It was formed in 1946 as the National Council to Combat Blindness (NCCB),[1][2] the first non-profit organization in the United States to fund vision research; 2011 marked its 65th anniversary.

Based in New York City, Fight for Sight provides funding and acknowledgment to promising scientists early in their eye research careers, before they are eligible for government support from the National Institutes of Health.

Among other notable leaders at Fight for Sight were board president Herbert Tenzer, who had been a member of the United States House of Representatives, and comedian Bob Hope who was an honorary chairman from 1960.

Other honorary board members included Milton Berle, Ed Sullivan and Sammy Davis Jr. Weisenfeld was honored many times for her lifelong work in bringing awareness and funding to eye research.

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt wrote about the NCCB in its first year of existence, drawing attention to the goal of raising $50,000 for eye clinics and treat retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

[4] Experimental treatments funded by NCCB began the first year at New York Hospital and the N.Y. Medical College of Flower-Fifth Avenue on a few hundred people with RP.

Summer Student Fellowships[5] and Post-Doctoral awards were added by the organization in 1955 to encourage young investigators into ophthalmic research, providing a sort of funding "ladder" leading up to Grants-In-Aid.

The annual Fight for Sight fundraiser, the "Lights On" variety show, was the organization's signature event and was a who's-who of top singers, comedians, actors and politicians from 1949 into the mid-1990s.

Events included Barbra Streisand,[6] Stevie Wonder, Liza Minnelli, Yul Brynner, Earl Wilson, Harry Belafonte, Jackie Mason, Ed Sullivan, Pearl Bailey, Mel Allen, Peter Falk, Paul Anka, Eartha Kitt, Tony Randall, Tommy Smothers, Joe Frazier, Jerry Stiller, Carol Channing, Peggy Lee, Kitty Carlisle, and many others.