[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 146 (Wednesday, October 14, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2170-E2171]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 A TRIBUTE TO DR. KENNETH JERNIGAN, PRESIDENT EMERITUS OF THE NATIONAL 
                        FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 14, 1998

  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to a man who 
has dedicated his life to improving opportunities for others. He is Dr. 
Kenneth Jernigan, who served as President of the National Federation of 
the Blind from 1968 to 1986 and as the Federation's President Emeritus 
until his death on October 12, 1998. In these capacities, Dr. Jernigan 
has become widely recognized and highly respected as the principal 
leader of the organized blind movement in the United States.
  Mr. Speaker, I have been proud to represent Kenneth Jernigan and his 
wife, Mary Ellen, since coming to Congress in 1996. But more than being 
my constituent, Mr. Speaker, Dr. Jernigan has been my friend. In fact, 
as he did with so many others over his lifetime of leadership, he 
encouraged me and helped me to believe in myself.
  Born blind in 1926, Kenneth Jernigan grew up on a small Tennessee 
farm with little hope and little opportunity. But in the story of 
Kenneth Jernigan, from his humble beginnings in the hills of Tennessee 
to his stature as a national--and even an international--leader, the 
story of what is right with America is told.
  Dr. Jernigan may have been blind in the physical sense, but he was a 
man of vision nonetheless. As a leader of the National Federation of 
the Blind, he taught all of us to understand that eyesight and insight 
are not related to each other in any way. Although he did not have 
eyesight, his insight on life, learning, and leading has no equal.
  Mr. Speaker, for those who knew him and loved him, for the blind of 
this country, and for the National Federation of the Blind--the 
organization that he loved and built--the world without Kenneth 
Jernigan will be different. But the world he left in death is a far 
better world because of his life.
  The legacy which Dr. Jernigan has left behind is visible in the 
hundreds of thousands of lives that he touched and will continue to 
inspire through the programs and projects that will live on in his 
name. This will be the case for many generations to come.
  Kenneth Jernigan will be missed deeply by his family and friends, and 
his loss will be shared by all of us because he cared for all of us. 
With the strength of his voice and the power of his intellect, he 
brought equality and freedom to the blind. As he did so, Kenneth 
Jernigan taught us all to love one another and live with dignity. This 
is the real and lasting legacy of Kenneth Jernigan.

[[Page E2171]]

  Mr. Speaker, on September 24, 1998, an article entitled, ``Friends 
Pay Homage to Crusader for the Blind. Jernigan Still Working Despite 
Lung Cancer'' appeared in the Baltimore Sun. Because it presents a 
fitting tribute to Dr. Jernigan's life and work, I insert the text of 
this article in the Record at this point.

  Friends Pay Homage to Crusader for the Blind Jernigan Still Working 
                          Despite Lung Cancer

                         (By Ernest F. Imhoff)

       A steady stream of old friends--maybe 200 in the past 
     months--have been visiting Kenneth Jernigan at his home in 
     Irvington.
       Pals who followed the old fighter for the blind as he 
     tenaciously led fights for jobs, for access, for independent 
     living, for Braille and for civil rights have come to say 
     thank you and goodbye to a dying blind man they say expanded 
     horizons for thousands of people.
       James Omvig, a 63-year-old blind lawyer, and his sighted 
     wife Sharon flew from Tucson, Ariz., to visit with the 
     president emeritus of the National Federal of the Blind 
     (NFB), who is in the latter stages of lung cancer.
       ``The wonderful life I've had is all due to Dr. Jernigan,'' 
     Omvig said. In the 1950s, he ``was sitting around at home'' 
     in Iowa, after learning chair-making, until he met Jernigan 
     and began studying Braille and other subjects. Omvig then 
     graduated from college, got a law degree, became the first 
     blind person hired by the National Labor Relations Board and 
     later developed programs for the blind at Social Security in 
     Baltimore, Alaska and elsewhere.
       One topic of conversation among the friends has been 
     Jernigan's latest project, a proposed $12 million National 
     Research and Training Institute for the Blind for NFB 
     headquarters in South Baltimore.
       Last week, Larry McKeever, of Des Moines, who is sighted 
     and has recorded material for the 50,000-member federation, 
     came to chat and cook breakfast for the Jernigans. Donald 
     Capps, the blind leader of 58 South Carolina NFB chapters, 
     called to congratulate Jernigan on being honored recently at 
     the Canadian Embassy for his Newsline invention that enables 
     the blind to hear daily newspapers.
       Floyd Matson, who is sighted and has worked with Jernigan 
     for 50 years, came from Honolulu to be with ``my old poetry 
     and drinking buddy.''
       A dramatic example of the high regard in which blind people 
     hold Jernigan came during the annual convention of 2,500 NFB 
     members in Dallas in July. A donor contributed $5,000 to 
     start a Kenneth Jernigan Fund to help blind people.
       Quickly, state delegations caucused and announced their own 
     donations. The result: pledges of $137,000 in his honor.
       Jernigan, 71, who was born blind and grew up on a Tennessee 
     farm with no electricity, learned he had incurable lung 
     cancer in November. In the past 10 months, Jernigan has been 
     almost as busy as ever. He has continued projects such as 
     editing the latest in his large-type ``Kernel Book'' series 
     of inspirational books for the visually impaired.
       But his focus has been the proposed four-story institute, 
     for which $1 million has been raised. It will house the nerve 
     center of an employment program; research and demonstration 
     projects leading to jobs and independent living; technology 
     training seminars; access technology, such as applications 
     for voting machines, airport kiosks and information systems; 
     and Braille literacy initiatives to reverse a 50 percent 
     illiteracy rate among visually impaired children.
       In fighting for the blind, Jernigan has frequently been a 
     controversial figure. Before he moved to Baltimore in 1978, 
     the Iowa Commission for the Blind, which he headed, was the 
     subject of a conflict-of-interest investigation by a 
     gubernatorial committee. In the end, Gov. Robert Ray felt the 
     committee's report vindicated the commission. The governor 
     and the committee described the commission's program for the 
     blind as ``one of the best in the country.''
       ``There are good things in everything, even this illness,'' 
     said his wife, Mary Ellen Jernigan. ``You expect to hear from 
     old friends. But in letters and calls, we hear from hundreds 
     of people we don't know.''

     

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