Two Circulars from the Michigan Employment Institution for the Blind (Aims of the Institution, Plan for a Lending Library

Softcover. Very good. Two publications: "The Chief Needs of Adult Blind Persons and the Chief Aims of the Michigan Employment Institution for the Blind (7 pp); and "A Free Lending Library for the Sightless, Circular of General Information (4 pp). Both published by the Institution in 1904, both with old folding crease and light handling wear; very good. The Michigan Employment Institution for the Blind was formally established in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1903. Its first Superintendent was James Perrine Hamilton, a blind man who spoke several languages, was a college wrestling champion, lectured regularly on his experiences traveling in Europe, and strongly believed that better services needed to be available to help blind people lead successful, productive lives. The purpose of the Institute, as explained in the first circular, was to "increase the usefulness and happiness of the blind people" of Michigan by offering through adult education and vocational training. Students could live for free at the Institution as they were learnng, and then would pay room and board once they became gainfully employed. This circular outlines the reason such an institution was needed, the trades that would be tought (making brooms, rugs, nets, hammocks; caning chairs; laundry; sewing; teaching), and the activities and amenities available to residents. It also includes the text of the legislative act that established the Institution and laid out how it would be funded and governed and what it services it would provide. One requirement was the establishment of a circulating library for use by the blind. The second circular explains how this library will operate and solicits donations of books and periodicals "in the Roman line, the American Braille, and the New York Point Styles of printing for the blind."

Item #21820

Price: $100.00