House Resolution 145 - Introduced

PAG LIN

                                    H.R. ________ S.R. ________


  1  1                HOUSE RESOLUTION NO.    
  1  2                      BY  PETERSEN
  1  3 A Resolution in recognition of the life and work of
  1  4    Dr. Kenneth Jernigan and the Iowa Department for the
  1  5    Blind.
  1  6    WHEREAS, the Iowa Commission for the Blind was
  1  7 established by the Iowa General Assembly in 1925 to
  1  8 rehabilitate blind Iowans; and
  1  9    WHEREAS, 50 years ago, Dr. Jernigan, a young, blind
  1 10 Californian and a known civil rights leader, came to
  1 11 Iowa to head the commission, then ranking last among
  1 12 the states in its work for the blind; and
  1 13    WHEREAS, as Director of the Commission, Dr.
  1 14 Jernigan wrote to the Governor and the Members of the
  1 15 General Assembly, "With only a little more money and
  1 16 with energetic leadership at the Commission the
  1 17 situation can very soon be quite different from what
  1 18 it is today.  The present Director believes that he
  1 19 can provide such leadership and is willing to stake
  1 20 his entire career on that belief . . . "; and
  1 21    WHEREAS, under Dr. Jernigan's bold and dynamic
  1 22 leadership, the Governor and General Assembly
  1 23 responded enthusiastically and within 10 years Iowa
  1 24 had moved from the worst to the best in providing
  1 25 state services for the blind; and
  1 26    WHEREAS, two statistics demonstrate the remarkable
  1 27 level of progress == in 1958 10 blind persons were
  1 28 rehabilitated and in 1968 the number was 10 times that
  1 29 many, and when Dr. Jernigan first came to Iowa, four
  1 30 blind Iowans were in college and 10 years later nearly
  2  1 100 were engaged in higher education; and
  2  2    WHEREAS, since 1958, the "Iowa cane" has served as
  2  3 the symbol of independence for blind Americans, and
  2  4 Dr. Jernigan's Iowa Commission for the Blind, now the
  2  5 Iowa Department for the Blind, has served as the model
  2  6 for other states to emulate, and life for blind people
  2  7 in America has been changed and improved exponentially
  2  8 and forever, with the "Iowa model" followed in such
  2  9 states as New York, New Mexico, Nebraska, Texas, South
  2 10 Carolina, Idaho, and Florida, with blind people in
  2 11 those states empowered routinely as they have been in
  2 12 Iowa since 1958; and
  2 13    WHEREAS, in 1968, Dr. Jernigan received a
  2 14 presidential citation from President Lyndon Johnson in
  2 15 recognition of the tremendous success of the Iowa
  2 16 program; and
  2 17    WHEREAS, Dr. Jernigan passed away on October 12,
  2 18 1998, after reforming services for the blind in Iowa
  2 19 and after leading the civil rights movement for the
  2 20 blind in America for more than half a century; NOW
  2 21 THEREFORE,
  2 22    BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
  2 23 That the House of Representatives honors the memory of
  2 24 Dr. Kenneth Jernigan for the revolutionary and
  2 25 pioneering work he performed for the blind of Iowa,
  2 26 the nation, and the world; and
  2 27    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the House of
  2 28 Representatives also commends the Iowa Department for
  2 29 the Blind, and its 1958 Board Chairman, Mrs. Dorothy
  2 30 Kirsner, for serving the blind of Iowa in an exemplary
  3  1 manner not only by possessing the wisdom and foresight
  3  2 to hire Dr. Jernigan and for following the lead of
  3  3 this giant but also for carrying on his work and
  3  4 legacy for the past 50 years.
  3  5 LSB 6641HH 82
  3  6 jr/rj/14