Overbrook School for the Blind

Overbrook School for the Blind
The school in 1911

The Overbrook School for the Blind was established in 1832 in Overbrook, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They produced the first embossed book in America, the Gospel of Mark and the first magazine for the blind.[1] It is one of four approved charter schools—along with the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children, the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf—in Pennsylvania for blind and deaf children.

History

It was established in March 1832 by Julius Reinhold Friedlander (1803–1839), a German who had recently come to Philadelphia, and called it The Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind. By 1835 the school had moved to permanent quarters at 20th and Race Street in Philadelphia. Friedlander died in 1839. In the 1890s a larger building was needed. The new building was designed by Cope and Stewardson and was built in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia. A swimming pool was built in 1906. In 1946 the school changed its name to the Overbrook School for the Blind.[2] In 1960 the school had a fire.[3]

Elisabeth Freund (1898–1982) developed a Touch and Learn Center for the school that was a model for other blind centers internationally.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Edith Willoughby (2007). Overbrook School for the Blind. Arcadia Publishing. Their efforts resulted in providing reading material for the blind and Overbrooks production of the first embossed book in America, the Gospel of Mark, and the publication of the first magazine for the blind, Lux en Tenebrae.
  2. ↑ "The History of our School". Overbrook School for the Blind. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
  3. ↑ "Blind Telephone Operator – Heroine Of Fire". Reading Eagle. March 11, 1960. Retrieved 2010-11-21. Blind 17-year-old Hayes, insert at left, was acclaimed heroine of a fire which swept the Overbrook School for the Blind near Philadelphia last night. ...
  4. ↑ Hirsch, Luise. 2013. From the shtetl to the lecture hall: Jewish women and cultural exchange.
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Coordinates: 39°58′59″N 75°14′56″W / 39.982932°N 75.248853°W / 39.982932; -75.248853

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