A white stick is used by many people who are blind or visually impaired. Its main applications are as a mobility tool and as a courtesy to others, but there are at least five varieties, each serving a slightly different need. Blind people have used canes as tools of mobility for centuries, but it was not until after World War I that white cane was introduced.
In 1921 James Biggs, a Bristol photographer who became blind after an accident and was uncomfortable with the amount of traffic around his house, painted his white cane to be more easily visible. In 1931 in France, Guilly d'Herbemont launched a national white stick movement for the blind. On 7 February 1931, Guilly d'Herbemont symbolically gave the first two white canes to the blind, in the presence of several French ministers. 5,000 more white canes were subsequently sent to blind French veterans of the First World War and blind civilians.
In the United States, the introduction of white cane is attributed to George A. Bonham of Lions Clubs International. In 1930, a member of the Lions Club observed how a blind man tried to cross the street with a black cane that could hardly be seen by the drivers against the dark pavement. The Lions decided to paint the white cane to make it more visible. In 1931, Lions Clubs International launched a program to promote the use of white walking sticks for blind people. The first special cane white ordinance was passed in December 1930 in Peoria, Illinois, which provided blind pedestrians and right-of-way protection while wearing a white walking stick.
The long stick was improved by World War II veteran rehabilitation specialist Richard E. Hoover at Valley Forge Army Hospital. In 1944, he took the white club of the lion club (originally made of wood) and went around the hospital blindfolded for a week. During this time he developed what is now the standard method of "long stick" training or the Hoover method. He is now called the "Father of the Light Long Reed Technique". The basic technique is to swing the cane from the center of the body forward and backward before the feet. The cane should be swept before the back foot as the person steps. Before teaching other rehabilitators, or "mentors," his new technique had a special commission for lightweight, long white canes made for veterans of European fronts.
On October 6, 1964, a joint resolution of Congress, HR 753, was signed, authorizing the President of the United States to proclaim October 15 of each year as the "White Cane Security Day." President Lyndon Johnson was the first to make this proclamation.