Publishing History of the Braille Monitor

July 1957-December 1960, August 1964-June 2002

"Voice of the National Federation of the Blind"

July 2002-Present

"Voice of the Nation's Blind"

"Ink-print" edition began monthly publication in July 1957.

  • From July 1957 through December 1960, each issue is individually paginated.
  • Publication suspended due to a significant decrease in funding between December 1960 and August 1964. During this time, the American Brotherhood of the Blind (now called the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults) published news related to the National Federation of the Blind in their newsletter, The Blind American.
  • Resumed monthly publication with August 1964.  (In the tenBroek Library, the 1964 issues are bound with 1964 issues of the Blind American.)
  • From August 1964 through December 1966, each issue is individually paginated.
  • Issues from January 1967 through June 1868 are continuously paginated.
  • From July 1968 through June 1970, issues are continuously paginated from July through the following June.
  • Issues from July 1970 through December 1971 are continuously paginated.
  • Beginning with January 1972, issues are continuously paginated through the calendar year.

Editorial staff

  • July 1957--Editor: George Card
  • September 1960--Editor: Kenneth Jernigan
  • January 1961--publication suspended
  • August 1964--Acting Editor: Jacobus tenBroek; Assistant Editor: Floyd W. Matson
  • August 1966--Editor: Jacobus tenBroek; Assistant Editor: Floyd W. Matson
  • January 1967--Editor: Jacobus tenBroek
  • January 1968--Editor: Jacobus tenBroek; Assistant Editor: Floyd W. Matson
  • May 1968--Editor: Perry Sundquist; Associate Editor: Hazel tenBroek
  • January 1977--Editor: Donald McConnell
  • July 1979--no editor listed
  • November 1986--Editor: Kenneth Jernigan
  • December 1988--Editor: Kenneth Jernigan; Associate Editor: Barbara Pierce
  • May 1993--Editor: Barbara Pierce
  • March 2009--Editor: Barbara Pierce; Associate Editor: Daniel B. Frye
  • January 2010--Editor: Daniel B. Frye
  • August/September 2010--Editor: Gary Wunder

No volume numbers, 1957-1960, 1964-1997
Numbering starts with volume 41, 1998.  Double issues are numbered only once.  Hence, each recent volume typically includes numbers 1 through 11, because the combined August-September issue is counted as number 8 and the October issue as number 9.  Where there is more than one double issue (as in 1999 and 2002, where the combined January-February issue is number 1, and the March issue is number 2), the highest issue number for that volume will be lower than 11.

Combined issues

[00] 1957:
[01] 1958: --
[02] 1959: extra issue in May on the crisis in the Federation
[03] 1960: --
[04] [1961-Blind American]
[05] [1962-Blind American]
[06] [1963-Blind American]
[07] 1964: publication resumed in August
[08] 1965: --
[09] 1966: --
[10] 1967: --
[11] 1968: --
[12] 1969: --
[13] 1970: --
[14] 1971: --
[15] 1972: --
[16] 1973: --
[17] 1974: --
[18] 1975: --
[19] 1976: --
[20] 1977: March-April
[21] 1978: August-September, November-December
[22] 1979: July-August, October-November
[23] 1980: July-August
[24] 1981: March-April
[25] 1982: --
[26] 1983: May-June, August-September
[27] 1984: --
[28] 1985: April-May, August-September
[29] 1986: May-June, August-September
[30] 1987: June-July, October-November
[31] 1988: February-March, May-June, September-October
[33] 1989: April-May
[33] 1990: October-November
[34] 1991: July-August
[35] 1992: August-September
[36] 1993: September-October
[37] 1994: [no September issue - the ink-print edition is simply labeled "August"]
[38] 1995: August-September
[39] 1996: August-September
[40] 1997: August-September
[41] 1998: August-September
[42] 1999: August-September, January-February
[43] 2000: August-September
[44] 2001: August-September
[45] 2002: August-September, January-February
[46] 2003: August-September
[47] 2004: August-September
[48] 2005: August-September
[49] 2006: August-September
[50] 2007: August-September
[51] 2008: August-September

Special Issues

  • August 1972: Special Issue-NAC
  • February 1980: The Bizarre World of the Des Moines Register
  • April 1983: Successful Conclusion of California Lawsuit
  • January 1992: U.S./Canada Conference on Technology for the Blind
  • January 1994: 2nd U.S./Canada Conference on Technology for the Blind
  • October 1995: Guide Dogs and Mobility (edited by Kenneth Jernigan)
  • October 1996: Schools for the Blind
  • January 1997: 3rd U.S./Canada Conference on Technology for the Blind
  • March 1998: Jury Comes Down on Maxi-Aids
  • January-February 1999: Kenneth Jernigan Memorial
  • January 2000: 4th U.S./Canada Conference on Technology for the Blind
  • February 2008: Presentations at the "Dare to be Remarkable" Conference

Special Features

Special Features-regular

Convention Roundup

  • 1971-1977: September
  • 1978: October
  • 1979: October-November
  • 1980-1982: September
  • 1983: October
  • 1984: August
  • 1985: August-September
  • 1986: October
  • 1987: October-November
  • 1988: September-October
  • 1989: October
  • 1990-1991: September
  • 1992: August-September
  • 1993: September-October
  • 1994: August
  • 1995-present: August-September

Featured book in the Jacobus tenBroek Library

  • December 2009 to October 2012

Recipe(s) of the Month. Name changed to "Recipes" in November 1982.

Missing:

  • 1971: January, October
  • 1972: January, May, August, September, December
  • 1973-1974: September
  • 1975: August, September, October
  • 1976: September
  • 1979: October-November
  • 1980: February, September
  • 1982: September
  • 1983: April
  • 1992: January, August-September
  • 1993: September-October
  • 1994: August
  • 1995: August-September, October
  • 1996: August-September
  • 1997: January, August-September
  • 1998: March, August-September
  • 1999: February, August-September
  • 2000: January, August-September
  • 2001-present: August-September

Monitor Miniatures, Began 1964

Missing:

  • 1971: September
  • 1972: August, September
  • 1973-1976: September
  • 1979: October-November
  • 1980: February
  • 1982: September
  • 1983: April
  • 1992: January, August-September
  • 1993: September-October
  • 1994: August
  • 1995: August-September, October
  • 1996: August-September
  • 1997: January, August-September
  • 1998: March
  • 1999: August-September
  • 2000: January
  • 2001-present: August-September ("Convention Miniatures" substituted)

Special Features-occasional

The First Thirty Years

  • insert in February 1971

Who Are the Blind Who Lead the Blind?

  • June 1973
  • October 1974
  • June 1978
  • September 1989
  • April 1993
  • October 1996
  • January 2001
  • March 2003
  • January 2007
  • May 2010

Aids and Appliances

  • August 1974
  • April 1975

NFB Constitution

  • January 1976
  • October-November 1979
  • October 1983
  • August 1984
  • August-September 1992 (as amended 1986)
  • August 1994 (as amended 1986)
  • August-September 1995 (as amended 1986)
  • August-September 1997 (as amended 1986)
  • August-September 2001 (as amended 1986)
  • August-September 2008 (as amended 1986)

Model State Constitution

  • January 1976

Noted Blind Persons in American History

  • 1976: February, May June, August, October

Social Security, SSI, and Medicare Facts

  • 1993: January
  • 1998: December
  • 1999: December
  • 2000: December
  • 2001: December
  • 2004: December
  • 2005: December
  • 2006: December
  • 2008: December

Book Reviews

  • 1993: January
  • 2001: October
  • 2003: April
  • 2008: January, December
  • 2009: November

"Concerning History and the Braille Monitor"

  • 1993: April

 Washington Seminar, Legislative Agenda, and Fact Sheets

  • 1999: April
  • 2004: March
  • 2005: March
  • 2006: March
  • 2007: March
  • 2008: March
  • 2009: April

 Ask Miss Whozit

  • 2005: February, May, June, November
  • 2006: January, March, May, July, December
  • 2007: March, May, October, December
  • 2008: January, April, June, November
  • 2009: July, December
  • 2010: February, May

 In the Spotlight: Affiliate Action

  • 2006: October, November
  • 2007: March, April, May
  • 2008: May