to members who need help with airfare or lodging in order to attend. The Kenneth Jernigan Fund, established in 1998, is a national program to assist attendees, especially those who have never been to a convention before.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>First-time convention-goers frequently have described the convention as a life-changing experience. Donald Capps, long-time president of the NFB of South Carolina, attended his first convention in 1956. He recalled, <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>For the first time I truly accepted the concept fostered by the NFB that it is respectable to be blind. I also learned another important truth in 1956—that as Federationists we must put service above self. You cannot be a complete Federationist if you do not put service above self. As a matter of fact, the 1956 convention breathed new life into me as a blind person.<sup>6</sup> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Caption: In 1988 Marsha Walker, Jose Fernandez, Joanne Wilson, and Russell Anderson examine NFB canes on display at the NFB National Convention in Chicago.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“[Convention] was where I became inextricably a part of the Federation family,” said Barbara Walker (Loos) of Nebraska, looking back to her first convention in 1974. “It was there I committed myself to involvement in NAC demonstrations; improvements in Nebraska's school, agency, and library for the blind, etc.; and other issues facing us as blind people.”<sup>7</sup><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>During the first decades of the Federation's history, no formal activities were planned for the evenings at convention. People gravitated to the Hospitality Room, where they gathered around the tables, swapping stories, singing, or playing cards. They were having fun, and they were also building a sense of solidarity with blind people from across the country. The convention experience helped Federationists understand that they were not merely representatives of their local chapters and state affiliates, but part of a national movement.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h3>Diversity and Expansion<o:p></o:p></h3><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Conventions in the 1960s were still relatively small gatherings, with only a few hundred people in attendance. Registrations finally reached one thousand at the Houston convention in 1971. “On the last day we were so close, but we still weren't up to the one thousand mark,” says Mary Ellen Jernigan. “Finally we rounded up a few staff people from the hotel and persuaded them to register, just so we could get that final number.”<sup>8</sup><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“When I attended convention back in the Sixties, there were hardly any women there,” Diane McGeorge remembers. “The Federation was very much a men's organization, though some of the guys came with their wives. You hardly ever saw families with kids. There was nothing for children to do, so people didn't bring them.”<sup>9</sup><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>During the 1960s and 1970s the atmosphere at convention began to change. A key influence was the growing presence of graduates of the blindness training center at the Iowa Commission for the Blind, which was directed at that time by Kenneth Jernigan. The Iowa graduates used long white canes, and they traveled with ease and confidence. Some Federationists felt that the Iowa people were arrogant, always showing off their abilities. Others observed the Iowa grads with astonishment and hungered to acquire the skills they had mastered. Many of the Iowans began to give impromptu cane travel lessons during convention. After a few informal lessons, Federationists who had never set foot in Iowa found themselves stepping out of their comfort zones to explore the streets around the convention hotel, long white canes in hand.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Among the Iowa trainees and graduates at convention in the late 1960s were a growing number of high school and college students. The NFB National Scholarship program, which began in 1965, also brought young people to the convention. In 1967 blind students founded one of the first divisions within the NFB, today known as the National Association of Blind Students (NABS). Jim Gashel was elected to serve as the division's first president. All but three of the students at the founding meeting came from Iowa.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Like others before them, the students were captured by the spirit of the Federation that they experienced during convention. Marc Maurer attended his first convention in 1969. Years later he said,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>I was just out of high school and wondering what my life would be like. The convention was a revelation. I had not known that blind people could be engaged in such a wide variety of occupations. This revelation occurs again and again. The wonder I felt at my first Federation banquet is a part of me today. I sat in the banquet hall with my blind brothers and sisters and heard Dr. Jernigan proclaim for all of us our intention to gain independence, to achieve genuine productivity, to secure our freedom.<sup>10</sup><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In 1980 convention expanded to include a seminar sponsored by Job Opportunities for the Blind (JOB), a program conducted by the NFB under the auspices of the US Department of Labor. JOB seminars, which provided information and encouragement to blind people seeking employment, were a regular convention feature into the 1990s.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In 1982, shortly after the founding of the Parents of Blind Children (POBC), later the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC), the first seminar for parents took place at convention. As more and more families of blind children attended each year, convention became an increasingly family-friendly event. Children attended NFB Child Care, known as NFB Camp, during general sessions. In the evenings they splashed in the pool or explored the hotel with their kid-sized white canes. Their sighted parents had the chance to meet blind adults for the first time and to taste the philosophy of the NFB.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Caption: Anna Walker holds an armload of Braille books she has selected at the Braille Book Fair at the NFB National Convention in Orlando in 2011.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>One by one, the Federation added groups, committees, and divisions to meet the needs of blind people with special concerns or fields of interest. The Writers Division, Educators Division, Human Services Division, Lawyers Division, Deaf-Blind Division, and Merchants Division all held meetings at convention. Traditionally convention started on a Monday, held its banquet on Thursday evening, and closed at the end of the general session on Friday. In the 1980s extra days were added to accommodate the seminars and division meetings. Instead of arriving on Sunday night in time for convention activities on Monday, people began to arrive on Friday evening for Seminar Day on Saturday and the division and committee meetings that took place on Sunday.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Caption: Scott LaBarre, Anthony Thomas, and Charlie Brown act as the defense council during the Mock Trial, a popular event that traditionally follows the meeting of the Resolutions Committee.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Among the most important committees to meet on Sunday afternoon was the Resolutions Committee, which debated and voted on resolutions submitted by Federationists from all over the country. Resolutions approved by the committee were brought to the convention floor to be discussed and voted upon by the convention assembled.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Another addition to the convention experience was the exhibit hall. In 1972 delegates from the Iowa Commission displayed a selection of canes and aids and appliances. Later a few blindness-related organizations such as the American Printing House for the Blind displayed Braille watches and alarm clocks, measuring cups with raised markers, Braille games such as Scrabble and Monopoly, and other low-tech equipment. With the proliferation of computers, companies selling refreshable Braille devices, optical character recognition programs, and screen readers set up tables to show their wares. By the 1990s the exhibit hall filled two vast rooms in the convention hotel. Numerous state affiliates staffed tables of their own, and the national office of the NFB offered Federation literature and sold canes, Braille watches, and other aids and appliances in a section called the Independence Market.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Caption: Bill Dengler examines Braille notetakers in the exhibit hall at the 2013 NFB National Convention in Orlando, Florida.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>One element has been consistent from the beginning, the banquet on the final evening of convention. Guests dress up for the occasion and settle in for an evening of fine food, fellowship, and inspirational presentations. An anticipated highlight is the presentation of the NFB National Scholarships. Since 1988 inventor Raymond Kurzweil has added generous contributions to the scholarship grants and has addressed the convention with his thoughtful reflections.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The centerpiece of the convention banquet is a speech by the president of the National Federation of the Blind. Over the years, these banquet addresses have formed a body of Federation literature, conveying the Federation's philosophy, passion, and profound commitment to breaking down barriers for blind people throughout the United States and the world. Such speeches as Jacobus tenBroek's “Within the Grace of God” (San Francisco, 1956) and “The Cross of Blindness” (New Orleans, 1957); Kenneth Jernigan's “Blindness: Handicap or Characteristic” (Philadelphia, 1963) and “Blindness: The Circle of Sophistry” (Phoenix, 1984); and Marc Maurer's “Reflecting the Flame” (New Orleans, 1991) and “Expanding the Limits: The Uncertainty of Exploration” (Atlanta, 2007) have been reprinted and distributed again and again.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h3>The Convention Experience<o:p></o:p></h3><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>At the 1997 national convention, held in New Orleans, convention attendance topped three thousand for the first time. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, the number of people registered at convention generally hovered around twenty-five hundred.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Caption: Kishawn Hoover stands before a display of antique cars at the 2006 national convention in Dallas.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Presentations at the general sessions evolved with the changing times and the Federation's changing status. In the 1960s and 1970s directors of programs that served the blind frequently took the podium. If the Federation was fighting for better services for the blind, the speaker was likely to face some challenging questions during the Q and A period. Federationists were not afraid of confrontation, and they relished the chance to speak up and be heard.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>With the rise of technology, a growing number of convention presentations pertained to the world of computers and adaptive devices and software. In the twenty-first century the Federation crafted relationships with major players in the tech field in order to work with them around accessibility issues. Convention speakers included officials from corporations such as Google, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>By the 1990s convention week was packed with so many meetings and workshops that each day stretched from 7:30 a.m. until 10 at night. Even after the scheduled activities were over, people gathered for drinks, late-night snacks, and discussions that could go on until the wee hours of the morning. For most convention-goers, sleep was not a priority!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>National leaders still plan the general sessions at convention, always seeking suggestions from the membership of the organization. Beyond that, hundreds of Federationists plan and conduct the myriad activities of the Federation's groups, committees, and divisions. No longer do attendees come to sit back and listen. Nearly everyone at convention has responsibilities, from staffing tables in the exhibit hall and the Independence Market to chairing committee meetings and mentoring first-timers. The convention of 2015 belongs to everyone in ways that the founders could not have pictured seventy-five years ago, any more than they could have imagined the signature sound of convention—the tapping of thousands of long white canes.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Caption: Conventioneers enjoy a salsa dance party at the 2010 NFB National Convention in Dallas.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>For most Federationists, convention week stands apart from the rest of the year. At home they often feel isolated as blind people, every day navigating the fears, prejudices, and misconceptions of the public and sometimes even those of family, friends, and colleagues. In contrast, convention creates an environment where blindness has no weight. It is a condition that does not limit acceptance or appreciation. “Sighted family members and newly blinded people come to convention and are amazed,” says Mary Ellen Jernigan. “They never imagined that blind people could think about blindness this way. Convention is a total immersion, like learning a new language by visiting the country where it's spoken.” Summing up the convention experience, she concludes, “Convention shows us what blindness really is, and it lets us see how it ought to be regarded by the world.”<sup>11</sup><o:p></o:p></p><div style='mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in'><p class=MsoNormal style='border:none;padding:0in'><o:p> </o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Suzanne Hartfield-Turner, President<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>NFBOH-Cleveland<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>P: (440) 462-9755<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>A: PO Box 141077<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Cleveland, Ohio 44114<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>E: <a href="mailto:President.NFB.ClevelandOhio@Gmail.com">President.NFB.ClevelandOhio@Gmail.com</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>