Take Care of the Little Blind Children.
L[ANE), S[arah] E. “Take Care of the Little Blind Children.” A POEM FOR THE COUNTRY'S FIRST KINDERGARTEN FOR THE BLIND PRINTED AT THE PERKINS INSTITUTION PRESS.
Lines suggested by these words engraved on a tablet in the Kindergarten School by the Girls of Perkins Institution in memory of Mrs. Julia Romana Anagnos. S. E. L. 4to broadside, 10 3/4” x 10 1/2”, printed in raised Boston Line Type. Np., n.d. [Boston: Perkins Institution, 1887]. An excellent copy with four very small holes, with no loss, and previously folded. We have located but two copies, both listed as in the archives of the Perkins School for the Blind. Not in AAS online catalogue, OCLC, WorldCat, etc.
A rare poem of four 4-line stanzas printed by in raised type the Perkins Institution Press, text surrounded by a double-line perforated border. The title words were said to be the last words spoken by Julia Romana [Howe] Anagnos as she lay dying of typhoid fever at age 42 in March, 1886. They can be seen today emblazoned on a tablet on the front of the kindergarten. The poem was written by Miss Lane, then librarian of the Perkins Institution, and read by a blind pupil at the dedication of the new kindergarten building, April 19, 1887.
The printed Proceedings of that event says, “Though not mentioned on the regular programmes, this poem was printed on separate sheets, in raised letters, at the press connected with the Perkins Institution, and it was recited by a blind pupil, Miss M. Eva Ramsdell.”
Julia Romana was the daughter of the founder of the school, Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, and his wife Julia Ward Howe, and the wife of Michael Anagnos, second director of the Perkins Institution. Mrs. Anagnos's last interest was the establishment of the kindergarten for the very little blind children, whom the larger school could not take in. It was the first such kindergarten for the blind in the country. Sarah Lane (1835 1934) held several positions at the Perkins Institution, including housekeeper (1875 1880), librarian (1880-1911), and others, and developed friendships with, among others, S. G. Howe, Julia Ward Howe, Laura Bridgman, Michael Anagnos, Annie Sullivan, and Helen Keller.
For an account of the establishment of the kindergarten, see Kimberly French, Perkins School for the Blind (2004), pp. 23-24.
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