The Kenneth Jernigan Collection covers the years 1935 to 1998, with the majority of the collection dating from 1954 to 1986.  The collection documents his personal and professional life, with particular focus on his tenure as director for the Iowa Commission for the Blind (ICB) and his membership on the Iowa Wine Advisory Board. Portions of the collection also deal with Jernigan’s family history, his college education, and his honorary degrees for his work with the organized blind movement. Only a small portion of the collection pertains to his life before and after his residence in Des Moines, Iowa. Additionally, the collection does not include the majority of existing files pertaining to his work with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) or his role as its president from 1968-1986. For information on records related to Jernigan and the NFB, please consult the finding aid for the National Federation of the Blind Institutional Records (NFBIR). Materials include print and Braille correspondence, news clippings, reports, programs, diplomas, meeting minutes, photos, printed matter, ephemera, audio recordings, and one scrapbook. Unless otherwise noted, most correspondence and news clippings are arranged in reverse chronological order. Most original news clippings have been photocopied and replaced with access copies on acid-free paper. Braille materials are generally accompanied by printed file information sheets for identification purposes. In rare cases, Braille correspondence was transcribed into print and the originals were discarded. Jernigan’s interest in his family genealogy is reflected in records and documents published by family members, including his brother, Lloyd Jernigan, which date from 1971 to 1997.  Early examples of poetry and prose written by Jernigan in the 1940s are included in the records of his college education. However, the collection does not contain drafts or published copies of his numerous articles and speeches, most of which were printed in the Braille Monitor, the newsletter of the NFB. Archived issues of the Braille Monitor are available on the NFB Web site (http://www.nfb.org/braille-monitor) and at the Internet Archive (www.archive.org). The correspondence files span the years 1954 to 1996 and deal mainly with Jernigan’s personal activities while in Des Moines, Iowa, and Baltimore, Maryland. They include personal correspondence with family, friends, informal acquaintances, and formal correspondence with people who were not connected to his professional career or his involvement with organizations of or for the blind. The subject content in some letters may overlap with his work at the ICB or his advocacy work for various organizations of the blind. However, this is only a small portion of the collection. Correspondence related to Jernigan’s involvement in the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), the World Blind Union, the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults, or the Friends of Libraries for the Blind and Physically Handicapped of North America are not included in this collection, but can be found in the NFBIR. The NFBIR should also be consulted for evidence of Jernigan’s appointment to and involvement in federal committees focused on the needs of the blind and disabled. Though mainly concerned with the rights and needs of the blind, this collection also documents Jernigan’s interest in other causes and his involvement in organizations unrelated to the blindness community. This includes the Iowa Wine Advisory Board, to which Jernigan was appointed by the Iowa Liquor Control Commission in 1970. Materials related to this organization include correspondence, news clippings, and reports. Jernigan’s work at the ICB from 1958-1978 is represented by correspondence, meeting minutes, and publicity files created in his capacity as administrator and director, with some materials dating before or after his employment. The bulk of materials related to the ICB concern the management and oversight of the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School (IBSSS) from 1940 to 1986, including its interactions with the ICB. Includes reports on a proposed merger of the IBSSS and the Iowa School for the Deaf in 1986. A small portion of the collection contains files related to the Iowa Association of the Blind, 1965-1974, which was an affiliate of the NFB. Some records pertain to the Iowa Advisory Committee for the Blind, 1955-1964, which was made up of members of the ICB, the Iowa Association of the Blind, and the IBSSS who were charged by the state government to coordinate resources for the blind in Iowa. For the most part, these records do not pertain to the day-to-day running of the ICB, the activities of its other employees, or the case files of its clients. Some related materials in the form of correspondence and board meeting minutes can be found in the National Federation of the Blind Institutional Records. Jernigan’s tenure at the ICB, his work with the NFB, and his personal accomplishments are also represented in publicity files containing news clippings and articles which were written about and collected by him. Aspects of his childhood and family life are also preserved in scrapbooks and photo albums, which were annotated by family members.