| Show handicapped made self supporting happy through employment in industries for blind sightless can make many things such a as S sheets belts mops by AL JEDLICKA released by western newspaper union on september 8 1942 the illi tois industries for the blind incorporated corp orated four months earlier as a nonprofit non profit organization opened operations in an old f four our story structure at 1310 south newberry st on Chi cagos historic east side established by edward S molineaux the institution was designed to provide regular for the blind blind and crippled rather than the usual devices for pa passing ss ing away time or meriting a dole by may 1 1943 nine months after having been opened the success of the illinois Indu industries S for the blind was con confirmed firmed when the united states maritime commission awarded the plant an M pennant for outstanding production of sheets and pillow cases for liberty ships the first ever given to an institution of this nature six months later the maritime commission added to the honors with the presentation of a gold star for bettering the previous production and absentee record the enviable performance of the illinois industries for the blind merely established mr longtime long time conviction on the capabilities of the blind partially blind and crippled if properly encouraged partially blind himself mr conclusions probably were inspired by his own experience of over 25 years dating back to his education at illinois jacksonville state school for the blind and his subsequent life work among the sightless leaving jacksonville mr molineaux took up the task of placing acing blind switchboard operators in illinois and then he went to the east where he joined the brooklyn association for improving conditions for the poor over years old this institution specializes in the assistance of the blind and crippled eight institutions in U S among those in the forefront of the work to restore the blind partially blind and crippled to useful positions in society mr molineaux has seen the idea take a slow but sure hold throughout the U S where eight such institutions now operate some under state supervision others like the one in illinois under private management aided by popular contributions the restoration of the sightless and disabled to useful citizenry received its greatest impetus in 1938 1936 when congress passed legislation setting up a list of products for the government to purchase from blind workshops to facilitate the program the american foundation for the blind inspired the organization of the national industries for the blind to act as a clearing house for contracts to the various blind workshops in passing the legislation congress set up certain production standards to be met by the blind plants and in j U 4 0 blind john dent has learned to H punch assemble and rivet small leather goods foods such as belts and suspenders cases where such institutions are partly financed by private contributions like the illinois industries they are not expected to sell their goods below the market price although they can sell above it employment for A visit to the illinois industries for the blind plant in chicago at once impresses one with the capability of the blind partially bund blind and crippled employees at one time the factory had a peak employment of people many of whom have since gone to accept positions in various war industries on all three of the floors one ona will find the handicapped busily engaged in different forms of work suited to their capacities with the blind chiefly employed on jobs where some form of mechanical guides are provided the partially blind on for limited sight and the crippled on tasks not ar requiring complete freedom of movement on the second floor one sees the blind engaged in folding paper caps W for permanent wave outfits and i in in assembling wooden doll sets 1 4 act y ia N itis 1 V 3 aiyu fc y kv B 1 11 w x 0 o s m te 5 S V fw CC I 1 quo Z mp M on the third floor about 10 40 women turn out sheets and pillow cases at good speed despite their handicap after two months of training a woman can put seams in about GG 66 dozen pillow cases a day the hemmers hern mers who must have 10 per cent or better vision can finish about 90 dozen cases daily an electric eye shown below protects the operators from injury by stopping the sewing machine when fingers get too close to the needle and interrupt the beam of light that must shine constantly while the machine is running those proficient in folding paper caps can turn out as many as a day and average around for eight hours work there is not so much skill required in cap making as there is a familiarity or feel of the paper turning from the paper cap folders one comes to a long assembly line of blind filling little cardboard boxes with parts of wooden dolls and then packing these along with containers holding different water colors into single sets holes in the body of the wooden dolls into which the head arms and legs are inserted are drilled by blind on mechanical ch equipment up on the fourth floor of the plant ten workers can assemble about 1000 sets a day sheets and pillow cases one of the most interesting and important of the plants operations is on the floor where and partially blind women produce sheets and pillow cases under a full sighted supervisor 40 impaired women keep the latest type sewing machines with necessary adjustments just ments buzzing at top speed first there are the women who put seams into the pillow cases being able to turn out about 66 dozen daily after two months of training machines are equipped with a seeing eye which stops their operation when the workers fingers stray too close to the needle then there are the hemmers hern mers with partially blind with at least 10 per cent vision being preferred for this more exacting work of turning the material over smoothing and then securing it after six months training a good hemmer averages 90 dozen a day but a blind person could produce only half of this at the time the plant was visited a young ayoung woman was being broken into the over overlooking locking process of over stitching on the outside to give better strength and appearance time and again she practiced guiding the material to the needle patiently training her partial sight on the work because the blind could not inspect the finished goods and the bright glare of the white material could not be withstood by the partially blind full sighted people are employed for this work since undertaking government work the illinois industries for the blind has delivered over sheets and pillow cases to the services blake alake wooden mats up on the fourth floor of the plant one sees a cripple and the blind combine to produce colored wooden mats under the supervision of a partially blind foreman gerard harold 1 canadian born and english ek educated who once ran a coffee importing business in africa cut to size by a cripple ibe the wood en rods forming the skeleton of the mat through which the different colored pieces are strung are drilled by a blind person who possesses a remarkable mechanical touch according to mr harold because of this touch harold said the blind man can sense any imperfection in the 0 operation pe ration of the machine and then go about correcting it the mats themselves are strung by the blind who figure how many pieces go into each one and thereby are able to judge just where the colored beads are to be placed trained in three or four weeks a blind person can average about 40 mats daily also on the fourth floor is the leather department worked by crippled and blind using discarded leather scraps from shoe factories the crippled punch out fancy strips while the blind make holes as for the insertion of elastic bands for suspenders also on the fourth floor the plant had received old looms which it was contemplating setting up for the future production of yarn for mops using handles produced by the illinois industries mattoon ill broom factory in the office of the plant one met ethel heeren blind executive secretary and earl barrett partially blind general manager one also met partially blind wells mori active little public relations officer of the plant earn 25 a week from mori one learned that ambitious employees of the plant average about 25 weekly which with their useful work gives them position in society younger handicapped people coming to us who are broken in early into useful social occupations develop a healthier point of view than the older people who have always more or less been felt to be a burden mori said sometimes the most difficult problem is inculcating the work habit into some of the older people mori continued laxity in coming down on time or sometimes not at all and of not pro producing ducin g at their capacity are shortcomings of many handicapped people which can only be ironed out by careful handling since you cannot push them we do not take all of the handicapped of course mori continued but most of those that we do take develop the work habit and become proficient workers because of differences in ap aptitudes t i and the need for stimulating their efforts lorts ef workers are paid on a piecework piece work basis mori said but even though their production rates are high they still usually fall below the sighted standards in those cases our products must sell at higher levels on the market As an indication of the skill and earning power of many of the illinois industries for the blind employees plo some have been hired by the nations busy war plants to assist in the battle of production while a goodly number were only t too proud to take their place in line linc and d pay uncle sam an income tax for the first time out of their wages |
