[Ohio-talk] TELLING OUR STORY: THROUGH THE NFB NATIONAL CONVENTION

[Suzanne Turner]

TELLING OUR STORY: THROUGH THE NFB NATIONAL CONVENTION


by Deborah Kent Stein

 

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.

 

Caption: A view from above shows the hotel lobby thronging with
conventioneers at the National Federation of the Blind Convention in Atlanta
in 2004.

 

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."1 "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."2

 

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.

 


Building the Movement


 

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."3

 

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.

 

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.4 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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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 Braille Monitor, "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."5

 

Caption: US Speaker of the House John McCormack addresses the 1965 NFB
National Convention at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC.

 

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.

 

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. 

 

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.

 

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, 

 

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.6 

 

Caption: In 1988 Marsha Walker, Jose Fernandez, Joanne Wilson, and Russell
Anderson examine NFB canes on display at the NFB National Convention in
Chicago.

 

"[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."7

 

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.

 


Diversity and Expansion


 

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."8

 

"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."9

 

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.

 

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.

 

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,

 

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.10

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

Caption: Bill Dengler examines Braille notetakers in the exhibit hall at the
2013 NFB National Convention in Orlando, Florida.

 

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.

 

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.

 


The Convention Experience


 

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.

 

Caption: Kishawn Hoover stands before a display of antique cars at the 2006
national convention in Dallas.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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!

 

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.

 

Caption: Conventioneers enjoy a salsa dance party at the 2010 NFB National
Convention in Dallas.

 

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."11

 

 

 

Suzanne Hartfield-Turner, President

NFBOH-Cleveland

P: (440) 462-9755

A: PO Box 141077

Cleveland, Ohio 44114

E: President.NFB.ClevelandOhio at Gmail.com
<mailto:President.NFB.ClevelandOhio at Gmail.com> 

 

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.