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Perkins receipts, vouchers, and bills paid collection

finding aid

Creator:

Perkins School for the Blind

Date Range:

1849-1865

Call Number:

AG42

Abstract:

Receipts, vouchers, and bills paid by Perkins School for the Blind (Perkins Institution) and miscellaneous documents in the form of correspondence, lists, and memoranda.

Extent:

3.5 linear feet

Language:

English

Processed by:

Stephanie Molnar, 2014

Processing Note:

This collection was processed with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Division of Preservation and Access, Washington, D.C., 2012-2015.

Biographical/Historical notes:

In 1829, Perkins School for the Blind became the first school of its kind in the United States. Inspired by the school founded in Paris in 1784, Dr. John Dix Fisher gathered together a group of fellow Bostonians who advocated successfully for a school in Boston dedicated to the education of pupils who were blind. Contrary to popular perceptions at the time, the school’s founders believed that people who were blind could be educated and could live independently. 

The school opened to students in 1832 under our first director, Samuel Gridley Howe. Students followed a curriculum divided between academic subjects similar to any other school in Boston, and curriculum designed to improve tactile dexterity and provide employment options. Physical activity including daily walks, calisthenics, swimming, and rowing were also an important part of the curriculum. 

In 1837, eight-year old Laura Bridgman came to Perkins to be educated. She would become the first person who was deafblind to complete a formal education. The initiative would bring Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller together 50 years later and would evolve into the Perkins Deafblind School that continues to be a leader in the field today.

High demand required the school to move several times to accommodate more students. In 1912 the Watertown campus opened and was the first home to Perkins designed especially for students who were blind. This campus combined accessible architectural elements with an abundance of outdoor space that helped us improve the quality of services for our students. 

Over the years, Perkins has responded directly to the evolving needs of children who are blind or visually impaired. For example, Perkins expanded its Deafblind Program tenfold in the 1960s in response to the surge of babies born with deafblindness due to the rubella epidemic. With mainstreaming beginning in the 1970s, inclusive public education became the model for students who were blind.

Perkins continues to focus on students with multiple disabilities, supplemental outreach programming, and early childhood education. Perkins also supports the families, educators, professionals and researchers who support children through educational and accessibility services, and professional development.

Sources of information:

McGinnity, B.L., Seymour-Ford, J. and Andries, K.J. (2004) Founders. Perkins History Museum, Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, MA.

Restrictions:

The Perkins Archives reserves the right to deny physical access to materials available in a digital format. 

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:

AG42 Perkins receipts, vouchers, and bills paid collection. Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA.

Scope/Contents:

Collection of financial documents related to the business of Perkins School for the Blind, formerly Perkins Institution.  These documents relate commercial business dealings, employee salaries, and travel expenses.  Many of these financial documents include vouchers with illustrated letterhead.  Also included are non-financial documents including memoranda, class lists, and correspondence.  Highlights of the collection include correspondence regarding employee’s salaries, a list of students needing work, a copy of the act establishing the American Printing House for the Blind in Louisville, Kentucky, and correspondence addressed to director Samuel Gridley Howe.

Arrangement:

2 Series, 4 boxes

  • Series 1: Documents
  • Series 2: Receipts, Vouchers, and Bills Paid for Steward’s Accounts
  • Appendix A: Past pupils list, 1832-1854

Related collections:

A portion of this collection has been digitized and is available on Flickr: 19th Century Illustrated Letterhead Digital Collection on Flickr

Container List:

Series 1: Documents 

  • B1:F1: Empty packet labels, 4 pieces, undated 
  • B1:F2: Correspondence, Replies to Samuel Gridley Howe’s request for information on other institutions for the blind regarding salary, 4 documents, 1864   
  • B1:F3: Act to Establish the American Printing House for the Blind, 1 document, undated   
  • B1:F4: Past pupils list with students divided into “Living,” “Doubtful,” and “Dead,” 1 document, 1832-1854. See Appendix A for transcribed list.   
  • B1:F5: Memorandum of pupils conduct, summer term, 1 document, 1861   
  • B1:F6: Memorandum of insurance, 1 page, undated 
  • B1:F7: Documents regarding printed materials, 3 pages, undated
  • B1:F8: Miscellaneous list of names with their residences, 1 page, undated
  • B1:F9: Memorandum of cost of salaries at Illinois School, 1861, 1 page, 1861   
  • B1:F10: Memorandum of blind girls needing employment, 1 page, undated
  • B1:F11: Inventory of stationery and cost lists, 3 pages, undated
  • B1:F12: Class lists, 4 pages, 1861-1862   
  • B1:F13: Contracts, 2 pages, 1861-1862   
  • B1:F14: List of Members of the Corporation, 1 document, undated
  • B1:F15: Report of the Musical Department for the Summer Term, 1 document, 1862   
  • B1:F16: Assorted Correspondence to various persons, 7 pages, 1863   
  • B1F17: Memoranda of food expenses, including packet labels, 8 pages, 1861   
  • B2:F1: Order for custom organ with Specifications by Samuel Gridley Howe, 1862   
  • B2:F2: Analysis of Account packet, 1865

Series 2: Receipts, Vouchers, and Bills Paid for Steward’s Accounts 

Examples of items purchased include foodstuffs, sundries, handicraft supplies, educational materials, doctor visits, and travel expenses.   

  • B1:F18: Receipts, Miscellaneous, grouped together because they are either undated or do not fit into any subsequent series, 16 pages, 1857-1864   
  • B1:F19: Receipts, Bulk shipping receipts, 30 pages, 1858-1859   
  • B1:F20-22: Vouchers for Stewards Accounts, no. 1-209, 1849   
  • B1:F23-28: Vouchers for General Account, no. 198-204, 1849   
  • B3:F1-7: Vouchers for General Account, no. 205-212, 1849-1850   
  • B3:F8-17: Vouchers for Steward’s Account, no. 212-1000, 1850-1851   
  • B3:F18-20: Vouchers for General Account, no. 1001-1186, 1852   
  • B3:F21: Vouchers for Steward’s Account, no. 1187-1238, 1852   
  • B3:F22: Vouchers for General Account, no. 1238-1315, 1852   
  • B3:F23-28: Vouchers for Steward’s Account, no. 1316-1806, 1853-1854   
  • B3:F29-30: Vouchers, no. 1807-1924, 1854   
  • B3:F31-32: Vouchers for Steward’s Account, no. 1925-2011, 1854   
  • B3:F33: Institute for the Blind Vouchers, no. 2012-2102, 1854   
  • B3:F34-35: Vouchers, no. 2103-2199, 1854   
  • B3:F36-38: Vouchers for bills, no. 2200-2505, 1855   
  • B3:F39-46: Vouchers for bills paid, no. 2607-2994, 1855-1856   
  • B3:F47: Vouchers for Steward’s Account, no. 2995-3071, 1856   

Box 4 

  • B4:F1-4: Vouchers for bills paid, no. 3072-3292, 1856-1857   
  • B4:F5-6: Vouchers for Steward’s Account, no. 3293-3403, 1857   
  • B4:F7-8: Vouchers for bills paid to Steward’s Account, no. 3404-3495, 1857   
  • B4:F9-11: Vouchers for Steward’s Account, no. 3496-3674, 1857-1858   
  • B4:F12: Vouchers for bills paid, no. 3675-3704, 1857-1858   
  • B4:F13-14: Vouchers for Steward’s Account, no. 3729-3916, 1858   
  • B4:F15: Vouchers for bills paid, no. 3918-3949, 1858   
  • B4:F16-28: Vouchers, no. 3950-4596 1858-1860   
  • B4:F29: Vouchers for bills paid, no. 4597-4692, 1860   
  • B4:F30, Vouchers, no. 4693-4728, 1860   
  • B4:F31-39: Vouchers for bills paid, no. 4730-5974, 1860-1862   
  • B4:F40: Vouchers, no. 5975-6058, 1862-1863   
  • B4:F41: Vouchers for bills paid, no. 6960-6987, 1864   
  • B4:F42: Vouchers, no. 7047½-7109, 1865   
  • B4:F43: Vouchers for Steward’s Account, no. 7110-7156, 1864   
  • B4:F44: Vouchers, no. 7211-7295, 1865   
  • B4:F45: Vouchers, no. 7296-7351, 1865   
  • B4:F46-47: Vouchers for bills paid, no. 7352-7420, 1865   
  • B4:F48-50: Vouchers, no. 7421-7578, 1865  

Subject headings:

  • Perkins School for the Blind.
  • Perkins School for the Blind–History.
  • Howe, S. G. (Samuel Gridley), 1801-1876
  • American Printing House for the Blind (Louisville, Ky.)
  • People who are blind–Education

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.