Kenneth Jernigan

Kenneth Jernigan (born November 13, 1926, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.—died October 12, 1998, Baltimore, Maryland) was an American activist and administrator who was a prominent opponent of discrimination against people with visual impairments.

Jernigan grew up in Tennessee on a family farm. Although he had been born blind, Jernigan had a typical farm upbringing, doing chores and playing outdoors. He attended the Tennessee School for the Blind in Nashville. His enterprising disposition was evident early on: while still in high school, he earned money by building furniture and had a brief stint as a semiprofessional wrestler. After graduating, he attended the Tennessee Polytechnic Institute (later Tennessee Tech University). After earning a bachelor’s degree in social science, he went on receive a master’s degree in literature from Peabody College in Nashville. He then taught English for several years at the Tennessee School for the Blind.

In 1953 Jernigan moved to California to teach at the California Training Center for the Blind in Oakland. He moved again in 1958 to become the first blind director of the Iowa Commission for the Blind, a position he held until 1978. He also served as president of the National Federation of the Blind, a volunteer position, from 1968 to 1986, with one interruption in 1978–79. As president, he led initiatives such as the establishment of the Newsline for the Blind Network, which allowed users to access recordings of newspapers over the telephone. From 1978 to 1989 he was executive director of the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults, based in Baltimore.