The recently processed Deafblind Clippings and other Materials Collection consists primarily of cataloged newspaper clippings about individuals with deafblindness that date from 1845-1974. Collected and cataloged by Perkins librarians, these clippings highlight individuals with, and without, ties to Perkins. They cover local, national, and international people and organizations. The international files are categorized by nationality as well as name. One of these intriguing files is related to Irene Ransburg.
The Irene Ransburg file contains a manuscript and photographs sent to Perkins in 1930 by Dr. Ernst Kortschak, director of the Odilien Institute for the Blind in Graz, Austria. It includes the typewritten manuscript by Ransburg titled, How I Overcame my Deafblindness, with an attached photograph showing Ransburg at a typewriter. There is also a loose photograph showing Ransburg and a nun using the manual alphabet. Other loose photographs included in the file show students in classroom settings and at play. One of these photographs includes a classroom with students typing. The school’s current website notes that 1927 was “the year that systematic training in the use of typewriters began” which seems to be corroborated by this collection.
Hale, Jen. “A glimpse of education for the blind and deafblind in Austria around 1930.” Perkins Archives Blog, Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown MA. September 23, 2015.