Objects of Accessibility: Line Types

In 1837, a blind student, Louis Braille, created our modern version of Braille. It was the first tactile reading system designed both by and for people with blindness and was far more effective than earlier systems designed by sighted individuals. Join Collections and Research Public Programming Specialist Brittany Guerrette as she discusses early tactile reading systems for people who were blind and visually impaired, called line types. The first US schools for the blind were established in Boston and Philadelphia in the 1830s. Each school created its own line types using embossed Roman letters, which meant there was no universal system. These line types were not developed by blind individuals but rather by the sighted community and were, therefore, not an effective reading and writing system. Braille slowly made its way into these schools and began replacing line types by the 1860s.

[@dellahayden5606]

Thank you for such interesting information.. it was very informative

[@nutmegct]

Hi Brittany - that is a fascinating topic, which I'd never known before. Thanks for the detailed explanation, and presentation of the examples we have in the Collection. Tom M.