Rose Resnick (November 27, 1906 – August 14, 2006) was an American musician, educator, and philanthropist. She was co-founder and co-director of the Enchanted Hills Camp for the Blind in California, and a leader in San Francisco's blind community for decades.

Early life and education

Rose Resnick was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, the daughter of Harris Resnick and Leah Resnick. Both of her parents were Jewish immigrants from Russia; her father sold cloaks and suits. She became blind from

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for fluid within the eye rem ...

in childhood. She studied music at the Manhattan School of Music and at the Fontainebleau Conservatory of Music in France, with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

. She graduated from

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

in 1928. She later earned a master's degree and a teaching credential at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

in 1961, with a master's thesis titled "Learning and Social Development at a Camp for Blind Children." She completed doctoral studies in education at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

in 1981.

Career

Resnick was a concert pianist, and trained as a teacher, but as a blind woman was barred from employment in the New York City public schools. She taught music to blind students and gave recitals in New York, and was active on stage as an actress with the Lighthouse Players. She moved to California in the 1930s, after visiting San Francisco to compete in a national piano competition. She played piano in clubs and on radio during and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She gave school and community presentations combining musical performance and demonstrations with her guide dog, Ilsa. After founding Recreation for the Blind and running a few summer camps at other locations in the late 1940s, Resnick bought land and, with Nina Brandt, became co-founder and co-director of the Enchanted Hills Camp in Napa County in 1950. "When children play in groups, it's natural to bridge that gap between the sighted world and the world of the blind," she explained in 1949. She left active directorship of the camp in 1961. Resnick was founder and executive director of the California League of the Handicapped in San Francisco from 1961 to 1991. In 1965 she helped establish the Garden of Fragrance at

Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, United States, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. It is administered by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, which began in 1871 to oversee the development ...

, a multi-sensory park experience with blind signage. She started a library of audiotape materials for California prisoners with reading disabilities. Resnick's programs merged with the San Francisco Association for the Blind to become the San Francisco LightHouse for the Blind, and eventually the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired. She wrote two autobiographies, ''Sun and Shadow: The Autobiography of a Woman who Cleared a Pathway to the Seeing World for the Blind'' (1975), and ''Dare to Dream: The Rose Resnick Story'' (1988)''.''

Honors and awards

Resnick won several scholarships and competitions as a young musician. Resnick's contributions were recognized by the National Council of Jewish Women, with the Hannah G. Solomon Award for community service. Hadassah presented Resnick with the Myrtle Wreath Award. In 1974 she was named Handicapped Professional Woman of the Year by Pilot Club International. In 1983, she received the Migel Award from the American Foundation for the Blind.

Personal life

Resnick traveled for work and pleasure, including study in France as a young woman, and a consulting trip to Israel in the 1980s. She died in 2006, in San Francisco, aged 99 years. Enchanted Hills Camp continues to serve blind children, teens, and adults in the 21st century, though about half of the campground's structures were damaged by wildfires in 2017.

References

External links

A photograph of Rose Resnick playing piano in the 1930s
from the San Francisco Examiner Photograph Archive, Berkeley Library
A short audio clip of Resnick talking about prayer
from the Tufts Digital Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Resnick, Rose 1906 births 2006 deaths American pianists American women pianists Blind musicians American music educators Hunter College alumni San Francisco State University alumni University of San Francisco alumni American disability rights activists American autobiographers 20th-century American writers 20th-century American women writers American blind people Blind activists American activists with disabilities Blind educators Educators of the blind American musicians with disabilities