Ethel Towne Holmes

Ethel Towne Holmes (June 29, 1883 – July 16, 1974) was the first director and agency head of the Iowa Department for the Blind, serving in the post for over thirty years across ten governorships.

Early life and education

Ethel Towne was born on June 29, 1883 in Pella, Iowa, the daughter of Nathan C. Towne and Ida A. Markel Towne. When she was three months old her parents moved to Des Moines, Iowa, where she received her education. She was a graduate of Grinnell College.

Career

During World War I, Holmes served as director of the YWCA Hostess House at Camp Dodge for two years. After the war, she worked in Washington, D.C. for the women's division of the Republican National Committee.

Iowa Department for the Blind

The Iowa State Commission for the Blind (now known as the Iowa Department for the Blind) was created by state law in 1925. the commission's first board wanted an experienced administrator to establish its programs and arranged for Lotta Rand of the American Foundation for the Blind in New York City to come to Iowa in a temporary capacity, while a local person served as her understudy and was expected to become the permanent director once Rand returned east. Holmes was that understudy. Holmes was formally hired as the agency's first permanent director and executive secretary effective March 1, 1926, at an annual salary of $2,500. Holmes began her time in the role by surveying existing conditions and local resources so that the commission's work could be built on an understanding of the state's actual needs. She also held a speaking tour across the state with civic organizations and interest groups.

In 1926, Holmes served as chairperson of the blind committee for the National Conference of Social Work. Holmes also served on the national committee of sponsors for the American Foundation for the Blind, and as a member of the Committee of the Association of Executives of State Commissions and Associations for the Blind.

As director, she is credited with several initiatives, including establishing a work program for home-bound blind women called the Iowa Home for Sightless Women, founding a summer school program at the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School for people who became blind as adults, adding a job placement specialist to the commission staff, installing Braille switchboards across state institutions and agencies (and training blind persons to operate them), and establishing vending stands in state buildings operated by blind persons. In 1955, Holmes led a project establishing a women's cookbook in Braille.

At its June 1956 meeting, the agency board reappointed Holmes to a further two-year term; she subsequently submitted her retirement, effective November 1, 1956. At the same meeting, it was reported that the federal Office of Vocational Rehabilitation had agreed to conduct a survey of the Iowa Commission for the Blind's programs, with future growth anticipated. At the time of her departure, the agency ranked at the very bottom among vocational rehabilitation agencies for the blind, with only 12 employment outcomes in 1957.

She was briefly succeeded by Malcolm Jasper, who himself was succeeded by Kenneth Jernigan in April 1958. Jerniger heavily criticized Holmes' tenure in his later writings.

Personal life

Holmes lived in Des Moines for most of her life before her retirement in 1957. She was a member of P.E.O. Sisterhood, Iowa Federation of Women's Clubs, Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Christian Science church.

Death

Holmes died on July 16, 1974 at age 91, following an extended illness.

Works

• Adequate Provision for the Blind Feeble-Minded (1928)