gr00540.xml Employment and Economic Development Department: State Services for the Blind: An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Minnesota Historical Society
St. Paul, MN.

Government Records

Finding aid encoded by Cheri Thies, February 2012. Finding aid written in English. OVERVIEW Minnesota Historical Society Minnesota. State Services for the Blind. Records. 1943-2009 (bulk 1955-1963). Materials in English. Records documenting the duties and administration of the state's agency to help people who are blind, visually impaired, or DeafBlind to live and work as independently as possible. 3.5 cu. ft. (4 boxes). See Detailed Description for shelf locations. SCOPE AND CONTENTS

Topics covered include blind children, a 1952-1953 Hennepin County research study, county welfare departments, involvement of the state's Public Welfare Department, employment training, federal grants and studies, the Hamm Foundation Transcription Project, federal legislation, vending stands operated by the blind, the Minnesota Braille and Sight Saving School, and relationship with private agencies serving or representing the blind, particularly the American Foundation for the Blind, Camp Courage, National Rehabilitation Association, and Minneapolis Society for the Blind.

Also the files of Joni (Joanne) Jonson Kilde, Communications Unit Supervisor of the agency from the 1950s-1980s. The latter include documentation of the Radio Talking Books program, a memoir of her work with the blind and in the Twin Cities theater community, and photographs.

 CATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics: Blind -- Minnesota -- Information services. Blind -- Services for -- Minnesota -- Photographs. Blind -- Education -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota. Blind -- Employment -- Minnesota. Blind -- Employment -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota. Blind children -- Minnesota. Deafblind people -- Services for -- Minnesota. People with visual disabilities -- Services for -- Minnesota. Public welfare -- Minnesota. Vending stands -- Minnesota. Persons: Kilde, Joni Jonson. Organizations: American Foundation for the Blind. Hamm Foundation. Minneapolis Society for the Blind (Minneapolis, Minn.) Minnesota Braille and Sight-Saving School. Minnesota. Dept. of Public Welfare. Minnesota. Dept. of Employment and Economic Development. Minnesota. State Services for the Blind -- Officials and employees -- Biography. National Rehabilitation Association. Radio Talking Book Network (Minn.). Places: Camp Courage (Maple Lake, Minn.). Document Types: Photographs. ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Accession Information:

Accession numbers: None; 978-67; 2011-24

 Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Minnesota. State Services for the Blind. Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Processing Information:

Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Catalog ID number: 007481338

 DETAILED DESCRIPTION 107.G.17.8F Blind children in society, 1953-1961. Commissions: Interim Commission on Handicapped Children correspondence, 1954-1956. Interim Welfare Committee, 1956. Commissioner of Public Welfare: Memos to county welfare board directors, 1957-1963. 2 folders. Community Welfare Council: Hennepin County Study, 1946-1953. 2 folders.

Includes Central Planning and Research Department, Minneapolis Council of Social Agencies, Blind Study Committee, Final Report, June 4, 1946.

 County welfare departments correspondence, 1945-1961. 12 folders.

Includes Aitkin, Beltrami, Cass, Crow Wing, Isanti, Itasca, Mille Lacs, Olmsted, Otter Tail, St. Louis, and Stearns.

 Division Director: Communications, 1957-1962. Employ the Physically Handicapped: Mayor’s Committee, 1955-1960. President’s Committee, 1953-1962. Federal Reports, 1956-1962. 4 folders. Films: Catalogues and correspondence, 1949-1963. Grants: Teaching and traineeships, 1954-1963. 2 folders. Survey of Minnesota’s Rehabilitation Resources , 1958-1959. Research Project, Experimental Attempt to Increase Behavior in Blind Children by Modifying Parental Attitudes, 1952-1958. Research and demonstration projects, HEW-VRA, 1956-1963. Blind homemakers, 1957-1961. 107.G.17.9B Hamm Foundation Transcription Project: Budget material, 1952-1953. Payroll, 1957-1959. 2 folders. Recording project, 1956-1957. Braille and cleartype materials, 1957-1960. Braille music, 1955-1956. Braille, religion literature for Lutherans, 1956. Braille correspondence, 1954-1962. 2 folders. Jonson, Joanne, 1959-1961. Kilde, Joni Jonson, files:

Kilde was the Services for the Blind’s Communications Unit Supervisor. She began as a part-time reader in 1956, became full-time in 1958, and retired in 1985.

 Correspondence, undated, 1958-2006. 2 folders. Scrapbooks, undated, 1959 -1990. 3 folders.

Documenting Kilde’s work and retirement; includes newspaper clippings, brochures, certificates, speeches, and programs of the Communication Center, State Services for the Blind and Radio Talking Books program.

 Photographs, 1983.

Black and white and color photographs showing the Radio Talking Book program, Communication Center staff, and an interview with Joan Mondale. Most are not identified.

 Born on Beethoven’s Birthday, Memoir of a musician, actor and pioneer of services for the blind, 2009.

Kilde’s memoir.

 Documentary, 2008. 1 DVD.

Documentary produced by Twin Cities Public Television [TPT] and aired numerous times during 2009 on TPT’s Channel 17. It depicts the history of the Communication Center, including the Radio Talking Book.

Annual Report, State Services for the Blind, 40 Years of Radio Talking Book, 2008. Legislation, federal, vocational rehabilitation, 1943-1960. Legislation, federal laws enacted, miscellaneous laws for the blind, 1954-1959. Minnesota Braille and Sight Saving School: Correspondence, 1949-1961. 6 folders. 107.G.17.10F Statistics, 1956-1962. Old information, circa 1955-1960. Private agencies: American Foundation for the Blind: Correspondence, 1948-1963. 6 folders. Research fellowships, 1953-1954. American Public Welfare Association issuances, 1949-1955. American Foundation for the Blind, 1957-1963. 3 folders. Blinded Veterans Association, 1956-1961. Camp Courage: Weekend for Parents, 1960-1962. 3 folders. Duluth Lighthouse for the Blind: Bylaws and study, 1949. Minneapolis Society for the Blind, 1955-1963. 3 folders. Minnesota Organization of the Blind, 1949-1961. National Rehabilitation Association, 1958-1962. National American Association of Workers for the Blind, 1957-1961. 109.I.8.3B State Services for the Blind, 1949-1956, circa 1980s.

Annual reports (1949-1956) and brochures (circa 1980s).

Vending stands: Stand No. 30, State Office Annex, St. Paul, 1947-1960. Stand No. 31, State Capitol, St. Paul, 1957-1960. 2 folders.

Includes 1958-1959 cashbook.

 Stand No. 38, Mobile Unit, Rochester, 1953-1962. 3 folders.

Includes 1958 cashbook.

 Stand No. 53, Taxation Building, St. Paul, 1955-1960.