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Robert Irwin

Robert Irwin
Usage Conditions Apply
Artist
Imogen Cunningham, 12 Apr 1883 - 24 Jun 1976
Sitter
Robert Irwin, 2 Jun 1883 - 12 Dec 1951
Date
1933
Type
Photograph
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image: 23.4 x 18.9 cm (9 3/16 x 7 7/16")
Mount: 36.9 × 29.1 cm (14 1/2 × 11 7/16")
Topic
Robert Irwin: Male
Robert Irwin: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Social reformer
Robert Irwin: Education and Scholarship\Administrator
Robert Irwin: Education and Scholarship\Educator\Teacher
Robert Irwin: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Humanitarian
Robert Irwin: Literature\Publisher\Book
Robert Irwin: Society and Social Change\Person with a Disability\Blind
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Copyright
© Imogen Cunningham Trust
Object number
NPG.76.80
Exhibition Label
Born Rockford, Iowa
An educator, foundation director, and disabilities rights advocate, Robert B. Irwin worked effectively to provide pathways to “social and economic independence” for the blind and those with low vision. In 1901, Irwin graduated from what later became the Washington State School for the Blind. Hired to supervise public school classes for blind students in Cleveland, Ohio (1909–23), he led efforts to include them in classes for sighted learners and to provide large-type books for those with low vision.
As executive director of the American Foundation for the Blind (1929–49), Irwin secured funding for the publication and nationwide distribution of Braille books and was the driving force behind the development of the first Talking Book recordings. He also lobbied successfully for legislation that channeled federal resources to workshops for the blind as well as rehabilitation programs for World War II veterans with eye injuries.
Nacido en Rockford, Iowa
Robert B. Irwin, educador, director ejecutivo y defensor de los derechos de los discapacitados, laboró por dar vías de “independencia social y económica” a las personas ciegas y con poca visión. En 1901 se graduó de la que luego sería la Escuela para Ciegos del Estado de Washington. Contratado como supervisor de clases para estudiantes ciegos en las escuelas públicas de Cleveland, Ohio (1909–23), lideró esfuerzos para integrarlos con los estudiantes videntes y proveer libros de letra ampliada para aquellos con poca visión.
Como director ejecutivo de la Fundación Estadounidense para Ciegos (1929–49), Irwin obtuvo fondos para publicar y distribuir libros en braille nacionalmente y fue el impulsor de las primeras grabaciones de audiolibros Talking Books. Cabildeó con éxito por leyes que canalizaran recursos federales a talleres para ciegos, así como a programas de rehabilitación para veteranos de la II Guerra Mundial con lesiones oculares.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view