Kentucky Honors ACB and Paul Edwards
A highlight at each ACB national convention is the presentation of awards to members and citizens who foster the principles which guide the American Council of the Blind. At the Louisville convention, the list of citizens, members, and organizations who were honored by prestigious awards included ACB President Paul Edwards — known henceforth as “Colonel Edwards” — and the American Council of the Blind itself.
On Sunday evening, Russ Maple, “A” District Commissioner for Jefferson County, Kentucky, welcomed all ACB members to Louisville, and honored the American Council of the Blind with a proclamation: “...whereas the American Council of the Blind is a national membership organization formed by blind people to promote the independence, dignity and advancement of blind and visually impaired individuals; and whereas the Jefferson County commissioners welcome this convention to Jefferson County and would like to commend its members for continuing to strive to increase the equality of opportunity and quality of life for all blind and visually impaired people, therefore be it hereby known that the Jefferson County commissioners on behalf of the Jefferson County community recognize and encourage the efforts of the American Council of the Blind and hereby present to them...this Community Excellence Award.”
Maple followed this presentation with another to ACB President Paul Edwards, who, on behalf of Kentucky’s Governor Patton and the Secretary of State of Kentucky, was honored by being commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel. “The highest honor awarded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” Maple said, “is that of Kentucky Colonel. Our colonels are Kentucky’s ambassadors of good will and fellowship around the world. Commissions as Kentucky Colonels are presented for contributions to the community, state or nation, and for special achievements of all kinds. With your commission ... the governor recognizes your service and accomplishments on behalf of others.”
Edwards joins a long list of distinguished citizens so honored, including Lyndon Johnson, Winston Churchill, John Glenn, Carol Channing, Ann Margaret, Muhammad Ali, Jeff Foxworthy and Whoopi Goldberg.
BOP Honors Ken Stewart and Hollis Liggett
The Ned E. Freeman Writing Award was presented by Kim Charlson, chair of the board of publications, to frequent contributor to “The Braille Forum,” Ken Stewart.
“The recipient of this year’s award has contributed a number of articles to ‘The Braille Forum’ in the past few years,” Charlson said. “ACB members might recognize such interesting titles as ‘Runners High,’ published in the May 1996 issue, or ‘Encounters of the Lobbyist Kind,’ January 1998, or the evocative title ... ‘The Carrot Takes a Bus Ride,’ July 1998.”
Stewart was recognized this year by the Board of Publications for “Passing Through,” his review of “Planet of the Blind, A Memoir.”
“I much appreciate this recognition,” Stewart said. “It’s just a terrific honor, and I thank Kim so much and the whole board of publications, and I certainly agree with Paul Edwards that ‘The Braille Forum’ is just a wonderful publication.”
The board of publications presented a special achievement award to Hollis Liggett for the work he did to promulgate the principles of free thought and freedom of the press, which have been so vitally entwined with the philosophy of the American Council of the Blind since it came into being 39 years ago.
“We’re presenting this evening a special Exceptional Achievement Award for his contributions as editor of ‘The Braille Free Press’ between 1959 and 1961 to Hollis Liggett,” Charlson said. “[Liggett] established the moral and ethical tenor of the debate within the organized blind movement which ... led in turn to the formation of the American Council of the Blind. Your common sense, Hollis, and down-to-earth writings brought understanding to many regarding the turmoil within the organized blind movement of the era. And those writings still are with us today and speak to us with just as much moral force and persuasion as they did in 1959 to 1961.”
Charlson continued, “I have asked Jim Megivern, the historian who is working on the manuscript for the history of the American Council of the Blind, to share a little bit of Hollis’ writing with you.”
“How many of you were at the NFB convention in Boston in 1958?” Megivern asked. “Could you raise your hands? ... I see you, M.J. ...” For the benefit of those who were not at that fateful convention, Megivern spoke about the Card amendment, the article summarizing it in “The Braille Monitor,” and how it led to the split and, ultimately, “The Braille Free Press.”
“Hollis wrote a letter to Jacobus tenBroek,” Megivern continued. “It said, in part, ‘It seems that you exercise complete authority in all matters concerning the federation, that you and you alone can make decisions as to what action the federation will take on an issue, what amounts of money it will spend and for what, whom it will hire and how much it will pay. You have no need except by choice to consult with anyone upon any of these matters.’ ...”
In accepting a plaque, which reads “The American Council of the Blind Board of Publications Exceptional Achievement Award presented to Hollis Liggett in recognition and appreciation for his contributions to independent thought and democratic principles through his service as editor of ‘The Braille Free Press’ from 1959 to 1961...,” Liggett spoke movingly of those early days of the ACB and the people who risked much to stand up for their beliefs and principles.
“I would like to take just a few minutes to say something about my experience with the Federation and with the Free Press,” Liggett said. “The only regret I have tonight is that Durward McDaniel’s not here to share ... The first I knew about any problems with the NFB was a letter from Marie Boring which she circulated all over the country outlining the problems they had with Dr. tenBroek and the Federation and the lack of any democratic procedure. Anyway, I wrote a letter in response to her letter and sent it to the president, the administration officials and the board members ... In response to my letter, I got a call from Durward McDaniel. Durward was feeling pretty discouraged at that time; he wasn’t making very much headway and I think he needed a friend and an ally ... So we discussed the problems at length and ... a little while later ... I got another call from Durward. He asked if he could come to Memphis and talk to members of the Association of the Blind, and I said ‘Sure...’ So he came, and we had a meeting, and I told him that I thought the Memphis Association would probably be willing to ... get out some kind of newsletter. Turned out it was a magazine ... That was the beginning of the Braille Free Press Association and its successor, the American Council of the Blind. ... That was the highlight of my life ... and this is another highlight of my life. Thank you very much.”
ACB Honors Descriptive Video Services
Noting that his presentation coincided with the 10th anniversary of the founding of Descriptive Video Services of Boston, MA, Paul Edwards presented the following certificate to Lori Kay, the new director of WGBH-DVS: “The American Council of the Blind recognizes by this certificate the pioneering efforts made by WGBH in Boston, Mass. to make descriptive video services a reality on television, on videotape and in movie theaters. We hereby celebrate with WGBH the 10th anniversary of descriptive video and congratulate its directors and staff for their ongoing advocacy on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of blind people who benefit from video description.”
“We couldn’t have done it without you,” said Kay. “And I also want to thank Laura Oftedahl ... who worked with us for most of the past 10 years and was a major force in getting DVS where it is today.” Oftedahl echoed Kay’s sentiments, and stated, “You have made DVS one of the best things that’s ever happened for blind people.”
Affiliates Honored
Another highlight of the convention’s opening ceremonies was presentation of awards by ACB’s awards committee.
“We’re going to try to be as quick as we can with this, but people certainly deserve their day in the sun,” said Dawn Christensen, chair of the committee.
Elizabeth Lennon, who was one of the founders of the organization which won the Affiliate Outreach Award, presented the plaque to the Council of Citizens with Low Vision International for Project Insight, which facilitates networking for people who are losing their vision.
Coletta Davis, CCLVI president, said, “We are so, so proud of this award. ... We have peer support groups all over the country, and we have been most fortunate ...”
When she presented the Membership Growth Award to CCLVI, Terry Pacheco, Coordinator of Affiliate and Membership Services, said, “We have had 37 affiliates with membership growth in this year ... and I think we should all be very proud of ourselves. One affiliate in particular had a 122 percent increase.”
“If we can do it, so can you,” Davis said. “One of our members in Florida, Rosanna Lippen, got 650 members this year, and she promises us that she’s going to get maybe almost 1,000 next year.” Davis introduced Lippen to the convention, along with Joyce Kleiber, one of the founders of Project Insight. The convention responded with thunderous applause.
Roger Petersen, winner of the 1999 George Card Award, presented this year’s Card Award to Bud Keith. “The awardee this year happens to be someone that I’ve known for a very long time,” Petersen said. “[He] has provided, both by precept and by example, for the advancement in the welfare and the rights and the self-confidence and self-esteem of blind people. He lost his own sight at the age of 11 and didn’t let that stop him from continuing on with all kinds of activities, including athletics. He was a skier, a bowler...[and] internationally known in that area. He served people with visual impairments by being a federal employee in the Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Health and Human Services, and that’s no mean task, believe me ... He’s also served the blind men and women of Panama by being a Peace Corps member there, by helping to organize the Helen Keller School for the Blind by working there. To add to all these feats ... he’s now showing us how to survive cancer, and that’s no mean task either.”
In accepting the award, Raymond “Bud” Keith said, “... This is very special, because it comes from a lot of people who’ve known me for many years and know my rough edges and ... that sometimes in fighting for what I believe I haven’t always been as polite or as considerate of others as I perhaps should have been. But we’ve been in a wonderful fight for a long time, and it’s fantastic to see the progress and to be given the privilege of standing on this stage with all the other people who've worked so hard and deserve the recognition.”
Saturday Awards
On Saturday, Mike Duke presented the Durward K. McDaniel Ambassador Award to Leonard DuBoff, who was unable to attend the convention. Duke included this list of accomplishments in his description of DuBoff’s many years of distinguished service: “He lost his sight, partial hearing and one hand in a college laboratory explosion on May 14, 1964. After completing rehabilitation, [he] changed his career from mechanical engineering to law. ... Leonard became a law professor; he taught from 1972 to 1994 at Lewis and Clark College ... and he was also a teaching fellow at Stanford Law School from 1971 to 1972, and an instructor at the Hastings College of Civil Advocacy in 1978. [He] has been very active in his community as well; he received the Silver Beaver Award for his activities in Boy Scouts of America and has other awards for various community service activities. He chaired the art law section of the Association of American Law Schools; he pioneered the field of visual arts law; he left teaching in 1994 to found a law firm. He has since been an active practitioner representing clients in his law firm in all aspects of business law, though his focus is on the intellectual property. ... [He] is recognized as a leader in this field of intellectual law. ... [he] has also served as chair of the Oregon Commission for the Blind for more than eight years ...”
The next award was a surprise. “It’s really very, very difficult to surprise the next person, because this individual is always kind of busy,” said Pam Shaw, of Margarine Beaman. “[Margarine] has a way of drawing people in who really want to work to help to make our conventions a success ... [She] is always on duty; often her day starts at 7 a.m. or earlier, and it doesn’t end until late at night ... Ask her to do anything, including get the president’s coffee, and she tends to do it ... Not only has she been invested in making our conventions a success, but she’s been invested in accessibility for blind people ... Never have I seen this person tired or complaining!”
The Outstanding Service Award reads, “The American Council of the Blind presents the Outstanding Service Award to Margarine G. Beaman with gratitude and appreciation for her many years of service as volunteer coordinator. Your tireless efforts to recruit and train volunteers and to make every hotel accessible have made our conventions so successful.”
“I’m overwhelmed,” Beaman said. “I do this because I love everybody and I do it because I want to. And I’ll be here as long as you’ll have me, until I die I guess ... and I don’t know if I’ll ever see it all the way to the end, but I will be there as long as I can to make sure everything’s accessible and we have volunteers and have a good time. ... Thank you so much!”
Captions
BOP Chair Kim Charlson shakes Ken Stewart’s hand after presenting him with the Freeman Award.
Kim Charlson shares a laugh with Hollis Liggett and Jim Megivern.