Tactile aids, apparatus and games for the blind collection

Creator:

Perkins School for the Blind

Date Range:

Circa 1860s-1950

Call Number:

AG21

Abstract:

This collection contains items that were loaned to the Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind for exhibition from 1994-2011. This collection includes games for the blind, including puzzles, dice, and dominos and card games. There are also tactile maps of the United States and several continents. Tactile pictures, mostly of animals, are also included, as well as items for teaching geometry and writing. These items include writing slates and a tactile script alphabet made out of string.  Several of the items were made by the National Institute for the Blind in London.  

Extent:

1.5 linear feet

Language:

English, French

Processed by:

Jen Hale, 2015

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 note:

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.

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:

AG21 Tactile Aids, Apparatus and Games for the Blind Collection. Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA.

Scope/contents:

This collection includes games for the blind, including puzzles, dice, and dominos and card games. There are also tactile maps of the United States and several continents. Tactile pictures, mostly of animals, are also included, as well as items for teaching geometry and writing. These items include writing slates and a tactile script alphabet made out of string.  Several of the items were made by the National Institute for the Blind in London.  

Arrangement:

5 Series, 4 Boxes

Container List:

Series 1: Games, undated

Box 1: 

1. Deck of Old Maid. Includes 9 pairs and one odd card. Cards have brailled numbers and captions. Braille and print directions are included, undated
2. The Game of Word Making and Word Taking. Made by the National Institute for the Blind, London. With  instructions in print and braille, undated
3. Leather Dice Cup & 8 Dice, undated
4. Braillette writing board with metal pegs. Inscription on items reads “N.Y. City Institute, made out of a universal peg board found there,” undated
5. Puzzle of a Train. Made by the National Institute for the Blind, London. Catalogue No. 9203, undated
6. Puzzle of a horse made by the National Institute for the Blind, London. Catalogue No. 9204, undated
7. Puzzle of a cow made by the National Institute for the Blind, London. Catalogue No. 9205, undated
8. A box of dominos for the blind with a bag of 7 additional domino pieces, undated

Series 2: Geography, undated

Box 2: 

1. Raised-line map of Southeast U.S. with labeling in New York point, undated
2. Raised-line map of Asia with labeling in New York point, undated
3. Raised-line map of Europe with labeling in New York point, undated
4. Raised-line map of the United States in New York point, undated
5. Raised-line map of the Central United States in New York Point, undated
6. Raised-line map of the Northeast United States in New York Point, undated
7. Raised-line map of the Western United States in New York Point, undated

Series 3: Geometry, undated

Box 2:  

1. 3 Tactile geometry cards numbered 14, 35, and 34, undated

Box 3:

1. Geometry board. Handmade learning tool of wooden pieces and string pinned to a cloth board, undated. [Includes note “Writing slates received from Herr Emil Kull, Stadt Blinden Schule, Berlin, 1902.”]

Series 4: Writing, undated, circa 1890’s

Box 2:

1. 3 writing guides including The Nickerson Improved Writing Tablet for the Adult Blind, undated

Box 4:

1. Alphabet card with lower case script made of string glued to front of board that has been shellacked. Used as a teaching aid, undated
2. Octopus embossed picture with braille labeling, created as part of a Pictures for the Blind series by Martin Kunz, circa1890s
3. Embossed illustration of the anatomy of the eye, undated
   [Guldberg, Ludvig August Friborg]
4. Gears embossed picture with braille labeling, created as part of a Pictures for the Blind series by Martin Kunz, circa 1890s
5. Shapes embossed picture with braille labeling, created as part of a Pictures for the Blind series by Martin Kunz, circa 1890s
6. Leaves embossed picture with braille labeling, created as part of a Pictures for the Blind series by Martin Kunz, circa 1890s

Subject headings:

• Perkins School for the Blind.
• Perkins School for the Blind–History.
• Tactile art.
• Tactile graphics.
• People who are blind–Education.