|
By Bridget Malley
Imagine Pittsburgh in the early part of the twentieth century. Industry is booming. Yet with the spread of machinery, the city is experiencing an increased number of work-related injuries. A war overseas adds to this number as men trickle home forever changed by modern warfare.
An interior view of the Pittsburgh Blind Association’s broom-making operations.
The Pittsburgh of those days does not have the chemicals and cleaners in use today. Simple treatments to prevent blindness as a result of bacteria from the birth canal have not yet been discovered. Products like vacuum cleaners have only recently hit the markets. The broom is the tool of choice in households everywhere.
It was in this environment that the Pittsburgh Association for the Blind was formed in 1910. Shortly afterwards, the Pittsburgh Workshop for the Blind was launched. Here, individuals could get training and find work, some of which included making mops and brooms. By the 1920’s, the organization was known as the Pittsburgh Blind Association.
Completed brooms being advertised.
In July, 1949, blind broom-makers at the Pittsburgh Blind Association went on strike. Thirty-five strikers went to City Hall to bring their case to Mayor David L. Lawrence, who said he would arrange a meeting between the workers and the director of the Association.
The heart of their complaint: Their wages of $17-$21 per week were being reduced to between $10.20 and $12 per week, not counting a $40 monthly bonus provided by the state. A Pittsburgh Press article notes, “…if a worker earns more than $90 a month, he loses a dollar from the [$40] bonus for each dollar over the $90.” This means that, all told, their earnings amounted to a maximum of $130 per month.
A worker adds broomcorn to handles.
Five years later, the situation was similar. Workers faced a pay cut from $1.13 per dozen brooms to 78 cents per dozen. The employees’ spokesman—James Leri—told reporters that “[t]he most money we can earn under the law, if we are to continue receiving our $50 monthly pensions from the state, is $21.50 a week, plus $2 for carfare.”
Once again, workers went on strike. In July of 1954, twenty blind men sat in the cafeteria of the Pittsburgh Blind Association overnight. Some slept. Some played cards using decks with Braille markings.
In the morning, they formed a picket line. Leri explained the situation to newspaper reporters, saying, “We just want to go back to work and we don’t want charity—that’s all there is to it.”
A blind worker concentrates on banding brooms.
Much has changed in the decades since. The Pittsburgh Blind Association is still in existence, having merged with the Greater Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind in 1997. The former focused primarily on creating employment opportunities; the Guild for the Blind, formed in 1959, focused more on independence—helping those with low vision regain and retain their autonomy.
BVRS as it is today aims to fulfill both missions. The organization offers employment through PBA Industries, and also partners with the Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation. (Brooms, however, are not part of that industry—the broom-making operations closed in 2009.) Day programs, youth summer programs, and adjustment training—in which individuals learn to adapt to the daily challenges of low vision—are also offered.
It is technology in particular that Leslie Montgomery, Vice President of External Affairs for BVRS, sees as making a huge difference in the lives of blind individuals today. Ride-sharing enterprises like Lyft and Uber allow mobility beyond the limits of a bus route, such as taking individuals to and from work. Phones now have a number of accessibility features built into their software, including larger text displays and voiceover options. It’s possible now to video chat with someone who can help you identify and select items as you walk through a grocery store.
A question Montgomery often fields during tours for BVRS’ residential programs is this: Why put televisions in rooms meant for blind people? Simple. They, too, enjoy television—listening to their favorite shows, catching up on the news, cheering on the sports teams they love.
“Just because you lose your sight, doesn’t mean you lose yourself,” she says.
Diane Faust can attest to that, having been through BVRS’ personal adjustment to blindness training program. A current volunteer at BVRS, she was introduced to the organization soon after learning that her vision was deteriorating. Adjusting was difficult at first, Faust recalls.
“My biggest fear as my vision deteriorated was how am I going to perform my day-to-day functions?” She worried about losing her independence. However, at BVRS she found services centered on opportunity and possibility—what can be done rather than what cannot be done. She took classes and learned cooking techniques, how to navigate computers using keyboard shortcuts, and more, all while her children were themselves attending school and preparing for college.
“It was a standing joke—I’d come home from school and my kids would ask, ‘What did you learn in school today?’”
Returning as a volunteer, Faust appreciates the opportunity to once again be part of the BVRS community. It is one that fosters independence, where clients can share their experiences and offer advice to one another. Faust hopes she can inspire others in their own journeys.
Those who are interested in learning more about the history of BVRS in Pittsburgh are encouraged to visit the Senator John Heinz History Center. The BVRS Records and Photographs collection is housed in the Detre Library and Archives, and primarily covers the five-month-long strike in 1954. Part of the collection consists of correspondence between blind employees and PBA administrators during the strike. Visitors can also view photographs, slides, and glass plate negatives showing the broom-making operations and both interior and exterior views of the Pittsburgh Blind Association building.
All photos courtesy of the Blind and Vision Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh. Used with permission.
References:
Blind and Vision Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh Records and Photographs, 1900-2009, MSS 699 , Library and Archives Division, Senator John Heinz History Center
“Blind Broom Makers Take Pay Complaint to City Hall.” Pittsburgh Press. July 11, 1949.
“Blind Men Stage Sitdown in Pittsburgh.” Lansing State Journal. July 21, 1954.
“History.” Blind & Vision Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh. https://www.bvrspittsburgh.org/about-us/history/ Accessed February 13, 2019.
Bridget Malley is WPDHAC’s Preservation Scholar, as well as a graduate student through the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an intern with the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Archives. A lifelong resident of Western Pennsylvania, she attended DePaul School for the Deaf as a child, later becoming a fourth-generation graduate of Seton Hill University. She's a community theater enthusiast and an occasional poet.
|
