From 1968 to 2005 the Greater Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind was a familiar institution in Bridgeville. It was a common sight to see trainees on Station Street sweeping their Hoover canes back and forth locating the curb as they crossed the street. Seldom was an issue of the Bridgeville News published without a photograph of Dr. Leon Reid accepting a check from some organization interested in helping the blind. Dozens of local residents regularly volunteered at the agency in a variety of roles.
The Guild came to Bridgeville in 1968 when Dr. Reid moved the agency from Shadyside into the old Universal-Cyclops building at 311 Station Street. Its story begins in 1959 when Roman Catholic priest Paul Lackner persuaded Bishop John J. Wright to organize the Pittsburgh Catholic Guild for the Blind, based on the rehabilitation philosophy of Father Thomas Carroll, a philosophy founded on two principles. He believed that adventitiously blinded adults could return to a nearly normal life if they overcame the psychological trauma associated with their loss and that they should not be relegated to making brooms in a sheltered shop. Psychological counselling was at least as important to their rehabilitation as learning Braille or mobility. This is eloquently recorded in his seminal book, Blindness: What it is, What it Does, and How to Live with it. I still have my wife’s copy of this text, filled with underlines and scribbled notes, which she used while working on her Master’s Degree in Rehabilitation Counselling at Pitt and interning at the Guild. By then the Guild had moved from its modest quarters in Bellevue into a modern building at 5231 Centre Avenue in Shadyside, changed its name to the Greater Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind to reflect its ecumenical policy, and recruited another Father Carroll disciple, Bill Gallagher, to be Director.
Nan’s internship was supervised by the Director of her program, Dr. L. Leon Reid. A native of Martinsburg, West Virginia, after his earning a doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of Texas, Dr. Reid had come to Pittsburgh to initiate this program. From the beginning he was closely associated with the Guild, as a consultant. He too was a passionate advocate of Father Carroll’s approach; consequently, his program’s focus was on rehabilitation of the blind. In 1965, when Bill Gallagher left to take over the Lighthouse, a massive rehabilitation facility in New York City, Dr. Reid became Director of the Guild and promptly staffed it with graduates of his program, including my wife.
Nan had a very rewarding experience there, coordinating the Psychosocial Department and implementing the Father Carroll approach faithfully. When Elizabeth was born, we all assumed we would have to find some sort of Day Care solution so Nan could return to work. Much to our surprise, she announced that our children were her first priority and that she was leaving her beloved career. For the next two decades she was the prototype suburban involved Mom – volunteering as a teacher’s aide at the elementary school, functioning as a Girl Scout Leader, managing the local Swim Club, etc. When our youngest child, Sara, was a senior in high school and headed off to college, Nan surprised us again by announcing that she was returning to the Guild, which by then had relocated to Bridgeville.
The primary focus of the Guild Staff was on their residential program. Every fifteen weeks a different group of clients would move into their thirty-bed facility for total immersion training, coupled with continuous counselling. In addition to counselling, Nan was now responsible for “Intake”, a responsibility that included identifying potential clients, evaluating their potential for effective rehabilitation, and negotiating with the appropriate state agency for funding. Every time someone in the Tristate area contacted the Guild inquiring about its services, she would hop into her car and drive off to interview the potential client.
During their years in Bridgeville the Guild enhanced the lives of several thousand trainees who participated in their residential program. Many of them were able to achieve a nearly normal lifestyle. One of the clients of whom the Guild was most proud was Natalie Ruschell, of Midway, Pa. Suffering from juvenile diabetes, Natalie lost her sight while in college pursuing a law degree. Following rehabilitation, she succeeded in passing the bar and maintaining a sustainable law practice for over three and a half decades.
At some point Nan became acquainted with an organization in the Virgin Islands with funding for several clients each year. One difficulty was the fact that these were Black persons, reluctant to explore an unfamiliar environment. This was effectively resolved by Curtis and Betty Copeland, prominent members of Bridgeville’s Black community. They volunteered to temporarily adopt these clients and facilitate their integration into Bridgeville society. Betty recently told me she is still in touch with a few of these folks.
Nan’s career had been renewed, and her rewarding experience continued for the next fifteen years. When Dr. Reid retired, he was replaced by a gentleman who was more concerned with finances than with continuing the Father Carroll philosophy. The Guild merged with (was absorbed by?) the Pittsburgh Blind Association and eventually moved to Homestead. The combination of these events led to her premature retirement in her early seventies.
The surviving organization calls its “Visability” and now is located at 1816 Locust Street, on the Boulevard of the Allies in Uptown. It apparently continues to provide a large variety of services to a wide range of persons with vision problems, including counselling, training, and a sheltered shop. A perusal of its website suggests that no one currently involved there has ever heard of Father Carroll. His legacy in the Bridgeville area continues in the memory of the thousands of trainees rehabilitated there and a few surviving “Miracle Workers” – Nancy LaSota, Ken Wojtczak, Linda Carlino, and Ginny Miscovey. And me.