Perkins School for the Blind Archives Project

Summary

Perkins-related material -- most are unique primary-source documents: Correspondence from the 1820s through the 1920s, including letters from people prominent in 19th-century New England philanthropy and in the national education reform movement; Educational, financial, and housekeeping records from the 19th and 20th centuries; Journals and letters written by Perkins student Laura Bridgman, the first deafblind person to learn language; Teachers’ journals and papers that document the early practices of education of students with blindness and deafblindness; Documents and publications relating to the first four directors, including Samuel Gridley Howe; Documents and publications relating to Julia Ward Howe; Scrapbooks of newspaper articles, 1880-1950s; and Student and alumni publications. Material related to Perkins students Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan Macy – unique primary source material: The Nella Braddy Henney Collection of correspondence (1920s-early 1960s); Henney’s notes for her 1936 biography of Macy; Original correspondence, 1890s; Keller scrapbooks, 1880s-1960s. Material related to the history of education of the blind; attitudes toward people with disabilities: Annual reports and scrapbooks about other schools, 1880-1950s; The Bettye Krolick International Music Braille Collection (collection of published materials); Papers donated by alumni and staff, documenting educational practices and individual accomplishments.