History of White Cane Day

White Cane Awareness Day, which is celebrated annually on October 15, officially became a holiday in 1964 after President Lindon B. Johnson and the U.S. Congress signed a joint resolution declaring the day as such. The holiday celebrates the achievements and independence of blind and visually impaired individuals in their day to day lives, drawing particular attention to the white cane, which is an important aspect of blind mobility, and symbolizes that blind and visually impaired individuals are capable of great things and navigating on their own. To fully understand the holiday however, it is important to understand how the white cane came to be, and its association with the blind and visually impaired community.

History of the White Cane

Canes and other mobility devices for the visually impaired and blind had been around in various forms for centuries, but it was only around 100 years ago that the white cane came into existence to represent and alert the presence of a blind individual. James Biggs is credited as the person who came up with the concept of the white came. In 1921, Biggs, a photographer from Bristol, was met with an accident that resulted in the loss of his eyesight. At the time, automobiles were rapidly gaining popularity as a means of transportation on the roads. Biggs, realizing that black canes were more difficult to see from passing vehicles, decided to paint his cane white to be better seen as well as be recognizable as a blind pedestrian.

Musician and writer Guilly d’Herbemont launched a scheme for the blind named the National White Stick Movement in France, where she handed out white canes to blind individuals, including WWI veterans. The movement was well-received in Britain as well, where the proposition was made that white canes were to be distributed to and used by the blind. Since then, white canes have served to represent the blind and visually impaired community.