Kenneth Jernigan continued his revolutionary work until his untimely death from lung cancer in 1998. During the course of his life, Kenneth Jernigan was presented with countless honors and awards. He also received various Honorary Doctorates from American colleges and universities. Shortly before his death, the federal Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), an agency of the United States Department of Education, honored Dr. Jernigan with its Lifetime Achievement Award. In making the presentation, RSA Commissioner Dr. Fredric K. Schroeder said:  So, what has changed? Quite simply, nothing, and everything. Certainly not the National Federation of the Blind, No, it is not the Federation, our vehicle for collective action, that has changed; but we ourselves. We the blind are a different people; no longer on the outside looking in; no longer in abject poverty; no longer without hope or belief; no longer without a literature which defines the nuance of our understanding and belies the nonsense of the naysayers; no longer without a corps of leaders hardened on the picket lines and tempered in the trenches; no longer without the possibility of training at superior centers; no longer without the right to have our blind children be taught Braille; no longer without the material resources of superb physical plant and cutting-edge technology; no longer the passive recipients of yesterday's charity but the active architects of tomorrow's promise; and no longer without the legacy of Dr. Kenneth Jernigan and the tools he left us to finish the journey to full freedom and integration. Kenneth Jernigan served as the elected leader of the National Federation of the Blind from 1968 until 1986, but he continued as the political leader of the organization until near the time of his death in 1998. His tombstone in Baltimore bears the following legend offered in loving memory by the blind community: "He taught us it is respectable to be blind!" He was married to Mary Ellen Jernigan, who is still active in the NFB, particularly in planning the national conventions. For additional information about Dr. Kenneth Jernigan in general, or for specific details about The Iowa Experiment, see "THE BLINDNESS REVOLUTION: Jernigan in His Own Words", by James H. Omvig, Information Age Publishing, Inc., 2005. Additionally, much information about him is available throughout the literature on the NFB website, which includes his banquet speeches and other writing.