[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 146 (Wednesday, October 14, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S12572]
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

 Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, 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.
  On September 14, 1998, Mr. President, I was privileged to attend an 
especially moving ceremony to recognize Dr. Jernigan for worldwide 
leadership in the development of technology to assist blind people. The 
award, consisting of $15,000 Canadian and a 2-ounce gold medallion, was 
given by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, and the event 
was held at the Canadian Embassy here in Washington.
  This recognition by our neighbors to the north was a tangible 
expression, Mr. President, of the respect which Dr. Jernigan has earned 
throughout his lifetime of service on behalf of blind people in the 
United States and around the world. Through his grit, determination, 
and skill, Dr. Jernigan achieved personal success. But more important 
than that, as a lifetime teacher and mentor, he gave others the chance 
for success as well.
  Born blind in 1926, Kenneth Jernigan grew up on a small Tennessee 
farm with little hope and little opportunity. But, Mr. President, in 
the story of Kenneth Jernigan, from his humble beginning in the hills 
of Tennessee to his stature as a national--and even an international--
leader, the story of what is right with American is told.
  Dr. Jernigan may have been blind in the physical sense, Mr. 
President, but he was a man of vision nonetheless. In his leadership 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. President, for those who knew him and loved him, for the blind of 
this country and beyond, and for the National Federation of the Blind--
the organization that he loved and built--the world without Kenneth 
Jernigan will be difficult. But the world he has left in death is a far 
better world because of his life.
  The legacy which Dr. Jernigan has left is shown in the hundreds of 
thousands of lives that he touched and the lives that will still be 
touched by his example and the continuing power of his teaching. This 
will be the case for many generations to come. Mr. President, Kenneth 
Jernigan will be missed most by his family and friends, but his loss 
will be shared by all of us because he cared for all of us. He cared 
enough to give of himself. With the strength of his voice and the power 
of his intellect, he brought equality and freedom to the blind. As he 
did so, Mr. President, Kenneth Jernigan taught us all to love one 
another and live with dignity. That is the real and lasting legacy of 
Kenneth Jernigan.
  Mr. President, 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 ask to insert the 
text of this article in the Record at this point.
  The article follows.

 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 Federation 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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