A sitting bronze statue of the blind-deaf American author and activist Helen Keller (1880-1968). Next to her sits a leader dog, and next to them is an open book presenting an excerpt (in braille as well as printed) of Keller’s speech at the Lion international convention in 1925, where she requested the Lions to be “knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness.”
Since then, the club has fulfilled her request by training leader dogs and providing support to people with visual impairments. The club decided to mark its 100th-anniversary celebration with this statue, created by local artist Mark Williams. After working on this project for three years, the sculpture was supposed to be unveiled in a special ceremony in March with people from all over North America; however, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was unveiled at a small gathering on April 24th, 2020.
Here are Keller’s words inscribed on the book:
“The opportunity I bring to you, Lions, is this: To foster and sponsor the work of the American Foundation for the Blind. Will you not help me hasten the day when there shall be no preventable blindness; no little deaf, blind child untaught; no blind man or woman unaided? I appeal to you Lions, you who have your sight, your hearing, you who are strong and brave and kind. Will you not constitute yourselves Knights of the Blind in this crusade against darkness?
I thank you.”
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