They sold for $.90 but did not seem to sell well after the first few months. In 1946, plastic canes had been purchased. At the Septemboard meeting the purchase of hickory canes that the organization would sell to blind people was approved. The convention passed a motion in support of this notion. It was his contention that the cane should be held vertically instead of horizontally, as many people had been taught. On December 30, 1948, at the semiannual convention, he made a presentation to the convention on the proper way to hold the cane when crossing the street.
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Torger Lien, a longtime member of the organization and a travel teacher at the Braille and Sight Saving School in Faribault, worked with many blind people, teaching them how to travel independently using all of the tools and sensory cues available to them. spoke to the semiannual convention on the use of the white cane in her state and in Paris. Efforts were made to interest the press in the whole white cane issue.īlind people from other states were asked to speak at conventions about how the white cane was used and accepted in their communities. Leaflets were printed and distributed to the public. So the committee got on many talk shows and news broadcasts to spread the message. If the white cane was to be a symbol to the sighted community that the person carrying the cane was blind, education of the public needed to be done. The committee set standards for the canes to be three feet long and white. In March of 1945, a White Cane ordinance was passed by the state Legislature.Ī White Cane committee was established in 1934 to secure donations for white canes to be distributed to blind people. The board members thought that these canes might prove of help to blind people in Minnesota, and so started a search for these canes.ĭue to the efforts of the membership White Cane ordinances were passed in Minneapolis and St. In 1926, the Board of Directors heard about blind people in other states traveling with reed canes. The organization helped to purchase and distribute whistles for many blind people traveling in St. The idea was that the blind traveler would stand at a street corner and blow the whistle, thereby letting passersby know that he or she needed assistance to cross the street. On December 28, 1920, the organization adopted a policy supporting the idea of using whistles as a travel aid. However, in those days, cane travel training was not available.Īt a meeting of the Board of Directors, the issue of traveling in the cities was discussed. This took great confidence and determination. Although it is clear that many of them traveled with the assistance of a sighted guide, we also have reports of how individual leaders secured rides and traveled unescorted when the need arose. However, they did not let the absence of a cane prevent them from getting where they wanted to go. We do not know how many early leaders of the Minnesota State Organization of the Blind (now called the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota) used the white cane or any variation of it. Only recently have the blind been able to turn this around. But throughout history the cane has been regarded as a symbol of helplessness and dependence. Even during the middle ages, one can find accounts of blind people using branches or sticks to get around. The notion of using a branch or stick as an aid to independent travel is not all that novel. The long white cane, as we know it today, really did not begin to gain respectability until the blind themselves actively promoted its use.
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