Uploaded June 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
AFB’s archivist Helen Selsdon, shares highlights from our truly remarkable 100-year history.
[Video Transcript]
Helen Selsdon:
Hi, I’m Helen Selsdon, AFB’s archivist. I’m a white woman with dark curly hair and a passion for history. We are here to celebrate 100 years of impact of this incredible organization, which has been at the heart of the battle for equity for people who are blind since 1921. First created in large part to assist veterans blinded in World War One – this image shows Helen Keller with a soldier in 1919 – from its earliest days, AFB set change in motion through legislation, research, and innovation and fought to advocate for all blind people.
Helen Keller, the famous disability rights and social justice activist, joined AFB in 1924 and was at the heart of our work. Helen traveled the nation from the 1920s to the 1940s – she’s seen here in 1927 with Senator Schall from Minnesota, who was also blind. Helen appeared in front of at least 14 state legislatures, on Capitol Hill and at the White House. This image, taken in 1931 at the World Conference on Work for the Blind, shows her with blind leaders and President Herbert Hoover in front of the White House. Helen partnered with politicians and social and cultural leaders to effect change, including Mark Twain, Eleanor Roosevelt, and President John F. Kennedy. Her advocacy helped transform education, employment, and rehabilitation services for people who were blind and low vision. Here she is with veterans in a military hospital in 1944.
And beyond this her own life showed what a deafblind woman could do. She’s seen here in Japan in 1948. A group of children are reaching through a train window into a carriage car where she’s sitting. And Helen’s arms are outstretched to greet theirs. In the 1930s, AFB achieved a huge milestone when it invented the Talking Book today known as the audiobook. This image taken in 1941 shows Thomas Mann recording his work Buddenbrooks. The Talking Book was a game-changer for people who were blind. It opened up doors to literature, poetry, and vital news of the day. In its Talking Book studios in New York City, AFB recorded a host of celebrity readers including the acclaimed poet Maya Angelou.
Narrator:
"This book is dedicated to my son, Guy Johnson, and all the strong black birds of promise who defy the odds and gods and sing their songs. I know why the caged bird sings."
Helen Selsdon:
But we didn’t stop there! For decades, AFB pioneered technology that empowered blind people in the workplace, classrooms, and their everyday lives. We made hundreds of devices accessible, we adapted sewing machines, and designed paper money identifiers and talking calculators. And at the beginning of the 21st century, when the “Help America Vote Act” was passed, AFB Tech staff tested accessible voting machines that would enable blind people to vote independently in precincts around the country.
Public policy has always been central to our work. We lobbied for transformative civil rights laws, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1975, which ensures that children who are blind or have low vision get the education that is their right. We were instrumental in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the landmark civil rights bill signed into law in 1990. And in 2010 we led the way for the passage of the Twenty- First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, signed by President Obama, and seen here celebrating the bill’s passage with Stevie Wonder. There is never a status quo, there are always challenges to meet – and we will always meet those challenges. Please do go to afb.org/100 to learn more about our incredible past and exciting future! Thank you.
AFB’s archivist Helen Selsdon, shares highlights from our truly remarkable 100-year history.
[Video Transcript]
Helen Selsdon:
Hi, I’m Helen Selsdon, AFB’s archivist. I’m a white woman with dark curly hair and a passion for history. We are here to celebrate 100 years of impact of this incredible organization, which has been at the heart of the battle for equity for people who are blind since 1921. First created in large part to assist veterans blinded in World War One – this image shows Helen Keller with a soldier in 1919 – from its earliest days, AFB set change in motion through legislation, research, and innovation and fought to advocate for all blind people.
Helen Keller, the famous disability rights and social justice activist, joined AFB in 1924 and was at the heart of our work. Helen traveled the nation from the 1920s to the 1940s – she’s seen here in 1927 with Senator Schall from Minnesota, who was also blind. Helen appeared in front of at least 14 state legislatures, on Capitol Hill and at the White House. This image, taken in 1931 at the World Conference on Work for the Blind, shows her with blind leaders and President Herbert Hoover in front of the White House. Helen partnered with politicians and social and cultural leaders to effect change, including Mark Twain, Eleanor Roosevelt, and President John F. Kennedy. Her advocacy helped transform education, employment, and rehabilitation services for people who were blind and low vision. Here she is with veterans in a military hospital in 1944.
And beyond this her own life showed what a deafblind woman could do. She’s seen here in Japan in 1948. A group of children are reaching through a train window into a carriage car where she’s sitting. And Helen’s arms are outstretched to greet theirs. In the 1930s, AFB achieved a huge milestone when it invented the Talking Book today known as the audiobook. This image taken in 1941 shows Thomas Mann recording his work Buddenbrooks. The Talking Book was a game-changer for people who were blind. It opened up doors to literature, poetry, and vital news of the day. In its Talking Book studios in New York City, AFB recorded a host of celebrity readers including the acclaimed poet Maya Angelou.
Narrator:
"This book is dedicated to my son, Guy Johnson, and all the strong black birds of promise who defy the odds and gods and sing their songs. I know why the caged bird sings."
Helen Selsdon:
But we didn’t stop there! For decades, AFB pioneered technology that empowered blind people in the workplace, classrooms, and their everyday lives. We made hundreds of devices accessible, we adapted sewing machines, and designed paper money identifiers and talking calculators. And at the beginning of the 21st century, when the “Help America Vote Act” was passed, AFB Tech staff tested accessible voting machines that would enable blind people to vote independently in precincts around the country.
Public policy has always been central to our work. We lobbied for transformative civil rights laws, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1975, which ensures that children who are blind or have low vision get the education that is their right. We were instrumental in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the landmark civil rights bill signed into law in 1990. And in 2010 we led the way for the passage of the Twenty- First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, signed by President Obama, and seen here celebrating the bill’s passage with Stevie Wonder. There is never a status quo, there are always challenges to meet – and we will always meet those challenges. Please do go to afb.org/100 to learn more about our incredible past and exciting future! Thank you.
