Lucian Louis Watts

Lucian Louis Watts
Born	1888 Stony Point, Virginia, US
Died	April 30, 1974(1974-04-30) (aged 85–86)
Occupation(s)	Statesman, Advocate for the blind

Lucian Louis Watts (1888-1974) was a leader in efforts to improve the social welfare of blind Virginians. Born sighted and blinded in adulthood, Watts was involved in the founding of state and national organizations for the blind including the Virginia Association of Workers for the Blind (now Virginia Industries for the Blind), the Virginia Commission for the Blind (now the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired), and the American Foundation for the Blind. Watts advocated for programs to prevent blindness, and, in a time when education for the blind in Virginia was limited to children, Watts expanded that training to adults.

Early life and injury

Lucian Louis Watts was born in 1888 to parents Lucian Clark Watts and Jenny Barksdale (Burnley) Watts on the Riverhill estate in Stony Point in Albemarle County, Virginia. L.L.Watts' father, Lucian Clark Watts, was elected sheriff of Albemarle County, serving from 1895 – 1911. Watts was educated in public schools and enjoyed playing sports and working with his father as a deputy sheriff. He spent one year at Fork Union Military Academy before beginning a career as a railroad construction superintendent.

In May of 1913, Watts lost his sight in a dynamite explosion while working in Dickenson County.. He suffered a harrowing journey from the rural construction site to the University of Virginia Hospital, where he spent months in recovery before returning to his parents' home .

In 1913 there was very little in the way of state services to help Watts. The only state institutions at the time were the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind (VSDB) at Staunton, which admitted white school-aged children, and the Virginia State School for Colored Deaf and Blind Children at Newport News. Despite the fact that Watts was well over the age limit for admission to VSDB, he managed to secure a place at the school. During his time there, Watts became passionate in his conviction that Virginia needed to do more to provide for the blind. He felt strongly that there was no fault in the condition of blindness, but that the hardship for the blind was due to the lack of access to education and means to participate in society.

Public service

After his graduation from VSDB, Watts began a career in public service.He quickly began to devote his energies to improving the lot of blind Virginians. He saw a need for services for the blind in Virginia, recognizing that many of them had become blind later in life and did not have access to training that would help them find new forms of employment. In 1919, he founded the Virginia Association of Workers for the Blind (now, Virginia Industries for the Blind) with the VSDB’s president H.M. McManaway and others.

Through the Virginia Association of Workers for the Blind, and in collaboration with state congressman Herbert J. Taylor, who sponsored the bill, Watts lobbied the Virginia legislature to form a temporary commission to study the number of blind people in Virginia and assess their needs. Watts and Taylor were both appointed to the Legislative Commission for the Blind, which presented its census and report in 1921. The Virginia Commission for the Blind became permanent in 1922, and Watts served as its executive secretary for the next 34 years until his retirement at the age of 68.

The Virginia Commission for the Blind building, designed by the prominent Virginia architect J. Binford Walford, was dedicated in 1941. The Commission was renamed several times and is now called the Virginia Department for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

In addition to his work with the Virginia Association of Workers for the Blind and the Virginia Commission for the Blind, in 1926, Watts successfully campaigned to represent Albemarle County in the Virginia House of Delegates. He held office for 4 terms, from 1926–1933, using his position in the legislature to better advance his causes for the blind. In 1930, Watts helped to pass a bill that ensured sight-saving classes were established in any Virginia county where there were six or more students with impaired vision.

Watts' endeavors were not limited to Virginia. From 1934 to 1937 he served as president of the American Foundation for the Blind whose mission included gathering information about vision loss and advocating for the needs of blind people to the federal government.

Personal life

In 1929 L.L. Watts married Hazel Birkenmeyer, the first teacher of sight-saving classes for the Virginia Commission for the Blind. Their daughter, Hazel Elizabeth Watts was born in 1930.

Awards

Lucian Louis Watts' many contributions and years of dedicated service were recognized and celebrated. In 1953, he received the Ambrose M. Shotwell Award from the Association of Workers for the Blind in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the rehabilitation of adults who are blind or visually impaired. In 1957, Watts was awarded the R.B. Irwin Award from the National Industries for the Blind for championing the employment of people who are blind. In 1962, he was awarded the Migel Medal Award from the American Foundation for the Blind, an award honoring those whose dedication and achievements have significantly improved the lives of people with vision loss.

Death

Lucian Louis Watts died at his home on April 30, 1974 and was buried at Riverview Cemetery, Charlottesville, Virginia.