Sendero Group Travel Blog

At the 2010 NFB conference on July 8, Mike May was awarded the Dr. Jacob Bolotin award. Mike said, "There is no higher honor than being recognized by one's peers. It is amazing what this blind doctor accomplished in the early 1900s. Along with Ray Kurzweil who also received the award, I find a common thread. We all believe that there is always a way if one finds the work-arounds to find the way." The award was proceeded by a modern day blind Doctor, Tim Cordes, who described how he became a doctor and performs his day-to-day work.


About The Bolotin Award

The Bolotin Award is a way to recognize individuals and organizations working in the blindness field that have made outstanding contributions toward achieving the full integration of blind people into society on a basis of equality. Named for a pioneering blind physician who practiced in the early twentieth century, these awards are made possible through the generosity of his late nephew and niece. Their bequest, the Alfred and Rosalind Perlman Trust, will allow the National Federation of the Blind to provide direct financial support to people and organizations that are improving the lives of the blind throughout the United States.

Dr. Jacob Bolotin was a blind physician who lived and practiced in Chicago in the early part of the twentieth century. As chronicled in his biography, The Blind Doctor by Rosalind Perlman, Bolotin fought ignorance and prejudice to gain entrance to medical school and the medical profession. He became one of the most respected physicians in Chicago during his career, which spanned the period from 1912 until his death in 1924. He was particularly known for his expertise in diseases of the heart and lungs. Bolotin used his many public speaking engagements to advocate for the employment of the blind and their full integration into society. Interested in young people in general and blind youth in particular, Dr. Bolotin established the first Boy Scout troop consisting entirely of blind boys and served as its leader.