Helen Keller’s Call to Lions: A Legacy of Service to the Blind
Written by PDG Clive Reid, this article reflects on the historic moment in 1925 when Helen Keller challenged Lions to become “knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness” – a call that shaped Lions’ century-long commitment to sight and blindness prevention.
A very important date in the history of the International Association of Lions Clubs, besides 1917, was the 30th of June 1925.
On that Tuesday, as an ambassador for the newly formed American Foundation for the Blind, Helen Keller and her teacher and lifelong companion, Mrs Anne Sullivan Macy, were introduced to attendees at the ninth International Association of Lions Clubs Convention, held in the Convention Hall at the Breakers Hotel in Cedar Point, Ohio, USA.
It was here that Helen Keller challenged Lions Club members to become “knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness.”
Helen Keller was born on the 27th of June 1880, at a time when blind or deaf people were often ostracized in the United States.
Her ideals, courage, and enthusiasm proved to be a beacon that inspired those members who proudly wore the Lions lapel pin to identify themselves as Lions Club members.
An article in The Lion Magazine in 1927 proclaimed that the greatest assistance that can be given to a blind person was for them to be supported in becoming self-respecting and self-supporting.
The introduction of the White Cane in America was originally a Lions Clubs initiative.
In 1930, George Bonham, President of the Lions Club of Peoria, Illinois, after seeing a blind friend struggling to cross the road using a black cane, introduced the idea of using a white cane with a red band to assist blind individuals with independent mobility.
At the 1931 International Association of Lions Clubs Convention, held in Toronto, Canada, a resolution was passed supporting the Lions Club of Peoria’s White Cane Program.
By 1956, every state in the United States had passed White Cane Safety Laws, granting a blind person using a white cane the right-of-way at crossings. These laws also extended protections to blind individuals who travelled with a guide dog.
As the 30th of June 2025 marked the centenary of Helen Keller and Mrs Anne Sullivan Macy’s introduction at the ninth International Association of Lions Clubs Convention, this date should be acknowledged by Lions as historically significant.
It represents one hundred years of Lions involvement in raising funds for community projects supporting blindness prevention and vision conservation. Looking ahead, the year 2031 will mark the centenary of the Lions Club’s White Cane Project in the USA, which should also be recognised.
PDG Clive Reid
Chairman WALCHAC
(Western Australia Lions Clubs Historical Archival Committee)
You can find more information about Helen Keller here.
