Arranging, Describing, and Creating Access to the Archives at Perkins School for the Blind

FAIN: PW-51055-12

Perkins School for the Blind (Watertown, MA 02472-2751)
Betsy McGinnity (Project Director: July 2011 to October 2015)

The arrangement and description of 120 linear feet of archival materials related to the institutional history of the Perkins School for the Blind from the 1830s to 1906.

The Archives at Perkins School for the Blind is a bountiful source of historical material that documents both the evolution of the field of blindness education and of the gradual inclusion of people with visual impairments into the mainstream of American life. Perkins is requesting funding for the arrangement and description of the nineteenth-century documents (1830s-1906) in its Archives, occupying approximately 120 linear feet. At the end of the project, Perkins will have created physical and intellectual control over the most frequently used and information-rich materials in the Research Library Archives, including correspondence, journals, and institutional records. These materials include correspondence and other items written by Helen Keller, Samuel Ward Howe, Charles Dickens, and Horace Mann. With a skilled and experienced Archivist working through the three-year grant period, we plan to follow archival best practices to make this important collection widely accessible.

Media Coverage

Helen Keller’s Handwritten History Now Open to View Online (Media Coverage)
Author(s): MARILYN BEYER, JAMES DAVID MORAN
Publication: Past is Present, blog, American Antiquarian Society
Date: 10/19/2012
Abstract: For the first time ever, the extensive 1880s-era correspondence between Helen Keller, her teacher Anne Sullivan and Sullivan’s mentor at Perkins School for the Blind, Michael Anagnos, are available online. An unusual collaboration between the American Antiquarian Society and Perkins harnesses the power of social media to create a revealing new online exhibit that unites previously separate collections in a single online showcase.
URL: http://pastispresent.org/2012/good-sources/helen-keller%E2%80%99s-handwritten-history-now-open-to-view-online/

A Treasure Trove of Archives (Media Coverage)
Author(s): STEFANIE CLOUTIER
Publication: Perspectives
Date: 11/11/2013
Abstract: Thanks to a grant Perkins received two years ago from the National Endowment for Humanities to assess the collection’s 19th century items, the public can now visit Perkinsarchives.org to view high-resolution images of everything from Henry David Thoreau’s job application to correspondence between Mark Twain and Helen Keller.
URL: http://www.perkins.org/stories/magazine/a-treasure-trove-of-archives

New Deafblind History Collections on Digital Commonwealth (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Molly Stothert-Maurer
Publication: Digital Commonwealth News & Announcements
Date: 8/3/2015
Abstract: The Perkins School for the Blind Archives recently added four new collections to the Digital Commonwealth Repository. These collections are important primary resources including photographs of Helen Keller, from childhood through adulthood, correspondence from Anne Sullivan (including her first letter describing her arrival in Tuscumbia, AL when she first met Helen Keller), and a look at deafblind education from the perspective of another Perkins student, Carmela Otero, whose life remained out of the public eye as Keller’s was.

Perkins announces the release of the Laura Bridgman Online Collection (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Charlotte Cushman
Publication: The Driving Force: AER Itinerant Personnel News Journal
Date: 8/30/2013
Abstract: Thanks to a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Perkins has been working to make the Bridgman Collection more widely available through multiple means online. The full listing of the collection can be seen in the finding aid through the Perkins Archives site. In addition, a collection of portraits, photos of textiles and personal items, and selected writings are available in a Flickr collection. As additional materials are scanned and transcribed, they will be added. Perkins has also digitized four volumes of scrapbooks related to Laura Bridgman and they are available to browse online through the Internet Archive.
URL: http://leadership.aerbvi.org/documents/IPDivSummer2013.pdf

Associated Products

Laura Bridgman Digital Collection, Perkins School for the Blind (Database/Archive/Digital Edition)
Title: Laura Bridgman Digital Collection, Perkins School for the Blind
Author: Molly Stothert-Maurer
Author: Charlotte Cushman
Abstract: This collection includes portraits, photos of textiles, personal items, and selected writings of Laura Bridgman from 1841 - 1889 at the Perkins Institution for the Blind, South Boston (now Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, Massachusetts). Laura Bridgman was the first person who is deafblind to be formally educated.
Year: 2012
Primary URL: https://www.flickr.com/photos/perkinsarchive/collections/72157631975653264/
Access Model: open access

Collection Descriptions for Processed 19th Century Collections (Finding Aids) (Acquisitions/Materials Collection)
Name: Collection Descriptions for Processed 19th Century Collections (Finding Aids)
Abstract: Detailed inventories, guides, and collection descriptions (finding aids) for the collections in the Archives at the Perkins School for the Blind that were completed as part of the grant.
Director: Betsy McGinnity
Year: 2015
Primary URL: http://www.perkinsarchives.org/neh-grant.html
Secondary URL: http://http://www.perkinsarchives.org

Anagnos-Sullivan-Keller Correspondence, 1886-1896 (Database/Archive/Digital Edition)
Title: Anagnos-Sullivan-Keller Correspondence, 1886-1896
Author: Charlotte Cushman
Author: Molly Stothert-Maurer
Abstract: This collection is comprised of three different sets of letters written between 1886 and 1896 related to the education of Helen Keller. It includes correspond- ence between Michael Anagnos, the Director of Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind (now Perkins School for the Blind) in Boston, and Helen's parents, Capt. A.H. and Kate Keller, as well as with Helen herself. A large part of the correspond- ence is between Anagnos and Annie Sullivan, a graduate of Perkins, who was sent to Tuscumbia, Alabama to work with Helen. The letters feature detailed descriptions of Helen's education, documenting both her rapid progress and some of the challenges that she and her teacher faced.
Year: 2012
Primary URL: https://www.flickr.com/photos/perkinsarchive/collections/72157629303816171/
Access Model: open access

Embossed Materials for the Blind: History, Preservation Concerns and Special Projects (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Embossed Materials for the Blind: History, Preservation Concerns and Special Projects
Author: Molly Stothert-Maurer
Abstract: Conference talk given during a session titled "Recognizing and Respecting Archival Materials Produced by and for the Blind", Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC), 2014, Rochester, NY.Covers the early history of the Perkins School for the Blind, a summary of the types of materials in the archives, a brief introduction to the first embossed book created for the blind and a bit about pre-braille materials. Includes the preservation challenges of embossed materials and an overview of digital projects, outreach and access efforts.
Date: 04/26/2014
Primary URL: http://www.perkinsarchives.org/preservation-embossed-materials.html
Primary URL Description: Perkins Archives website
Secondary URL: http://drum.lib.umd.edu/handle/1903/15625
Secondary URL Description: MARAC digital repository

Students with Deafblindness at the Perkins School for the Blind Digital Collection (Database/Archive/Digital Edition)
Title: Students with Deafblindness at the Perkins School for the Blind Digital Collection
Author: Molly Stothert-Maurer
Author: Charlotte Cushman
Abstract: This is a collection of photographs of students, as well as their teachers, at the Perkins School for the Blind from 1890-1950. The students, ranging in age from kindergarten to adulthood, are shown in formal portraits, as well as in their daily activities. The collection highlights various communication methods used with people with a combined vision and hearing loss, including tactile sign language and the Tadoma method.
Year: 2012
Primary URL: https://www.flickr.com/photos/perkinsarchive/collections/72157627421458281/
Primary URL Description: Flickr
Access Model: open access

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