| Administrative History | The National League of the Blind was established in 1899. Its name was changed to the National League of the Blind and Disabled in 1968.
The Aberdeen Branch of the National League of the Blind was formed in 1907 by workers in Aberdeen Asylum for the Blind; although blind workers had been represented at Aberdeen Trades Council since 1886, when Mr John Keir, Secretary of the Aberdeen Branch of the Blind Association, and his colleague, Mr. Johnstone, were admitted as delegates. In 1935, members of the League successfully persuaded the Town Council to "transfer care of the necessitous blind from the unwelcome jurisdiction of the P.A.C. to the Public Health Committee, and at the same time to inaugurate a scheme of domiciliary assistance". By taking this step, Aberdeen became the first municipality in Scotland to "remove the stigma of pauperism from blind welfare". Glasgow, Dundee and other Scottish towns followed this lead soon after.
Further information about the development of the trade union movement and the history of individual trade unions in Aberdeen can be found in William Diack, 'History of the Trades Council and the Trade Union Movement in Aberdeen' (Aberdeen: Aberdeen Trades Council, 1939), and in Kenneth D. Buckley, 'Trade Unionism in Aberdeen 1870 - 1900' (Edinburgh and London: Oliver and Boyd, 1955). Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, 'Historical Directory of Trade Unions', 4 vols (Aldershot: Gower, 1980 - 1984) also contains useful information about the development of individual unions, at both the national and local level. |
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