Guide
Oral histories
Links to oral histories related to Perkins, including alumni, staff, relatives, trustees and members of the Teacher Training Program and the Educational Leadership Program. The interviewees include alumni who attended as early as the 1930s to Staff who recently retired.
Links to oral histories that relate to Perkins. Interviewees include alumni, staff, relatives, trustees, as well as members of the Teacher Training Program and the Educational Leadership Program. The interviews are listed by grouped type of interviewee and arranged alphabetically by last name. Those with multiple roles such as alumni and staff are listed in both categories. Female students may also include the maiden name used while a student. Information after the link includes brief information about the individual and the length of the interview.
Alumni
- Awalt, Marjory Doyen interview. Perkins alumna, class of 1954, 16 minutes long.
- Berry, Thomas interview. Perkins alumnus, class of 1968, massage therapist at the Harvard Club, 20 minutes long.
- Branco, Robert, interview. Perkins alumnus, class of 1977, author of 4 books, 15 minutes long.
- Bustamante, Guillermo interview. Perkins alumnus, class of 1957, Teacher Training alumni, class of 1960-1961, 22 minutes long.
- Chapman, Richard interview (2004). Perkins alumnus, class of 1964, 16 minutes long.
- Chapman, Richard interview (2023). Perkins alumnus, class of 1964, 1 hour long.
- Coffey, Mary Youngblood interview. Perkins alumna, received a certificate in Ediphone Proficiency 1949, 17 minutes long.
- Connelly, Esther Blanchette interview. Perkins alumni, received a certificate from the Manual Training Department in 1948, 13 minutes long.
- Dufault, Terry Melanson interview. Perkins alumna, attended 1939 to 1945, 12 minutes long.
- Dustin, Barbara Silvia interview. Perkins alumna, class of 1957, 23 minutes long.
- Gayzagian, Albert K. interview. Perkins alumnus, attended 1931-1940, Perkins Trustee from 1971-1998, 60 minutes long.
- Ingersoll, Dorothy; Pill, Rhoda; Thayer, Eleanor interview. Ingersoll is a Perkins alumnus, attended 1916-1932, interviewed with Rhoda Pill and Eleanor Thayer who were Perkins teachers, 1 hour and 41 minutes long.
- Kingsley, Kimberly interview. Perkins alumna, class of 1983, 9 minutes long.
- Nadeau, Paul interview. Perkins alumnus, class of 1968, 15 minutes long.
- Oulton, Sabra interview. Perkins alumna, class of 1939, 13 minutes long.
- Raschi, Helen Gerdes interview. Attended Perkins 1931-1940, worked at the Boston Nursery for Blind Babies, 22 minutes long.
- Toth, Grace Swanson interview. Perkins alumna class of 1939, worked at Wilson House Industries and become a home teacher in Connecticut, 12 minutes long.
Staff
- Berrier, Jerry interview. From 2011-2021 Berrier worked as a trainer and manager in iCanConnect (Perkins National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program) before becoming the Director of Assistive Technology until his retirement in 2021. 45 minutes long.
- Brooks, Marcia interview. From 2012-2022 she served as Project Manager for a pilot program for the FCC that became the iCanConnect program (Perkins National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program) where she served as Director until her retirement in 2022, 37 minutes long.
- Cataruzolo, Mike interview. From 1960-2020 Cataruzolo held a wide variety of positions. including Housemaster, Head of the Physical Education department, and most recently manager of Volunteer Services. 57 minutes long.
- Cushman, Charlotte interview. Perkins teaching assistant, assistant houseparent, classroom teacher, consultant for Perkins International, project manager and helped establish the Perkins Archives in 2011, 48 minutes long.
- Fraser, Kate interview. Worked at Perkins from1975-2022 as the department head in Home and Personal Management Department, as an Individual Living Specialist in the Community Services Program, and finally as a Science Teacher. 44 minutes long.
- Hartigan, Kevin interview. Starting at Perkins in1985 as a houseparent, he eventually supervised all the residences in the lower school before becoming the Director of Volunteers and Tours in 2013. 43 minutes long.
- Hastie, Rob interview. Perkins security representative from 1981-2021 with family connections to the institution. 1 hour and 10 minutes long.
- Heisler, William interview. Perkins staff from 1953-1976, Head of Teacher Training program. 1 hour and 28 minutes long.
- Ingersoll, Dorothy; Pill, Rhoda; Thayer, Eleanor interview. Ingersoll (class of 1932) was Perkins staff 1934-1940, Pill was a teacher 1930-1974, and Thayer was Director of Music in the Lower School 1929-1971, 1 hour and 41 minutes long.
- Majors, Martha interview. From 1972 to 1978 Majors taught Perkins students in the Deafblind Department with significant intellectual disabilities. She served as head teacher from 1979 to 1983. Majors then became the Assistant Education Director of the Deafblind Program from 1983 to 2018 before serving as Director, until 2021. Majors was awarded the Anne Sullivan Medal in 2015, and is an internationally recognized leader in the education of students who are deafblind, 44 minutes long.
- Mazel, Ellen (Cadigan) interview. From 1977 to 2017, Mazel worked as a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI), Deafblindness, or CVI in educational programs at Perkins and in public schools. Since 2017, she has worked in the CVI Center, most recently as the Director of Research and Development. 35 minutes long.
- Melander, Lawrence (Larry) interview. A member of the 1966-1967 Teacher Training class, Melander worked as a teacher in the Lower School in 1967 until he became the Lower School Superivsor in 1974. He remained in that position until his retirement in 2006. In retirement, Melander and his wife, Sue, volunteered in the Perkins Archives from 2012 until 2020. 1 hour and 3 minutes long.
- Murphy, Leon, interview. Howe Press employee beginning in 1960. 37 minutes long.
- Noyes, Rachael, interview. Started in the Deafblind Department in 1982 and later taught in Secondary. Noyes graduated from Perkins Teacher Training Program in 1984 and retired in 2022. 20 minutes long.
- Riggio, Marianne interview. From 1981 until 2022 Riggio worked with the Deafblind Program and Perkins International as a consultant, coordinator, project manager, and director, most recently as director of the Educational Leadership Program. 47 minutes long.
- Roth, Chip interview. Between 1976-2021 Roth taught Orientation and Mobility classes at Perkins. 17 minutes long.
Teacher Training Program
- Bustamante, Guillermo interview. Perkins alumni, class of 1957, Teacher Training alumni, class of 1960-1961, 22 minutes long.
- Deafblind Program Teacher Trainee Class of 1966-1967 interview. Participants are Peter Binns, Marylou Williams-Rowe, Karen Andersen, and Lorraine Jones-Spencer. 1 hour long. Transcript only with some redactions to protect privacy.
- Heisler, William interview. Perkins staff from 1953-1976, Head of Teacher Training program. 1 hour and 28 minutes long.
- Melander, Lawrence (Larry) interview. A member of the 1966-1967 Teacher Training class, Melander worked as a teacher in the Lower School in 1967 until he became the Lower School Superivsor in 1974. He remained in that position until his retirement in 2006. In retirement, Melander and his wife, Sue, volunteered in the Perkins Archives from 2012 until 2020. 1 hour and 3 minutes long.
Educational Leadership Program (ELP)
- Riggio, Marianne interview. From 1981 until 2022 Riggio worked with the Deafblind Program and Perkins International as a consultant, coordinator, project manager, and director, most recently as director of the Educational Leadership Program. 47 minutes long.
Trustees
- Fernald, Helen interview. Perkins Board of Trustees from 1971-1989, former Trustee of Overbrook School for the Blind, 21 minutes long.
- Gayzagian, Albert K. interview. Perkins alumni, attended 1931-1940, Perkins Trustee from 1971-1998, 60 minutes long.
Relatives
- Lamen, Marjorie Abraham interview. Daughter of David Abraham, Perkins staff from 1934-1961. Abraham taught in the Manual Training Department, was chief engineer of the Howe Press, and designer of the Perkins Brailler, 75 minutes long.
- McRory, ​​Camilla interview. Great-granddaughter of Florence Marion Howe Hall, the daughter of Perkins founding Director Samuel Gridley Howe and Julia Ward Howe.
- McRory, ​​Margaret interview. Granddaughter of Florence Marion Howe Hall, the daughter of Perkins founding Director Samuel Gridley Howe and Julia Ward Howe.
