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by Stuart Nelson
Renewed interest has recently been generated regarding the original design and subsequent evolution of the BVA emblem. We ran a short article about the BVA and VA emblems in the Winter 2005 BVA Bulletin one year ago. We also announced the availability to BVA members of a limited number of woodcarvings of the emblem, donated to the Association by Michigan Regional Group President Sam Work. A photo of one of the carvings was also included in that issue.
One of a handful of mysteries surrounding the emblem has been the source of its original design. While the June 1948 Bulletin provided considerable detail about the staff and Board of Directors’ visit to the office of President Harry S Truman to receive the design from the President himself, there was no mention of who crafted it and just how it got to the White House prior to the visit. Raymond Frey, BVA’s first national president in 1945-46, called to request a wood carving and weighed in on the subject during his call. Ray thought that Baynard Kendrick, producer of the well-known movie Lights Out, could have been the designer.
A search of the archives at BVA National Headquarters turned up the following from a Board of Directors meeting on September 6, 1947:
“The next item on the agenda was the selection of an emblem for the BVA. Father Thomas J. Carroll was called upon to describe an emblem suggested by Mr. Robert Amendola. After a motion was duly made and seconded, it was unanimously resolved that the emblem as described by Father Carroll be made the official insignia of the Blinded Veterans Association, Inc.”
According to BVA Executive Director Tom Miller, Robert Amendola was a contemporary of Father Carroll’s at the Catholic Guild for the Blind. Tom recalls meeting Mr. Amendola during a trip to St. Petersburg, Florida, where they both attended a conference that looked at the continuing relevance of Father Carroll’s legendary work Blindness: What It Is, What It Does, and How To Live With It.
Tom affirmed the possibility that either Kendrick or Amendola could have been the original designer, but we have thus far been unable to verify any of our theories. Please contact BVA National Headquarters if you have additional information about the origin or design of the BVA emblem.
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