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for his outstanding work. Harold
Russell of the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped visited Des Moines on behalf of the President to present the award. In his speech, Russell said, "If a person must be blind, it is better to be blind in Iowa than in any other place in the nation,
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outlining the deplorable conditions he had found in the agency upon his arrival. He listed countless critical needs of the agency, and then he finished his letter by saying: "The present director should be given a reasonable (but only a reasonable) time in which to show results. If he does not
237:, who held the position until 2014. After his presidency, Jernigan edited and contributed to over a dozen books of stories about blind people, known as "kernel books," which contain true stories about life experiences of federation members.
248:) and Director of the National Center for the Blind. Under his leadership, the Center became the focal point of civil rights activity for the blind. He continued as the political leader of the organization for the rest of his life.
210:). While there, Jernigan developed and successfully implemented a new model for rehabilitating the blind known as "structured discovery." Eventually, Jernigan's model was utilized by rehabilitation programs around the world.
233:. Jernigan briefly stepped down in 1977 for health reasons, but was reelected the following year. He remained in that position until 1986, when he decided to retire and was succeeded by
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of
Tennessee, eventually serving as its vice-president in 1950 and President one year later. In 1952, he was elected to the board of directors. He moved to
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Jernigan died of lung cancer in
October 1998. His tombstone in Baltimore bears the legend "He taught us it is respectable to be blind!"
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show results, he should be fired. The present director would not be willing that it should be any other way."
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Also in 1968, Jernigan became
President of the National Federation of the Blind upon the death of founder
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in 1953 and joined the faculty of the newly established
California Orientation Center for Blind Adults.
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After
Jernigan had been in Iowa for only two weeks, he wrote a detailed letter to Governor
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in 1978 and became executive director for the
American Brotherhood for the Blind (now the
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149:. Beginning at the age of six, he was educated at the Tennessee School for the Blind in
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352:"The Gifts of Kenneth Jernigan | National Federation of the Blind of Kentucky"
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125:(November 13, 1926 – October 12, 1998) was the longtime leader of the
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three years later. In 1949, he earned a master's degree in
English from
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Upon graduation from
Peabody, he taught high school English at the
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to become director of the Iowa
Commission for the Blind (now the
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In 1968, Jernigan was presented with a citation from President
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in Nashville for four years. During this time, he joined the
328:"Advocacy: Kenneth Jernigan | Iowa Department for the Blind"
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269:, James H. Omvig, Information Age Publishing, Inc., 2005.
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Iowa Commission for the Blind Headquarters in Des Moines
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THE BLINDNESS REVOLUTION: Jernigan in His Own Words
304:"Biography of Dr. Kenneth Jernigan - 1926 to 1998"
246:American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
376:"Kernel Books | National Federation of the Blind"
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16:Leader of the National Federation of the Blind
456:Tennessee Technological University alumni
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416:American activists with disabilities
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279:The National Federation of the Blind
137:Kenneth Jernigan was born blind in
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78:Tennessee Technological University
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240:Jernigan relocated from Iowa to
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127:National Federation of the Blind
107:National Federation of the Blind
431:American civil rights activists
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208:Iowa Department for the Blind
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155:Tennessee Tech University
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451:Activists from Tennessee
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123:Norman Kenneth Jernigan
33:Norman Kenneth Jernigan
461:Peabody College alumni
446:Activists from Detroit
426:Educators of the blind
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406:American blind people
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159:Cookeville, Tennessee
151:Nashville, Tennessee
242:Baltimore, Maryland
184:Oakland, California
116:Mary Ellen Jernigan
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215:Herschel Loveless
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105:President of the
43:November 13, 1926
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23:Kenneth Jernigan
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421:Blind educators
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260:Further reading
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169:Peabody College
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171:in Nashville.
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383:. Retrieved
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60:(1998-10-12)
441:1998 deaths
436:1926 births
235:Marc Maurer
400:Categories
385:2022-02-21
361:2022-02-21
337:2022-02-21
313:2022-02-21
285:References
133:Early life
102:Occupation
39:1926-11-13
164:cum laude
147:Tennessee
74:Education
66:Baltimore
143:Michigan
380:nfb.org
139:Detroit
47:Detroit
190:Career
113:Spouse
252:Death
204:Iowa
94:M.A.
83:B.A.
55:Died
29:Born
157:in
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
