Endowments; Soldiers--Rehabilitation; Blind--Rehabilitation; Paris (France); Permanent Blind Relief War Fund for Soldiers and Sailors of the Allies; American-British-French-Belgian Permanent Blind Relief War Fund; Kessler, George Alexander 1863-; Kessler, Cora Parsons; Keller, Helen, 1880-1968
Format
correspondence
Genre
Business correspondence
Date
[between 1886 and 1919?]
Physical Description
microfilm, 16 mm, b&w
Note (Reel no.)
Reel 81
Note
PDF may contain multiple grant documents.
ABFB (American, British, French, Belgian); Mr. and Mrs. George Kessler
Helen Keller International traces our history to the life’s work of two extraordinary individuals, Helen Keller and George Kessler. Kessler was a wealthy New York merchant who survived the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 and vowed, as his lifeboat re peatedly capsized, to help those less fortunate in the world if he survived. While recovering in London, he resolved to devote his remaining years to helping soldiers blinded in combat. In November 1915, George and his wife Cora Parsons Kessler formally organize the British, French, and Belgian Permanent Blind Relief War Fund in Paris with George Raverat as head of European operations. The Kesslers ask Helen Keller, then 35 years old, for her support. She enthusiastically agrees, and the Permanent Blind Relief War Fund for Soldiers & Sailors of the Allies is incorporated in New York State in 1919. The Fund opens a school and workshop for the blind in Belgium; schools in France teach blind veterans how to make chairs and brushes, and how to knit. Helen Keller becomes a lifelong supporter and ambassador... In 1925, the Permanent Blind Relief War Fund expands its focus beyond a purely war relief effort to one of aid and comfort to the civilian blind worldwide, and changes its name to the American Braille Press for War and Civilian Blind... After World War II, the Press affiliates with the American Foundation for the Blind. To reflect that close association, it changes its name to the American Foundation for the Overseas Blind (AFOB) and expands its mission to include rehabilitation... In 1977, the organization adopts the name of Helen Keller International to recognize the contributions of Helen Keller in helping not only the blind, but also those who are vulnerable or disadvantaged..." [SOURCE: "Our History." Helen Keller International, https://www.hki.org/our-impact/about-us/history#.W70TdntKjmE. Accessed 9 Oct. 2018.]