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WARD SOCIETY
A giving society in the name of Maude Anna Rogers Ward, founder of Prevent Blindness Indiana, formerly known as the Indiana Society for the Prevention of Blindness.
Maude Anna Rogers Ward pioneered Indiana into being one of only two states that promoted the preservation of sight as a key healthcare issue as early as 1947. By founding the Indiana Society for the Prevention of Blindness—which became Prevent Blindness America’s first affiliate three years later—Maude established herself and our state as a progressive activist for our most treasured of the five senses.
But despite her legacy, Maude was a very quiet humanitarian throughout the 99 years of life. An avid genealogist, Maude had passed her love of family and tradition onto her niece, Eileen, 79. Having known Maude in his youth while she lived in the close-knit Quaker community in Pendleton, Eileen’s husband Carl, 80, had equal |
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insight to offer into her life. The couple had compiled awards, documents, autobiographies and photographs, carefully set out on their dining room table, underneath a vintage desk lamp for better display.
“She would do anything she thought was right,” said Carl, 80, while poring over Maude’s photos throughout the century. “She was very independent; she wouldn’t let you do anything for her.”
Maude Rogers married to Carl’s uncle, Walter Ward, in 1929. After he passed in 1959, Maude continued her position as a social worker for the Indiana Welfare Department from 1933 to 1972. “Dropping her name at the State House could give you access to anywhere you wanted to go,” said Carl.
Prior to 1933, Maude also had made a name for herself at Louisiana State University, where she was the first woman to be given the opportunity to take the CPA accounting exam but declined so she could come back to Indiana to take care of her family during the Depression.
Maude still got her chance to live life to its fullest, however, by traveling the world, frequenting auto races, volunteering at hospitals, swimming, playing Euchre, pinochle and bridge, as well as indulging in “hot, hot plain coffee” in the Carr China Company mini-coffee cups that Eileen and Carl still have set out in their dining room.
After retiring and moving to Arizona, Maude would drive her Chevy Nova—at the exact speed limit—back to visit family in Indiana and transport money to repair Quaker meeting halls, much to the Ward’s surprise.
Maude moved in with Eileen and Carl shortly thereafter, and 300 people had the pleasure of attending her 98th birthday before she passed in 2002. Her family continues to honor her memory by carrying on the tradition of annual family reunions (their 100th Rogers reunion is in Pennsylvania this year) and collecting flowers for the grandchildren and great-grandchildren to take with them to honor other family members located at five different cemeteries within 100 miles of Hope.
To help honor Maude Ward’s memory and legacy of sight preservation, please contact PBI about becoming a member of The Ward Society by calling Jessica Burress at 317-815-9943 ext. 224.
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