Iowa School for the Blind: Iowa Time Machine April 4, 1853

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On April 4, 1853, the Iowa Asylum for the Blind opened in Iowa City under the direction of founder Samuel Bacon. Made nationally famous by Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House on the Prairie,” the school, after the graduation of the noted author’s sister Mary in 1889, provided education and other services for the visually impaired until its doors closed for good in 2020.

Samuel Bacon, blinded by a bout with Scarlet Fever at the age of 11, dedicated his life to the education of the visually impaired. On January 18, 1853, the Iowa General Assembly voted “An act to establish an Asylum for the Blind.” By April, twenty-three pupils made up the first class admitted to the institution. Bacon led the school and advocated in 1854 that the state should change the name from “Asylum for the Blind” to “Institution for the Instruction of the Blind.” In addition to receiving instruction, students manufactured goods to offset costs associated with the school.

By 1856, with fifty students in attendance, the school needed to expand. A donation of land near Vinton convinced the Governing Board to relocate the school in 1862. With a curriculum consisting of academic subjects, music, and industrial training, the school thrived. Many individuals from other states, including Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Dakotas, joined the ranks of visually impaired Iowans at the school. In 1872, the school changed names to Iowa College for the Blind.

A custodial care institution from its founding until 1911, the school gained official accreditation from the Iowa Board of Education in that year. The school began teaching Braille in 1920, changed its name to the Iowa School for the Blind in 1926, and subsequently changed its name again to the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School in 1951. For 162 years, the school formed the bedrock of Vinton, Iowa. In 2020, the Iowa Board of Regents sold the 11-building, 48-acre campus to the City of Vinton for $1, as part of a three-year process to shift the way the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School educates students. #IowaHistoryDaily #IowaHistoryCalendar #IowaOTD