door. Encouraged by the success of his pupil, Haüy collected other blind persons, and in 1785 founded in Paris the first school for the blind (the Institution Nationale des Jeunes Aveugles), and commenced the first printing in raised characters. In 1786, before Louis XVI. and his court at Versailles, he exhibited the attainments of his pupils in reading, writing, arithmetic, geography and music, and in the same year published an account of his methods, entitled Essai sur l’education des aveugles. As the novelty wore off, contributions almost came to an end, and the Blind School must have ceased to exist, had it not been taken, in 1791, under the protection of the state.
The emperor of Russia, and later the dowager empress, having learned of Haüy’s work, invited him to visit St Petersburg for the purpose of establishing a similar institution in the Russian capital. On his journey Haüy was invited by the king of Prussia to Charlottenburg. He took part in the deliberations of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin, and as a result a school was founded there.
Edward Rushton, a blind man, was the projector of the first institution for the blind in England—the School for the Indigent Blind, Liverpool. In 1790 Rushton suggested to the literary and philosophical society of which he was a member, the establishment of a benefit club for the indigent blind. The idea was communicated to his friend, J. Christie, a blind musician, and the latter thought the scheme should also include the instruction of young blind persons. They circulated letters amongst individuals who would be likely to give their assistance, and the Rev. Henry Dannett warmly advocated the undertaking. It was mainly due to his co-operation and zeal that Messrs Rushton and Christie’s plan was carried out, and the Liverpool asylum was opened in 1791. Thomas Blacklock of Edinburgh, a blind poet and scholar, translated Haüy’s work on the Education of the Blind. He interested Mr David Millar, a blind gentleman, the Rev. David Johnston and others in the subject, and after Blacklock’s death the Edinburgh Asylum for the Relief of the Indigent and Industrious Blind was established (1793). Institutions were established in the United Kingdom in the following order:—
| School for the Indigent Blind, Liverpool | 1791 |
| Royal Blind Asylum, Edinburgh | 1793 |
| Bristol Asylum | 1793 |
| School for the Indigent Blind, Southwark (now removed to Leatherhead) | 1799 |
| Norwich Asylum and School | 1805 |
| Richmond Asylum, Dublin | 1810 |
| Aberdeen Asylum | 1812 |
| Molyneux Asylum, Dublin | 1815 |
| Glasgow Asylum and School | 1827 |
| Belfast School | 1831 |
| Wilberforce School, York | 1833 |
| Limerick Asylum | 1834 |
| London Society for Teaching the Blind to Read, St John’s Wood, N. | 1838 |
| Royal Victoria School for the Blind, Newcastle-on-Tyne | 1838 |
| West of England Institute for the Blind, Exeter | 1838 |
| Henshaw’s Blind Asylum, Manchester | 1839 |
| County and City of Cork Asylum | 1840 |
| Catholic Asylum, Liverpool | 1841 |
| Brighton Asylum | 1842 |
| Midland Institute for the Blind, Nottingham | 1843 |
| General Institute for the Blind, Birmingham | 1848 |
| Macan Asylum, Armagh | 1854 |
| St Joseph’s Asylum, Dublin | 1858 |
| St Mary’s Asylum, Dublin | 1858 |
| Institute for the Blind, Devonport | 1860 |
| South Devon and Cornwall Institute for the Blind, Plymouth | 1860 |
| School for the Blind, Southsea | 1864 |
| Institute for the Blind, Dundee | 1865 |
| South Wales Institute for the Blind, Swansea | 1865 |
| School for the Blind, Leeds | 1866 |
| College for the Sons of Gentlemen, Worcester | 1866 |
| Northern Counties Institute for the Blind, Inverness | 1866 |
| Royal Normal College and Academy of Music for the Blind, Upper Norwood | 1872 |
| School for the Blind, Sheffield | 1879 |
| Barclay Home and School for Blind Girls, Brighton | 1893 |
| Homes for Blind Children, Preston | 1895 |
| North Stafford School, Stoke-on-Trent | 1897 |
Many of the early institutions were asylums, and to the present day schools for the blind are regarded by the public as asylums rather than as educational establishments. With nearly all these schools workshops were connected. In 1856 Miss Gilbert, the blind daughter of the bishop of Chichester, established a workshop in Berners Street, London, and since that date workshops have been started in many of the provincial towns.
After the beginning of the 19th century, institutions for the blind were established in various parts of Europe. The institution at Vienna was founded in 1804 by Dr W. Klein, a blind man, and he remained at its head for fifty years. That of Berlin was established in 1806, Amsterdam, Prague and Dresden in 1808, Copenhagen in 1811. There are more than 150 on the European continent, most of them receiving aid from the government, and being under government supervision.
The first school for the blind in the United States was founded in Boston, Mass., chiefly through the efforts of Dr John D. Fisher, a young physician who visited the French school. It was incorporated in 1829, and in honour of T. H. Perkins (1764–1854) who gave his mansion to the institution was named the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum (now School) for the Blind. Aid was granted by the state from the beginning. In 1831 Dr Samuel G. Howe (q.v.) was appointed director, and held that position for nearly forty-four years, being succeeded by his son-in-law Michael Anagnos (d. 1906), who established a kindergarten for the blind at Jamaica Plain, in connexion with the Perkins Institution. Dr Howe was interested in many charitable and sociological movements, but his life-work was on behalf of the blind. One of his most notable achievements was the education of Laura Bridgman (q.v.) who was deaf, dumb and blind, and this has since led to the education of Helen Keller and other blind deaf-mutes. The New York Institution was incorporated in 1831, and the Pennsylvania Institution was founded at Philadelphia by the Society of Friends in 1833. The Ohio was founded at Columbus in 1837, Virginia at Staunton in 1839, Kentucky at Louisville in 1842, Tennessee at Nashville in 1844, and now every state in the Union makes provision for the education of the blind.
Statistics
In England and Wales the total number of persons returned in 1901 as afflicted with blindness was 25,317, being in the proportion of 778 per million living, or 1 blind person in every 1285 of the population. The following table shows that the proportion of blind persons to populationEngland and Wales. has diminished at each successive enumeration since 1851, in which year particulars of those afflicted in this manner were ascertained for the first time. It will, however, be noted that, although the decrease in the proportion of blind in the latest intercensal period was still considerable, yet the rate of decrease which had obtained between 1871 and 1891 was not maintained.
| Year. | Number of Blind. |
Blind per Million of the Population. |
Persons Living to one Blind Person. |
| 1851 | 18,306 | 1021 | 979 |
| 1861 | 19,352 | 964 | 1037 |
| 1871 | 21,590 | 951 | 1052 |
| 1881 | 22,832 | 879 | 1138 |
| 1891 | 23,467 | 809 | 1236 |
| 1901 | 25,317 | 778 | 1285 |
The following table, which gives the proportions of blind per million living at the earlier age-groups, shows that in the decennium 1891–1901, as also in recent previous intercensal periods, there was a decrease in the proportion of blind children in England and Wales generally; it thus lends support to the contention, in the General Report for 1891, that the decrease was due either to the lesser prevalence, or to the more efficient treatment, of purulent ophthalmia and other infantile maladies which may result in blindness.
