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Anna Gardner Fish papers

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Creator:

Perkins School for the Blind

Date Range:

1907-1963

Call Number:

AG31

Abstract:

This collection consists of Perkins related papers, correspondence, ephemera, and office memorandums generated and/or collected by Anna Gardner Fish, who worked as the registrar, a writer for The Lantern, and administrative assistant for Perkins School from 1897-1941.

Extent:

1 manuscript box (.25 linear feet)

Language:

English

Processed by:

Ella Lesatele, 2016. Box 1, folder 2 added by Jen Hale, 2024.

Biographical/Historical notes:

Anna Gardner Fish had a 44-year career at Perkins, beginning in 1897 as an administrative assistant to Michael Anagnos before becoming a registrar. Over the course of her career, she collected many pieces of Perkins theater and concert ephemera, including programs and scripts. She served on the 1945 Smoking Committee, which examined the use of tobacco products on the Perkins campus, hand-wrote a booklet of pre-1940 Perkins anecdotes, and collected information on the history of the Kindergarten. She also wrote extensively for the school, including pieces for The Lantern, memorials, short biographies, and appreciations.

​Of particular interest in this collection are the biographical sketches found in F1, F3, F11, F12 and F20; a booklet of embossed cursive and squarehand type (F14), and the booklet “In a Lighter Vein” (F17)

Scope and contents:

This collection consists of pieces written and/or collected by Anna Gardener Fish, a longtime Perkins employee and an essayist, who wrote articles for The Lantern as well as short biographies, memorial pieces, and statements of appreciation for many school events. Papers on early benefactors she wrote for “The Lantern” contain biographical essays and sketches by Fish on Samuel May, Samuel Eliot, Laura Bridgeman, Helen Curtis Bradlee, Julia Romana Anagnos, Gazella Bennett, Edward E Allen, Abigail Carter, Sophia Carter, Wilhelmina Humbert, Mrs. Warren E Potter, Eugene Tompkins, Laura Sawyer, John Wright, and Josiah Stickney. The collection includes both examples of her own writing and small collections of ephemera and special event material that she collected.

Restrictions:

None

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Perkins School for the Blind, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.

Credit line/Citation:

AG31 Anna Gardner Fish Papers. Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA.

Arrangement:

1 box, in original order

B1:F1 = Box 1: Folder 1

AGF – Anna Gardener Fish

AG59 Laura Bridgman Collection. Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA.

AG58 Kindergarten for the Blind Correspondence Collection. Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA.

AG1 Edward E. Allen Collection. Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA.

Essays written by Anna Gardner Fish were published in issues of The Lantern, which are available on the Internet Archive.

A digitized photograph of Anna Gardner Fish is available on Flickr.

Container List:

  • B1:F1: Ruggles (S.P.), Feb. 19, 1935 – Feb. 15, 1938 [contains a short biography of Stephen P Ruggles]
  • B1:F2: Organ, Nov. 10 1932 [contains material related to the 1932 dedication of the Dwight Hall organ]
  • B1:F3: Kindergarten, Apr. 1907 – Aug. 21 1928 and undated [contains essays on the Perkins Kindergarten, by AGF and others; also contains a folded paper basket marked “Ms. Fish”]
  • B1:F4: Perkins Institution Reports from various sources, Nov. 18 1907 – 1935 [contains essays related to Perkins school events, including Founder’s Day and spelling bees, by AGF and others]
  • B1:F5: Perkins Campus Maps, 1954 [contains 2 small maps dating from 1954]
  • B1:F6: Memorials and concerts, Nov. 30 1919 – May 26 1967 [contains programs and other papers related to Perkins and other institutions]
  • B1:F7: Smoking questionnaire, Feb. 1964
  • B1:F8: Programs and pamphlets, Feb. 1897 – Nov. 9 1932 [contains articles on Perkins, programs from school theatre productions, and a booklet from the 1931 World Conference on Work for the Blind]
  • B1:F9: Programs and pamphlets, Nov. 10 1932 – Jun. 10 1962 [contains ephemera from Perkins theatre and concert productions]
  • B1:F10: Staff skits, Feb. 14 1935 and undated [contains scripts and program from staff productions]
  • B1:F11: Appreciations, Jan. 12 1912 – May 1936 [contains obituaries, memorials, and retirement speeches written by AGF for Perkins community members]
  • B1:F12: Appreciations Feb. 1937 – 1939 and undated [contains obituaries, memorials, and retirement speeches written by AGF for Perkins community members]
  • B1:F13: Smoking Committee (Farrell Administration), 1945 – 1946
  • B1:F14: Sample of embossed types, undated [booklet containing examples of Boston Line Type and embossed squarehand]
  • B1:F15: Centenary of Incorporation and Fisher Memorial, Mar. 3 1929 [contains the 1844 Annual Report as well as material related to the 1929 Centennial]
  • B1:F16: Watertown, Jan. 14 1926 [contains map and copy of a 1926 Massachusetts Department of Public Safety decision regarding a proposed parking garage near Perkins]
  • B1:F17: “In a Lighter Vein”, 1941 [contains a printed and a handwritten copy of “In A Lighter Vein: Some Stories of Life at Perkins Institution in the “old days” as recalled by Anna G Fish 1941]
  • ​B1:F18: Clippings, undated
  • B1:F19: Kennedy Memorial, Dec. 3 1963 [contains material on Perkins’ Memorial Service]
  • B1:F20: Papers on Early Benefactors for “The Lantern”, undated [contains biographical essays and sketches by AGF on Samuel May, Samuel Eliot, Laura Bridgeman, Helen Curtis Bradlee, Julia Romana Anagnos, Gazella Bennett, Edward E Allen, Abigail Carter, Sophia Carter, Wilhelmina Humbert, Mrs. Warren E Potter, Eugene Tompkins, Laura Sawyer, John Wright, and Josiah Stickney]
  • B1:F21: Original container label, undated
  • B1:F21: Correspondence to AGF, 1937

Provenance:

Perkins School for the Blind

Subject headings:

  • Perkins School for the Blind
  • Perkins School for the Blind–History
  • Fish, Anna Gardner
  • Allen, Edward E. (Edward Ellis), 1861-1950
  • Bridgman, Laura Dewey, 1829-1889
  • Farrell, Gabriel

Explore more resources from the Archives

Learn more about our collections, including digitized materials, and resources related to the history of Perkins School for the Blind and the history of education for people with blindness or deafblindness.

Visit the Perkins Archives page