Since 1834, when Laura Bridgman first came to Perkins, the school has been a pioneer in educating students who are deafblind. A collection of journals kept by teachers of students who were deafblind have been digitized and made available on the Internet Archive. The collection spans from 1841-1899. Students written about include Laura Bridgman, Oliver Caswell, Helen Keller, Thomas “Tommy” Stringer, and Willie Robin.
A page of a teacher journal documenting Helen Keller dated May 1888. The account starts with Keller having heard a description of a monkey, then recognizing a stuffed monkey in the tactile museum.
Accessibility
Our goal is provide resources that are accessible to all.
The Perkins digitized teacher journals, which are handwritten, have been made available on the Internet Archive, which utilizes optical character recognition (OCR) and downloadable file formats, including Daisy, to provide access to users who are blind and visually impaired. We acknowledge that OCR is prone to errors, and cannot recognize graphics or handwritten text, thus creating barriers to these materials. It is our intention that by providing the materials as is, the resource is findable online to all. If any of Perkins Archives resources accessed online aren’t accessible in part or in whole, to a user because of a disability, we will create an accessible version upon request.
Two collections of handwritten journals from teachers educating students who are deafblind. Links to journals are grouped into two time periods and listed by volume number and years, from earliest to latest. spans list is organized by volume and date, starting with the earliest. There are 18 volumes in total spanning the years 1841-1899.
1841-1849
Detailed accounts by teachers at the Perkins Institution, now Perkins School for the Blind, of daily activities, lessons, travel, interactions between the students, conversations, thoughts, and temperament of students who were deafblind, including Laura Bridgman, Oliver Caswell, and others. Contains pencil notes in the margin highlighting sections and quotes. The bulk of the content surrounds Laura Bridgman, who is sometimes referred to as “L”. For more information visit the collection finding aid.
