BVA’s mainstay publication, the BVA Bulletin, began publishing in early 1946. For a brief period in the late 1940s and early 50s, a print version of the Bulletin was produced and mailed monthly. Appearing in nearly every issue of the early Bulletins, and continuing for more than 40 years, was a column by the legendary Kathern F. “Kay” Gruber.
In 1945, Kay Gruber was appointed to be the Director of War Blind Veteran Services for the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) and in 1949 as Assistant Director for Professional Services of AFB, two positions she held simultaneously for 14 years. Much of her life was dedicated to providing maximum independence for the blind and rebuilding the pride, dignity, and self-esteem of blinded veterans.
Kay Gruber was instrumental in working with Father Thomas Carroll, Warren Bledsoe, and Russ Williams to launch the first VA Blind Rehabilitation Center (BRC) at Hines, Illinois, just outside Chicago. Kay’s focus was that of securing the necessary materials and equipment. She stayed at Hines for six weeks following its inauguration in 1948 and helped choose many of the first staff members. She held several training sessions with the staff during those early weeks, infusing philosophy that dominated the BRC for many years and still has influence today.
In her column in the November 1949 issue of the Bulletin, Kay reported on the decision and efforts of blinded veterans and their families to send CARE packages to other war-blinded individuals in Europe. Frequently, the mailing of the packages began an active correspondence with new friends abroad and an exchange of ideas that could have contributed greatly to the formation of a world federation of blinded veterans’ groups. Such an organization, she said, was in the minds of attendees of the national convention three months before when they passed a resolution calling for additional information on the possibility of forming such a worldwide group.
“These types of ideas represent the kind of growth and thinking that is going to make it possible for BVA to adhere to its stated policies and ideas,” she mused.
Expounding on Kay’s statements and what came later for BVA, although an international organization of blinded veterans never became a reality, the desires and resolutions of early BVA members provided a few of the steppingstones leading to BVA’s relationships with St. Dunstan’s in both the United Kingdom (later Blind Veterans UK) and South Africa. It also, most assuredly, influenced later participation in the World Blind Union after 1984.
The World Blind Union (WBU) is an internationally recognized organization representing 253 million blind and partially sighted persons in 190 member countries. WBU is the voice of the blind, speaking to governments and international bodies on issues of concern to organizations of and for the blind and low vision.
WBU brings together all the major national and international organizations of blind people, and more recently the organizations providing services to people with low vision, to work on the issues affecting the quality of life for blind people. Globally, WBU is divided into six regions, with each region having its own president and volunteer executive team to assist the needs of the local members. BVA has been a participant in WBU activities in the past.
