Perkins School for the Blind
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Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts is one of the oldest and most prominent schools for the blind in the United States.
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[edit] History
The school is named in honor of Thomas Handasyd Perkins, a wealthy and visually-impaired 19th century Boston shipping merchant, who was one of the organization's incorporators. In 1833 the school outgrew the Pleasant Street house of the father of its founder Samuel Gridley Howe (husband of Julia Ward Howe, the composer of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"), and Perkins donated his Pearl Street mansion as the school's second home. In 1839 Perkins sold the mansion and donated the proceeds. This gift allowed the purchase of a more spacious building in South Boston. In 1885, six acres were purchased in the Hyde Square section of Jamaica Plain to build a kindergarten. This property was the home for a time of the young Helen Keller as well as the home of Laura Bridgman . The school moved to its present Watertown campus in the autumn of 1912.
[edit] Further reading
- Mirror, Mirror on the Wall. The Diary of Bess Brennan
[edit] References
- French, Kimberly. Perkins School for the Blind: The Campus History Series. Perkins School for the Blind, 2004.
