Commission for the Blind Orientation Center

The 1968 transfer the panel ends on closed a long argument. Blind New Mexicans organized a state affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind in 1956, many of them graduates of the school for the blind, and when they pressed for a commission run apart from the school, the school, then the main provider of services to blind people in the state, opposed the competition. The Federation hosted its 1959 national convention in Santa Fe.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Commission for the Blind Orientation Center The Orientation Center teaches persons who are blind or visually impaired the skills to live independently and work competitively. Originally part of the New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the "Training Center" opened in 1949 before integrated work became the preferred choice. In the "sheltered shop" graduates made brooms and cane products. NMSBVI transferred the center to the Commission for the Blind in 1968. Official Scenic Historic Marker New Mexico Orientation Center

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• White Sands National Park — 15 mi
  The largest gypsum dunefield on Earth, a national park since 2019, surrounded on all sides by military ground whose missile tests close its only road for hours at a time.

More markers nearby

• New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired — 1.3 mi
• La Luz — 5.7 mi
• Calvin Boles — 6.5 mi
• Dog Canyon — 11 mi