Lighthouse Guild
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Lighthouse Guild is an American charitable organization, based in New York City, devoted to vision rehabilitation and advocacy for the blind. Its mission statement is "To overcome vision impairment for people of all ages through worldwide leadership in rehabilitation services, education, research, prevention and advocacy." Formerly known as Lighthouse International, it merged with Jewish Guild Healthcare and as of January 2014 became known as Lighthouse Guild International, with the name eventually shortened to Lighthouse Guild.


History

During a trip to
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
, Italy, at the turn of the 20th century, sisters Winifred and Edith Holt learned of a free service that provided concert tickets to blind schoolchildren. Inspired by the notion, the sisters established the similar Lighthouse Free Ticket Bureau in New York City in 1903. The organization was incorporated in 1906 as The New York Association for the Blind and offered home counseling and instruction program for the visually impaired. An early meeting for the board and the public, including blind men and women, was held at the
Waldorf-Astoria The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Street (Manhattan), 50th Streets, is a 47-story ...
hotel. Also in attendance were Secretary Miss Winifred Holt, Recording Secretary Miss Edith Holt, President Richard Watson Gilder, Vice-President
Helen Keller Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. Born in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, she lost her sight and her hearing after a bout of illness when ...
, with honorary vice presidents Dr.
Nicholas Murray Butler Nicholas Murray Butler (April 2, 1862 – December 7, 1947) was an American philosopher, diplomat, and educator. Butler was president of Columbia University, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a recipient of the Nobel ...
and Samuel Langhorne Clemens. The advisory board consisted of Dr. Felix Adler, Joseph H. Choate, John Farley, Bishop David Greer, Dr. William H. Maxwell and Dr. Charles H. Parkhurst. Winifred Holt also participated in founding the New York State Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped. In 1912, the association established a workshop on East 42nd Street where visually impaired men could manufacture marketable products, and the sisters opened their home to visually impaired women to create handcrafted items for sale, leading to the organization's motto, "Light Through Work." Lighthouse became international with the onset of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, when Winifred Holt in 1915 established Le Phare de Bordeaux, in France. Other overseas offices opened in Paris; Rome;
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
; Canton, China; Japan, the Middle East, India, South America, and elsewhere. That same year, the association created the River Lighthouse, in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, as the first of its eventually several summer camps for visually impaired children. Camp Munger, in Bear Mountain, New York, followed in 1923. A kindergarten was formed in 1925, and the Lighthouse Nursery School in 1933. An affiliation with the
Ophthalmological Foundation Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...
in 1952 led to that foundation becoming the organization's research arm. The following year, the Lighthouse Low Vision Service was founded to administer to people with partial sight. In 1989, The New York Association for the Blind, Inc., became The Lighthouse Inc., and in 1998, the organization was renamed Lighthouse International. In January 2010 Lighthouse International acquired the National Association for Visually Handicapped (NAVH), an organization which provided services for the partially sighted. In September 2013, a merger was announced with Jewish Guild Healthcare, under the name Lighthouse Guild International.


Branches and services

It operates the Arlene R. Gordon Research Institute in New York, and New York Lighthouse Vision Rehabilitation Services. The volunteer organization Tennis Serves introduced blind tennis in 2011 at Lighthouse International and at the California School for the Blind in
Fremont, California Fremont () is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area, Fremont has a population of 230,504 as of 2020, making it the fourth List of cities and towns in the San F ...
.


Headquarters

The organization was headquartered at the Sol and Lillian Goldman Building at 111 East 59th Street in New York City. This portion of East 59th Street was named Lighthouse Way in 1994. After the merger with Jewish Guild Healthcare, the headquarters moved to the Guild location at 15 West 65th Street. In 2018 it moved to 250 West 64th Street.


Percentage devoted to programs

''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' in 2002 reported that Lighthouse at the time used 80 percent of its $28 million annual budget on its programs.


References


External links


Lighthouse Guild
(official site)
Archive
of former Lighthouse International official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Lighthouse International Blindness organizations in the United States Charities based in New York City Non-profit organizations based in New York City Organizations established in 1906 1906 establishments in New York City 501(c)(3) organizations