Anne Sullivan Centennial Commemoration papers

Creator:

Perkins School for the Blind

Date Range:

1954-1967, bulk 1965-1967

Call Number:

AG36

Abstract:

This collection consists of records generated by the Anne Sullivan Centennial Commemoration, a series of events co-sponsored by Perkins School and the Industrial Home for the Blind, which took place in Watertown, MA, New York City, and Washington DC between April 13th and 17th, 1966. It includes correspondence related to event planning, travel logistics, and publicity, published publicity materials, and event photographs.

Extent:

5 Boxes: 3 full-sized and 1 half sized manuscript boxes. 1 document box. (3 linear feet)

Language:

English

Processed by:

Ella Lesatele, 2016

Biographical/Historical notes:

The Anne Sullivan Centennial Commemoration was a week-long event conceived and co-sponsored by the Perkins School director, Edward Waterhouse (EJW) and the executive director of the Industrial Home for the Blind, Peter Salmon (PJS), intended to raise awareness about educating and employing people who are deafblind. Events included: an all-Perkins dinner, held at Perkins on the evening of April 12th; a day-long seminar, “Educating Deaf-Blind Children” followed by “A Tribute To Those Who Teach The Deaf-Blind” (including ceremony, dinner and awards), held at Perkins on April 13th; a banquet at the Hotel Commodore in New York City on the evening of April 14th; and a memorial ceremony, with music and awards for outstanding deafblind Americans, held at Washington Cathedral on April 17th. 

The bulk of the collection is correspondence related to publicity, both for Anne Sullivan’s work and the continuing work of IHB and Perkins in education and work opportunities for people who are deafblind. These items include correspondence between EJW, PJS, and the event’s publicity manager, Robert M. Campbell (RMC) of Robert Campbell Associates, a PR firm based in Saxons River, Vermont. They relate to efforts to place photos and articles in print publications, to encourage governors to declare “Anne Sullivan Week” in all 50 states, to encourage the President to attend the memorial service, and to produce a film, “The Legacy of Anne Sullivan”.

Other items in the collection relate to planning and logistics related to events, copies of magazine and newspaper articles with Anne Sullivan material, and event photographs.

Restrictions:

None

Copyright:

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:

AG36 Anne Sullivan Centennial Commemoration collection. Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA.

Scope/Contents:

B1:F1 = Box 1: Folder 1

ASCC = Anne Sullivan Centennial Commemoration
EJW = Edward J Waterhouse
PJS = Peter J Salmon
RMC = Robert M Campbell

The papers in this collection document the activities of the Anne Sullivan Centennial Commemoration Committee, which was led by Peter J Salmon (PJS) of Brooklyn NY’s Industrial Home for the Blind (IHB), and Edward J Waterhouse (EJW) of Watertown MA’s Perkins School for the Blind (Perkins). It covers the years 1954-1967, with the bulk of the material dated from October 1965 to April 1966. Most of the material is business correspondence between EJW, PJS, and Perkins’ PR contractor, Robert M Campbell (RMC) of Robert M Campbell & Associates, a PR firm based in Saxons River, Vermont. These three men worked closely on the following projects: the Anne Sullivan film, “Legacy of Anne Sullivan”; publicity for both the ASCC and for deafblind education in America; bulk mailings to Perkins staff and parents; correspondence to government officials on matters such as having statewide Anne Sullivan Weeks declared and persuading the President to make an appearance at the Washington Cathedral service; choosing and background-checking recipients of the Anne Sullivan Awards for two separate presentations; and event planning, including seating arrangement and invitations, for dinners, outings, and services planned in conjunction with ASCC. Materials are on paper, including newspaper and magazine clippings, mimeographs, onionskin carbons, and business and political letterheads. Formats are English-language letter-sized papers, with the exception of an oversized book in Braille and odd sizes in the magazine and newspaper articles; there are also a few photographs interfiled with the events they belong to. Although most material in this collection pertains to people and events in the Northeast US, both PJS and EJW corresponded with schools and societies for the blind in England, Sweden, Canada, and Egypt, as well as across the United States. This collection does not appear to have any gaps or incomplete documents. 

Arrangement:

1 series, 4 boxes grouped by planning, publicity, and events, arranged by topic and (within the folder) chronologically.

The records are grouped into boxes by topic: Planning and Logistics, Publicity Planning and Correspondence, Events and Awards, and Articles and Publications 

Related collections:

AG50 Dr. Edward J. Waterhouse Collection. Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA.

“The Legacy of Anne Sullivan.” AG11 Perkins Film Collection. Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA.

AG587 Photographs of Students with Deafblindness Collection. Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA.

MS189 Nancy Hamilton Papers, Smith College [Series 3, Box 7, folder 5], Northampton, MA.

Container List:

Box 1: Planning and Logistics (December 1954 – August 1966)

• B1:F1: Finding aid and notes on AG36
• B1:F2: Service reports, PJS and EJW, August 1, 1964 – November 16, 1965
• B1:F3: ASCC Committee Meeting Minutes, December 13, 1954 – April 16, 1966
• B1:F4: Correspondence between EJW and PJS, May 26, 1965 – May 3, 1966
• B1:F5: RMC and EJW, “Legacy of Anne Sullivan” movie project, November 11-15, 1965 and undated
• B1:F6: Correspondence between EJW and other institutions, November 12, 1965 – March 24, 1966
• B1:F7: Correspondence between PJS and EJW and Feeding Hills MA, January 19 – August 5, 1966 [Correspondence refers to establishment of Anne Sullivan’s birthdate through church records; Feeding Hills has since been absorbed by Agawam, MA]
• B1:F8: Correspondence between EJW and Governors, January 5 – April 4, 1966
• B1:F9: Proclamation drafts and letters to Governors, from EJW, February 25 1966 and undated
• B1:F10: Copies of state proclamations, undated (April, 1966) 
• [Participating states include: Connecticut, Colorado, Montana, and Maine]
• B1:F11: Correspondence between EJW and others requesting Presidential participation in ASCC, June 3, 1965 – March 2, 1966
• B1:F12: Correspondence between EJW and others requesting Presidential participation in ASCC, March 8 – April 11, 1966

Box 2: Publicity Planning and Correspondence (July 1965 – July 1966)

• B2:F1: Publicity correspondence re “Tribute to Anne Sullivan”, with draft, (1966) undated
• B2:F2: Publicity correspondence for Outlook magazine: EJW and Outlook, November 12, 1965 – April 1, 1966
• B2:F3: Publicity correspondence for Radio and TV: EJW, RMC, PJS and stations, October 4, 1965 – April 7, 1966
• B2:F4: Publicity correspondence for Radio and TV: EJW, RMC, PJS and stations, January 27 – July 18, 1966
• B2:F5: Publicity bulk mailings from RMC, EJW, PJS, October 14 1965 – April 14, 1966
• B2:F6: Publicity correspondence between local agencies and EJW, November 12 – December 2, 1965
• B2:F7: Publicity correspondence between EJW and publications, July 13 – December 22, 1965
• B2:F8: Publicity correspondence between EJW and RMC and publications, September 14, 1965 – July 13, 1966
• B2:F9: Publicity correspondence between EJW and RMC, October 5, 1965 – April 20, 1966 and undated
• B2:F10: Publicity correspondence between RMC, EJW and PJS, October 4, 1965 – April 12, 1966
• B2:F11: Publicity correspondence between EJW and publication, January 7 – June 6, 1966

Box 3: Events and Awards (September 1965 – April 1967)

• B3:F1: Events with EJW, Photographs, undated [contains 3 black and white 5×7 photographs, unmarked, possibly of ASCC events at Perkins]
• B3:F2: ASCC programs, schedules, and report, April 1966 – April 1967, most undated
• B3:F3: ASCC Seminar on Educating Deaf-Blind Children and Tribute to Those Who Teach the Deaf-Blind, logistics and correspondence, April 13, 1966 and undated
• B3:F4: ASCC Tribute to Those Who Teach the Deaf-Blind, Invitations and responses, November 30, 1965 – April 20, 1966
• B3:F5: ASCC Tribute To Those Who Teach The Deaf-Blind and All-Perkins Dinner, March 8 – April 19, 1966, many undated
• B3:F6: ASCC Annie Sullivan Award Citations at the All-Perkins Dinner (Joan Shields) October 25 1965 – April 29, 1966
• B3:F7: ASCC Annie Sullivan Award Citations at the All-Perkins Dinner (John Summers) January 26 – March 16, 1966
• B3:F8: ASCC Banquet notes, programs, and photographs, February 3 – April 15, 1966 [Contains 3 black and white 5×7 photographs, unmarked, of the Banquet, 2 with EJW]
• B3:F9: ASCC – Correspondence between EJW and Washington Cathedral, July 6, 1965 – May 16, 1966
• B3:F10: ASCC – Invitations to Washington Cathedral Service, February 24 – March 16, 1966 [contains letters to Anne Bancroft and Helen Keller]
• B3:F11: ASCC – Responses to Cathedral service invitation, November 11, 1965 – April 22, 1966
• B3:F12: ASCC – Correspondence between EJW, PJS, and RMC re: Anne Sullivan Awards, September 14, 1965 – May 20, 1966
• B3:F13: ASCC – Photographs of the Anne Sullivan Awards, April 15, 1966 [23 black and white photographs in various sizes, including ceremony portraits of Juanita Morgan, Raymond Boduch, Theresa Poh Lin Chan, Jackie Coker, Richard Kinney, PJS, and others, plus group pictures, plus an 8×10 picture of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan]
• B3:F14: ASCC – Anne Sullivan Awards at Washington Cathedral (Raymond Boduch), January 26 – May 2, 1966 [Contains an item in Braille]
• B3:F15: ASCC – Anne Sullivan Awards at Washington Cathedral (Jackie Coker), November 9, 1965 – April 5, 1966
• B3:F16: ASCC – Anne Sullivan Awards at Washington Cathedral (Enid Kelly), January 26 – March 16, 1966
• B3:F17: Anne Sullivan Awards at Washington Cathedral (Richard Kinney), September 28, 1965 – May 16, 1966
• B3:F18: Anne Sullivan Awards at Washington Cathedral (Geraldine Lawhorn), January 26, 1966 – May 6, 1966
• B3:F19: IHB’s Day of Remembrance programs, May 15, 1966
• B3:F20: Cleveland Public Library, Anne Sullivan Centennial, programs and reading list, April 13 1966
• B3:F21: Correspondence about: papal audience in Rome to promote Deaf-Blind World Council, Pope Paul VI and PSJ, includes photographs, April 1967 [2 black and white 8×10 photographs of PJS and Pope Paul VI]

Box 4: Articles and Publications (August 1965 – May 1966)

• B4:F1: ASCC – Publicity – Newspaper clippings, January 15 – July 20, 1966
• B4:F2: ASCC – Publicity – IHB Reporter, Summer / Fall, 1965
• B4:F3: ASCC – Publicity – Dominicana, Spring, 1966
• B4:F4: ASCC – Publicity –Newsletters, March, 1966 [AAWB, BCBS Community UMS, The Seeing Eye Guide, and Perkins]
• B4:F5: ASCC – Publicity –The Seer, March, 1966
• B4:F6: ASCC – Publicity –The Lantern, March, 1966
• B4:F7: ASCC – Publicity – AART, March, 1966
• B4:F8: ASCC – Publicity – Journal of Rehabilitation, March – April, 1966
• B4:F9: ASCC – Publicity – The Church Advocate, April, 1966
• B4:F10: ASCC – Publicity –The Silent World, April, 1966
• B4:F11: ASCC – Publicity –Venture, April, 1966
• B4:F12: ASCC – Publicity – Presbyterian Life, April 15, 1966
• B4:F13: ASCC – Publicity – Performance, May, 1966
• B4:F14: ASCC – Publicity – Gifford-Hill Flowline, May, 1966
• B4:F15: ASCC – Publicity – The Quotarian, May, 1966
• B4:F16: ASCC – Publicity – Builders, May 8, 1966
• B4:F17: ASCC – Publicity – United Church Herald, May 15, 1966
• B4:F18: ASCC – Publicity – Christian Observer, May 25, 1966
• B4:F19: ASCC – Braille book [moved to oversize]

Box 5: Articles and Publications (Oversize)

• B5: ASCC – Braille book

Provenance:

Perkins School for the Blind

Subject headings:

• Perkins School for the Blind
• Perkins School for the Blind–History
• Waterhouse, Edward J., 1902-1999
• Sullivan, Anne, 1866-1936
• People who are blind
• Salmon, Peter J.
• Campbell, Robert M.