HISTORY

EIES was founded by the late John F. Mulvihill, Jr. Despite being blind since age 15, John earned degrees at Seton Hall and Boston University and worked in public relations for several years. He recognized that blind persons have a need for more detail on the day's events than is possible from simply listening to radio and television news broadcasts. In 1974 he arranged with Seton Hall's radio station to use their facilities to broadcast a two-hour show Sunday afternoons. From there he added a studio with a signal generator in a building adjoining the South Orange Library. Over the years he raised funds from the federal government, corporations and private donors. In 1980 he expanded to a full-time operation providing 14 hours of programming daily from its own studios in South Orange, New Jersey. In 1987 he signed an agreement with a cable television company that allows blind listeners to pick up the broadcast via a cable hookup. Today, primary service is provided on a subcarrier of WSOU and cable FM systems. Listeners can hear 100 hours of programming a week using special radio receivers. In addition a Telereader service is also in operation, which can be accessed by phone 24 hours a day. Volunteers continually read newspapers, magazines and books, all of which are not easily accessible to the blind or visually impaired.

EIES of New Jersey 59 Scotland Road South Orange, NJ 07079 Phone 973-762-0552 Fax 973-761-6879 eiesnj@aol.com

This page was last changed on Mar. 15, 2004 by Webmaster Jerry Tuttle.