Perkins School for the Blind Incorporated
On this day in 1829, the New England Asylum for the Blind was incorporated in Boston. The institution opened with six students, but within six years, it had ten times that number. For the first time, blind and deafblind American children could attend a school that would teach them reading, writing, and mathematics. Students were taught to use their sense of touch to compensate for their lack of sight. Re-named the Perkins Institute for the Blind, in honor of an early benefactor, the school grew steadily through the nineteenth century until it became the world-renowned institution it is today. The school's most famous graduate is Helen Keller, who arrived there with her teacher Annie Sullivan in 1888.
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