A better mousetrap.
Explore the largest public collection of mechanical braillewriters.
Online Exhibits
Online Exhibits
Historic Braillewriters
Online Exhibits
Building a Future: U.S. Residential Schools
The first schools for students who are blind or visually impaired.
The first American schools for kids that were blind opened in 1832. By 1929, there were forty-nine such schools scattered across the land. Most were large, state-funded institutions and this exhibit explores their identity as icons on the public landscape.
Online Exhibits
Mary Ingalls
A writer’s gift.
Mary Ingalls, the older sister of the celebrated children’s author Laura Ingalls Wilder, lost her sight at the age of fourteen. Laura became her sister’s “eyes,” describing everything she saw around her. What happened to Mary after she and Laura grew up?
Online Exhibits
Student Segregation
In the south, black and white children were educated separately.
After the Civil War, the southern states opened departments for African-American children who were blind, in separate buildings from their white counterparts. Beginning in 1954, some schools for the blind integrated peacefully, while others dealt with lawsuits and threats.
Online Exhibits
Historic Printing Presses
The machinery of accessible print.
The American Printing House for the Blind bought its first press from a Boston designer in 1863. Over the years the company used a variety of machines to emboss and print its books.
Online Exhibit
APH Narrator Jukebox
Our Talking Book narrators have been well known and well loved by their readers since the American Printing House for the Blind recorded its first book in 1936. Press a button below to learn about some of our most recorded narrators and listen to a clip of their work.