Resources

Hayes Research Library resources

Catalog

Explore the Hayes Research Library catalog of 55,000+ items, including books, articles, pamphlets and other materials. 

Perkins Archives

The Perkins Archives has extensive digital and physical collections documenting the evolution of the fields of knowledge associated with blindness and deafblindness, as well as the gradual inclusion of people with visual impairments into the mainstream of American life. Learn about Samuel Gridley Howe, Laura Bridgman, Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller and others. 

Resource lists and guides

The Hayes Research Library has created guides on a variety of topics including resources for parents of children with visual impairments, bibliographies about Helen Keller and subject guides for historical researchers and practitioners.

School projects

We love to help K-12 students with projects like National History Day. Ask us about Laura Bridgman, Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller, braille or other historical topics.

Massachusetts resources

The Directory of Massachusetts Agencies Serving Individuals Who Are Blind is a searchable database of resources for people who are blind or visually impaired in the state.  

National resources

The American Printing House for the Blind maintains a directory of resources for people who are blind and deafblind across the United States. You can search by category or services in your state.

Deaf-Blind Information Consortium

The Hayes Research Library is part of the Deaf-Blind Information Consortium, a project to improve the coordination of information and resources about deafblindness available to families and service providers throughout the United States. Learn about the project members below.

FAQ’s

We’re here to help.

We’re glad to help with school projects. Please email us at [email protected] with information about your project including your topic, what kind of information or resources you’re looking for and any deadlines involved. Please email us at least two weeks before your deadline. 

We are glad to do email interviews, or to arrange a phone or video call if we can find a mutually good time (during regular Research Library hours). Please get in touch through email to discuss possible interview options.

Explore the Perkins History Museum, which has information about Perkins, many people associated with it and the history of blindness education. These pages link to additional resources from our archives. 

We also have handouts and other materials about a variety of topics, including Helen Keller, Anne Sullivan, Laura Bridgman, braille and the history of Perkins.

We do! You may use up to five images from our Archives collection for free, but we require someone over the age of 18 to complete a form requesting the specific images you would like to use. (This can be a parent, guardian, teacher or librarian who knows how the images will be used).

Email our Archives staff at [email protected], and we’ll send you the form and explain the process. Once the completed form is returned to us, we will email you the images. 

Please contact us if you would like to use more than five images. For uses other than school projects, our image use and licensing information explains the options and fees.  

The members of the Deaf-Blind Information Consortium (other than the Hayes Research Library) are:  

Learn more about the project, including longer profiles of each member. 

Have a question?

Contact us at [email protected] and 617-972-7250.