Samuel P. Hayes Research Library & Perkins Archives

Search the Research Library’s Online Catalog

The world of information at your fingertips.

Browse through Perkins' Archives

The Samuel P. Hayes Research Library & Archives is a resource for researchers, the Perkins community, professionals, parents and the public. The materials do not circulate, but visitors are welcome to conduct research at the library and archives.

The Library, founded in 1880, offers the largest and most comprehensive collection on the non-medical aspects of blindness and deafblindness that is available to the public. Explore the library’s card catalog with citations to more than 45,000 books, pamphlets, journal articles, newspaper clippings, dissertations, conference reports, and multimedia materials, as well as links to hundreds of useful websites.

Click here to search the Research Library’s online card catalog.

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Among the invaluable primary source documents in the Archives are collections related to the history of education for people who are blind and deafblind, institutional archives, and correspondence of significant figures in the school's history, such as Helen Keller, Annie Sullivan, and Samuel Gridley Howe. Hundreds of historical documents and photographs have been digitized and may be viewed online.

Click here to search the Perkins Archives online finding aids.

For questions please email the Research Librarian at Jan.Seymour-Ford@Perkins.org
or call 617 972-7250.

What kind of information does the Research Library have?

• Researchers will find historical and archival materials relating to education and services for people who are blind, visually impaired, or deafblind.
• Some information has been tailored for parents and kids.
• Teacherscan find resources for both disability awareness and for instructing students who have disabilities.
• Resource packets, including one about Laura Bridgman, the first deafblind woman to be educated in the U.S., are available by request or download.
• The frequently asked questionssection offers general information.
• The New Acquisitions listing changes several times a year.