Historica Canada is excited to share this NEW #HeritageMinute celebrating Edwin Baker, co-founder of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. After losing his vision during the First World War, Edwin Baker brought his determination back to Canada and co-founded the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. Check out this new #HeritageMinute by @HistoricaCanada celebrating his legacy.

The Heritage Moment can be viewed on YouTube at https://youtu.be/XnurPB4h5Zk. En francais a https://youtu.be/l1185-qo-jU.

Lt-Colonel Edwin Albert Baker, CC, OBE was the subject of a CMEA Memorial Bursary scroll awarded in 2022. The following is a brief biography extracted from the scroll.

Edwin Albert Baker was born in 1893 in Ernesttown, Ontario and went to Queen's University in Kingston, to become an Electrical Engineer. Fresh out of university in 1914, Baker qualified for the rank of Lieutenant with the Canadian Engineers. A few months after graduating, he enlisted with the 6th Field Company, Canadian Engineers. By October 1915, Captain Baker was in the muddy Belgian trenches, where a sniper’s bullet blinded him. It happened in daylight while he was checking on his troops in an exposed forward area. He was awarded a Military Cross (MC) for gallantry and was later mentioned in dispatches.

He went to St. Dunstan’s in England for rehabilitation where he studied braille, typing and business administration, and took up such aids to self-assurance as fencing and sculling.

In 1918, Edwin Baker and six other blind and visually impaired Canadians founded the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB). He was the Institute’s Managing Director from 1920 until his retirement in 1962. He also served two terms as President of the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind, being first appointed in 1951.

Over the years, Lieutenant-Colonel Baker had many honours bestowed upon him such as honorary doctorates from Queen's University and the University of Toronto, the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1935, an honorary Lieutenant Colonelcy in 1938, presentation to His Majesty King George VI in 1939 and to Her Majesty the Queen in 1957. He was elected as President of the Military Engineer Association of Canada (predecessor of the CMEA) in 1935. In 1951, the American Association for the Blind awarded him the Migel Medal for outstanding service to the blind and later, the Helen Keller Award for Distinguished Service to the Blind. The American Association for Workers for the Blind awarded him the Shotwell Memorial Award in 1952. In addition, the French Government awarded him the Croix de Guerre. Later, the Canadian Government bestowed its highest award, Companion of the Order of Canada (CC).

Edwin Baker died, after an incredible life of service, in 1968 in Collins Bay, Ontario, near Kingston.