Jeremy Ramsier

On October 11, 2021, the FDR Memorial Legacy Committee (FDR Committee) hosted a celebration to commemorate the 137th birthday of former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt with a wreath-laying ceremony at the FDR Memorial in Washington, DC. The wreath-laying coincides with the 75th anniversary of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt becoming chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights and drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Featured guests included Dr. Kirk Adams, President and CEO of the…

Photograph of Eleanor Roosevelt and Robert B. Irwin with others at the World Conference on Work for the Blind, 1931. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She served as the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four terms in office, making her the longest-serving first lady of the United States. President Harry S. Truman later called her the "First…

Join us, September 23, 8:00 PM Eastern, for an encore presentation of the AFB 100 “Art of Inclusion” concert and celebration, co-hosted by Haben Girma, author of the best-selling memoir Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law, and AFB president and CEO Kirk Adams, Ph.D.—with performances by Grammy-nominated artists Amadou & Mariam and Marcus Roberts, jazz pianist Matthew Whitaker, Tony-nominated Sean Allan Krill, songwriter Jennah Bell, hip-hop artist Aloe Blacc, and students…

Helen Keller gave a speech to the faculty and students of the Sorbonne in Paris, June 21, 1952. Helen was in France for the reinternment of Louis Braille's body to the Pantheon in Paris from his village in Coupvray. In the following film clip, hear Helen deliver part of her speech in French honoring Louis Braille. Regarding the importance of braille, Helen states: "In our small way we the blind are as indebted to Louis Braille as mankind is to Gutenberg…the raised letters under our fingers are…

Happy Global Accessibility Awareness Day (#GAAD)! The purpose of GAAD is to get everyone talking, thinking, and learning about digital access and inclusion. From podcasts and blog posts, to inclusive accessibility solutions, public policy, and resources, AFB has you covered. Global accessibility is more than a day for us, it's 100 years of commitment. Inform & Connect, Season 2: AFB Trustees Sarah Herrlinger and Christopher Patnoe We are excited to welcome Sarah Herrlinger of Apple and…

On February 25, members of Marshall University and the local business community of Huntington, WV were treated to an informative and entertaining evening at the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center with engaging speaker and accomplished author, Isaac Lidsky. Through speaking engagements—such as his TED Talks—and within the pages of his New York Times bestseller, “Eyes Wide Open,” Lidsky shared his experiences of overcoming personal and professional challenges as a person with a visual…

The National Research and Training Center (NRTC) on Blindness and Low Vision at Mississippi State University will hold a State of the Science (SOS) research conference on employment throughout the AFB Leadership Conference. Sessions are sponsored by the NRTC, through funding from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (grant #90RT5040). The SOS Conference is an excellent opportunity for professionals to learn about the latest research and…

We are thrilled to announce that the moment you've been waiting for is here—registration is now open for the 2019 AFB Leadership Conference (#AFBLC19)! Join us at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, VA, as we bring together leaders in the field to share research and advocate for equal education and employment opportunities, as well as to address the needs of an aging population. The conference will have five primary areas of focus: leadership, aging and visual impairment, education,…

This week we lost a legendary figure in the field of comic books and entertainment, Stan Lee. Among the many characters he helped develop for Marvel Comics is the first blind superhero, Daredevil. About his visually impaired crime-fighter, Lee said: "The one thing that worried me about Daredevil—I wondered if blind people would be offended, because we were exaggerating so much what a blind person can do, and they might have felt that we're making it ridiculous. But I was so pleased. After…