Perkins School for the Blind Alumni Association
This collection documents the business records, annual meetings and reports of the Perkins School for the Blind Alumni Association, also known as the Perkins Institution Alumni Association from the late 1870s to the late 1960s. It includes information related to the association’s founding, membership, and finances. Manuscripts in the collection contain recollections of alumni from their time as students.
Iman Wright, 2019; updated by Jen Hale and Susanna Coit, January 2020
The Perkins Alumni Association was founded in 1884 by four alumna of Perkins Girl’s Department. The Perkins Alumni Association published a magazine from 1891-1894 called The Mentor. It was designed to share knowledge and its contributors were both blind and sighted.
Coit, Susanna. “1917 Halifax Explosion Spurred Outreach from Perkins School for the Blind Alumni.” Perkins Archives. 5 Dec 2017. https://www.perkins.org/history/archives/blog/1917-halifax-explosion-spurred-outreach-from-perkins-school-for-the-blind. Date Accessed 07 Jan 2020.
Coit, Susanna. “Unwavering Dedication: The Story of Mary Grace Knap Burtt.” Perkins Archives. 10 May 2019. https://www.perkins.org/history/archives/blog/unwavering-dedication. Dated Accessed 07 Jan 2020.
Hale, Jen. “The Amazing Jennie Colby”. Perkins Archives. 6 Aug 2018. www.perkins.org/history/archives/blog/the-amazing-jennie-colby. Date Accessed 19 Apr 2019
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.
This collection contains meeting minutes, reports, resolution and financial records of the Perkins Alumni Association. The majority of the collection consists of reports. The collection documents annual meetings, treasurer’s reports and include the founding resolutions of the Alumni Association. These records are primarily in braille.
B1:F1 = Box 1: Folder 1
Arranged by series and chronologically within. Box five is in an envelope binder for an oversized report.
Series 1: Annual Meeting Reports, braille, 1878-1962
Series 2: Annual Meetings Reports, print, 1885-1943
Series 3: Treasurer’s and Finance Committee Reports, circa 1905-1961
Series 4: Meeting Minutes, 1962-1968
Series 5: Resolutions, 1889-1953
Series 6: Printed Handouts, undated, circa 1962
Series 7: Assorted Unidentified Braille Documents, circa 1920-1968
Series 8: Memories and Talks Manuscripts and Correspondence, 1899-1933
Series 9: Reports of the Executive Board, circa 1926-1960
Series 10: Clippings, 1898-1968
Series 11: Bound Materials, 1912-1933
Series 1: Annual Meetings Reports, braille, 1878-1974
B1:F1: Annual meeting reports original housing, circa 1926-1940
B1:F2: Annual meeting reports, braille, 1878-1899
B1:F3: Annual meeting reports, braille, 1911-1924
B1:F4: Annual meeting reports, braille, 1928-1929
B1:F5: Annual meeting reports, braille, 1930-1934
B1:F6: Annual meeting reports, braille, 1936-1939
B2:F1: Annual meeting reports, braille, 1940, 1944-1948
B2:F2: Annual meeting reports original housing, 1941-1955
B2:F3: Annual meeting reports, braille, 1950-1953
B2:F4: Student Report, braille, 1956
B2:F5: Annual meeting reports, braille, 1954-1955, 1957-1959
B2:F6: Annual meeting reports, braille, 1962
B2:F7: Annual meeting report, braille, 1974
B2:F8: [Likely class report], braille, unknown date
Series 2: Annual Meetings Reports, print, 1885-1975
B2:F9: Annual meeting reports, print, 1885-1889
B2:F10: Annual meeting reports, print, 1890-1891, 1893, 1896-1899
B2:F11: Annual meeting reports, print, 1900-1909
B2:F12: Annual meetings reports, print, 1910-1919
B2:F13: Annual meeting reports, print, 1920-1921, 1923-1927
B2:F14: Annual meeting reports, print, 1936
B2:F15: Annual meeting reports, print, 1941-1948
B3:F1: Class of 1968, 1969, 1970 Reunion packet, print
B3:F2: Annual meeting reports, print, 1971-1976
B3:F3: Annual meeting reports, print, 1975
Series 3: Treasurer’s and Finance Committee Reports, circa 1905-1961
B3:F4: Report of proceedings of the finance committee, handwritten, 1905-1907
B3:F5: Treasurer’s report original housing, 1926
B3:F6: Treasurer’s report, braille, 1926-1929
B3:F7: Treasurer’s report, braille, 1930-1934, 1938
B3:F8: Treasurer’s report, braille, 1940-1949
B3:F9: Treasurer’s report, braille, 1949-1955
B3:F10: Treasurer’s report, braille, 1955-1961
Series 4: Meeting Minutes, 1962-1968
B3:F11: Minutes of the annual meetings, braille, 1962-1964
B3:F12: Executive board minutes, braille, 1964-1965
B4:F1: Executive board meetings, 1967-1968 [includes committee reports, 1962-1968]
Series 5: Resolutions, 1889-1953
B4:F2: Resolutions, braille, undated, 1889-1956
B4:F3: Resolutions, print, undated, 1929-1933
B4:F4: Founding resolutions, braille, 1953
Series 6: Printed Handouts, undated, circa 1962, 1980, 1989
B4:F5: Certificate of honorary membership, print, undated
B4:F6: Alumni association questionnaire, print, undated
B4:F7: Alumni association constitution, print, circa 1962
B4:F8: Guide to Boston for the Visually Impaired (Ken Stuckey), print, 1980
B4:F9: Recreational Resource Manual, print, 1989
Series 7: Assorted Unidentified Braille Documents, circa 1920-1968
B4:F10: Assorted unidentified documents, braille
Series 8: Memories and talks manuscripts and correspondence, 1899-1933
B4:F11: Memories and talks, print, undated
B4:F12: Memories and talks, print, June 1899
B4:F13: Letter from Florence Howe Hall to Miss [Hager], June 1, 1903
B4:F14: Letter from Julia Ward Howe to Mrs. Swinerton, circa 1906
B4:F15: Letter from Julia Ward Howe to Miss Swinerton, July 30, 1906 [on death of Michael Anagnos]
B4:F16: Two Letters from Annette B. Clapp, 1910, 1911
B5:F1: Memories and talks, print, June 1912
B5:F2: Memories and talks, print, June 1913
B5:F3: Memories and talks, print, June 1922
B5:F4: Memories and talks, print, June 1923
B5:F5: Memories and talks, print, June 1933 [page 2 only]
B5:F6: Letters from Louise Boudreau to family, square hand, 1935
B5:F7: Letter to Miss Simonds from Eleanor Burt, 1940
B5:F8: Letter from Charlotte Liscomb to Mrs. Draper Liscomb, print, 1949
B5:F9: Diaries, print, 1904-1906
B5:F10: Diaries, print, 1907
B5:F11: Founding of Alumni Association booklet, braille, undated
B5:F12: Tributes and In Memoriam, original housing, 1800-1900
B5:F13: Tributes and In Memoriam, braille, circa 1800s-1900s
B5:F14: Tributes and Correspondence, circa 1900s
B5:F15: Tributes and Memorials, original housing, circa 1900-1950
B5:F16: Tributes and Memorials, braille, circa 1900-1950
B6:F1: Tributes and memorial resolutions, print, circa 1940s-1950s
B6:F2: Mary Grace Knapp Burtt, 1992-1993
B6:F3: Bennett Cottage dedication, June 1913
B6:F4: Tommy Stringer print from Margaret Chapin, 1986
B6:F5: Photograph of Chester S. Keefe, M.D Society plaque honoring Norman Neal Pike, J.D., 1994
B6:F6: Photographs, undated
Series 9: Reports of the Executive Board, circa 1926-1960
B6:F7: Reports of executive board 1927-1951 original housing, undated
B5: OVERSIZE: Report of executive board, 1954
B6:F8: Reports of executive board, braille, 1926-1929
B6:F9: Reports of executive board, braille, 1930-1937, 1939
B6:F10: Reports of executive board, braille, 1940, 1942-1946, 1948
B6:F11: Reports of executive board, braille, 1951-1953, 1955-1960
Series 10: Clippings, 1898-1968, undated
B6:F12: Deaf-Mute’s Register, 1898
B6:F13: Perkins Industrial Building, 1930
B6:F14: Alumni gift organ to Perkins, 1932
B6:F15: Newspaper clippings, 1957
B6:F16: Hearing and Speech News, 1968
B6:F17: Hymns for Chapel Service, undated
B6:F18: [Unknown braille documents, unknown date]
Series 11: Bound Materials, 1912-1933
B7: Alumnae Association Papers, Letters, and Resolutions, 5 volumes, some multiple copies, June 1912
B8: Alumnae Association Papers, Letters, and Resolutions, 4 volumes, Boston Line Type, 1912
B9: Alumni Association Letters, 1906-1933
B10: Alumni Association scrapbook, 1912-1933
B11: Scrapbook, braille, undated
B12: Alumni Association scrapbook, 1878-1914
B13: Memory Book, braille scrapbook, undated
B14: Memory book, braille scrapbook, undated
B15: Braille scrapbook, braille, undated
B16: Braille scrapbook, braille, undated
Perkins School for the Blind.
Perkins School for the Blind--History.
Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind
Perkins School for the Blind.Alumni Association