Today In History: The Seeing Eye Is Incorporated

Buddy delivered to me the divine gift of freedom.

-- Morris Frank (1901-1980)

On January 29th, 1929, The Seeing Eye was incorporated in Nashville, Tennessee, home to Morris Frank, co-founder of the first guide-dog school in the United States. Blind in his right eye since the age of six, Frank lost eyesight in his left some ten years later  -- also the result of a tragic accident.  He was inspired to learn of a school in Germany where veterans of the first World War were being trained to work with guide dogs and followed up with Dorothy Harrison Eustis, an American dog trainer living in Switzerland, about her article published in 1927 in The Saturday Evening Post. 

Eustis and Frank worked together to establish a philanthropic organization that would "enhance the independence, dignity, and self-confidence of blind people." Their first graduating class  comprised three instructors and two students. They moved their school to New Jersey, first to Whippany in 1931, and thence to Morristown in 1965 where it has since drawn thousands of canine learners. Frank's dog Buddy was instrumental to its success.

Guide dogs are highly trained, intelligent service dogs. Their training at The Seeing Eye takes four months, with twenty-five days devoted to obstacle avoidance and intelligent disobedience, allowing for the smartest decision making -- at times overriding the handler's own instincts or awareness of danger.

The following articles are drawn from Proquest Historical Newspapers, which informs and inspires classroom teaching and learning.

• Dogs as Guides for the Blind' Will Be Subject: Seeing Eye, Inc., Head to Speak at Town and County Club to Explain Dogs' Value to Blind. (1932, May 03). The Hartford Courant (1923-) 
• First Dog Trained as 'Seeing Eye' Dies: Buddy, Who Served Master for 10 Years, Succumbs a Week After Flight Home.  (1938, May 24). New York Times (1923-) 
• Head of Seeing Eye to Open Drive Here: Morris Frank Will Talk to Campaign Committee.  (1938, Oct 16). Daily Boston Globe (1928-1960) 
• Becker, B. (1940, Jan 14). Mostly About Dogs: 'Seeing Eye' Educates Dogs. Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963) 
• Seeing Eye Dogs Helping U.S. Wounded. (1943, Jun 18). The Austin Statesman (1921-1973) 
• Halia. (1948, Jul 11). Visit to Seeing Eye Thrilling Experience: View of Seeing Eye Training Thrills Writer. Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963) 
• Atwood, & Tyrrell. (1952, Oct 07). Where on Earth: Did the Seeing Eye Originate? The Hartford Courant (1923-) 
• Kehr, E. A. (1979, Jan 14). Stamps: Postal Service to Honor Seeing Eye Dogs. Newsday (1940-) 
• The Seeing Eye. (2009, Jan 25). The Washington Post (1974-) 
• Today in History. (2024, Jan 29). El Paso Times (1921-) 

Tips:

• Frank, Morris, and Blake Clark. First Lady of the Seeing Eye : By Morris Frank and Blake Clark. [First edition]., Holt, 1957.  Stacks ; HV1598 .F7 1957.
• Hartwell, Dickson. Dogs Against Darkness ; the Story of the Seeing Eye. Dodd, Mead, 1942.  Closed Stacks Curr ; HV1598 .H36 1942.
• Knight, Ruth Adams. A Friend in the Dark : The Story of a “Seeing Eye” Dog. Grosset & Dunlap, 1937. Closed Stacks Curr ; HV1598 .K55 1937.
• North, Emily, and Rae Ecklund. The Seeing Eye. Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, 2002. Curriculum ; PE1117 .M343 2002 Gr. 2 bk. 2 unit 3 See.
• Scheffer, Victor B. The Seeing Eye. Scribner, 1971.  Closed Stacks Curr ; QH46 .S28.
• Through Buddy's Eyes. December 6, 2010. Vanderbilt University News.

Images:

• Photograph of The Seeing Eye Marker, by Denise Boose, Historical Marker Database. More on the Seeing Eye Marker. 
• Poster Image:  Man with Service Dog, Canva.
• The Seeing Eye, Main Building, Morris, Township, N.J., Wikimedia Commons.