In 1899, Austin O. Wilson, a legally blind young man in his early 20s, was concerned about the lack of Christian reading material available for the blind. He decided to try an experiment. Taking a clothes wringer, he modified it to accommodate two metal plates with a sheet of heavy paper between them. As the plates were squeezed through the wringer, the raised dots on the plates made an impression on the paper, producing one page of a braille magazine he entitled the Christian Record.
It started with the dream of one man. More than one hundred years later, the Christian Record is still being published, along with eight other periodicals.
Austin Wilson produced 75 copies of the first Christian Record. In the 1920s, the Christian Record was being placed in the hands of thousands of blind people around the world.
In 1933 and 1934, Christian Record Services was one of the exhibitors in the Hall of Religion at the World's Fair, themed "A Century of Progress," in Chicago, Illinois. A year later, Christian Record Services was again prominently represented in the Hall of Science at America's Exposition, held in San Diego, California.
In 1950, the first talking books were recorded for Christian Record Services. There are now over 1,600 talking books available through the Naomi Chapman Turner Library for the Blind.
In 1967, National Camps for Blind Children was established. That first summer, the camp was held in Florida with 23 youth in attendance. Since then, this outreach program has offered nearly 50,000 confidence-building experiences in nature through these special camps.
In August of 1999, Christian Record Services celebrated 100 years of service to people who are legally blind.
