Molly Stothert-Maurer's presentation from the MARAC Spring 2014 conference, "Embossed Materials for the Blind: History, Preservation Concerns and Special Projects", S3 - April 25, 2014, Rochester, N

Stothert-Maurer, Molly

Digital Repository at the University of Maryland

Embossed Materials for the Blind: History, Preservation Concerns and Special Projects Molly Stothert-Maurer, Archivist  Perkins School for the Blind Archives ∙ Samuel P. Hayes Research Library  Contents: • School History and Archives  • First Embossed Book/Pre-braille materials • Preservation Challenges • Outreach/Digital Projects American Braille, ca. 1908 Perkins and the Archives • First school for the blind in the United States, incorporated 1829 in Boston • Watertown, MA campus since 1912 • Pioneer in education of the blind and deafblind • Home to the Braille and Talking Book Library which is a lending library that services all of New England • One of the largest collections on the non-medical aspects of blindness. Research Librarian since 1880. • Archives contain institutional history, collections related to the history of blindness and deafblindness and contain a large library of embossed books   Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan The most popular collections are those related to Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan including photographs, correspondence, clippings, artifacts and memorabilia, and research materials, especially Sullivan’s biographer Nella Braddy Henney. Remember, these materials are experienced by touch… Helen Keller reading tactile map, Lebanon, 1952 First embossed book for the Blind  Essai Sur L'Education des Aveugles, by Valentin Haüy, 1786   Printed at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles, (National Institute for Blind Children or Royal Institution for Blind Youth), in Paris  *Book was significantly damaged during the binding process- pressure collapsed embossing. Paris, 1817 In 1830s Boston: No bookstore for blind… must create from scratch Howe became Director in 1831 and after touring the schools of Europe he hired a printer, Steven Preston Ruggles, to help him build a library. The font face was modified from European books to contain fewer unnecessary flourishes. The first book in Boston Line Type was printed in 1835. The Blind Child’s Spelling Book, New England Institution for the Education of the Blind, 1835 Embossed Roman alphabets impossible to write! Braille easy to write as well as read. Preservation Challenges:  Books for the Blind are… BIG Competing needs: text block- pages want to be vertical, binding wants to lie down. Weight of text block pulling, sinking No immobilized pages. No pressing the oxygen out.  Dirt and dust filter in. the dirt gets in Children’s books = Scrapbooks Tactile Graphics Geography Solid Dot Braille (the dots come off) Pages so thick they don’t bend! Thermoform and other plastics Digitization and Outreach Before the adoption of standard braille:   In a letter to William Wade written in 1901, Keller remarks:   “There is nothing more absurd, I think, than to have five or six different prints for the blind...” (from her book The Story of My Life, 1905).    The seminal work on the history of reading systems for the blind in the United States, tellingly titled The War of the Dots, introduces the subject with the following quote:   “The conflict was acrimonious in the extreme. The bitterness can hardly be imagined” -Dr. Olin H. Burritt, Principal, Overbrook School for the Blind.  Virtual Bookshelf Sample pages Moon Type, 1840 Questions? www.PerkinsArchives.org 

Embossed Materials for the Blind: History, Preservation Concerns and Special Projects

https://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/1903/15625/1/S3-Stothert-Maurer.pdf

Embossed Materials for the Blind: History, Preservation Concerns and Special Projects

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