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CONTENTS

FOREWORD

THIS small volume has been published by the American Foundation for the Blind with a dual purpose -- to honor the memory of Dr. Robert B. Irwin and the splendid work which he accomplished -- and to present a picture of some phases of work for the blind and of the activities of the American Foundation for the Blind.

I have been requested to write a Foreword in view of my very close association and collaboration with Dr. Irwin, a remarkably fine, outstandingly able man, and an unusual character.

It happens that for twenty-three years I was President of the American Foundation for the Blind, of which Dr. Irwin was Director of Research and Education from 1923 to 1929 and Executive Director from the year 1929 to his retirement.

I distinctly remember a meeting in 1923 in Overbrook, Pennsylvania when the engagement of Dr. Irwin was under consideration at a board meeting. One of the trustees of the American Foundation for the Blind at that time, charming Miss Prudence Sherwin of Cleveland, who was acquainted with Dr. Irwin and his fine work in Cleveland, informed us that if we engaged him, he would have to have at least two secretaries to keep up with his labors. I remember remarking that we were not in position then to grant him this, whereupon Miss Sherwin said, "Don't worry, he will secure what he thinks he should have."

Miss Sherwin then told us that when Dr. Irwin came to Cleveland some years previously, he fell in love with a beautiful sighted girl, who had many admirers and everyone discouraged him from pressing his suit, feeling that she would not accept. "However," continued Miss Sherwin, "he would not be dissuaded, and they have been married for some time now."

As to secretaries, he certainly required and had two or three assistants long before the time he retired.

In the fifty years or more of my experience in work for the blind, and throughout my close contact with workers in the field, including many blind people, I would say that Dr. Irwin and his achievements were outstanding and will occupy a tremendously important niche in the history of work for the blind.

He was a persevering and indefatigable worker, and when he once decided on a certain procedure, he never swerved from his course until he had arrived at a successful issue.

Dr. Irwin spent himself in planning and furthering one idea after another for the benefit of his fellow blind -- conservation of sight, education, gainful employment, financial assistance, legislation, etc. He exhausted his abundant energies in ceaseless and untiring labors for the blind.

Some of his contemplated projects at first seemed fantastic dreams, but diligently pursued by Dr. Irwin and brought to fruition, they ultimately proved of inestimable value. Such a project was the Talking Book, which proved to be one of the greatest blessings bestowed upon the blind in the last century, and as important in their lives as the system originated by Louis Braille. This is especially so as in recent years blindness has been most prevalent among the aged, who have lost finger-sensitivity and find it difficult and often impossible to learn to read braille.

The Talking Book is only one of the many projects which Dr. Irwin envisioned and in the development of which he was of tremendous assistance.

It was Dr. Irwin's idea that a blind person and guide should be enabled to travel for one single fare on railroads and buses. To bring this about involved a great deal of labor, negotiations with the Interstate Commerce Commission, the federal authorities in Washington, and with the various transportation lines, many of them with regional centers scattered throughout the country. But after years of unremitting effort on the part of Dr. Irwin, an arrangement was finally effectuated and has been in operation for many years, enabling thousands of blind persons and their guides to travel for a single fare.

Dr. Irwin conceived the idea of suggesting to Congress that all the federal departments purchase from workshops for the blind such of their supplies as are made by the blind, at a fair market price. He appeared at many hearings in Washington, and finally, to consummate this plan, Congress passed the Wagner-O'Day Act, thus creating a tremendous amount of gainful employment for the blind. Blind-made products of the value of some millions of dollars have been sold to the government in several years.

Dr. Irwin planned and directed the World Conference on Work for the Blind, which was held in New York City in 1931, and attended by delegates from forty-six countries throughout the world. He was also Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the International Conference of Workers for the Blind in Oxford, England in 1949.