Overbrook School for the Blind
{{Short description|School for the blind in Philadelphia}}
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{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
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The Overbrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was established in 1832.{{Cite web |title=About Us - Overbrook School for the Blind |url=https://www.obs.org/who-we-are/ |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=www.obs.org}} Its present site, in the city's Overbrook neighborhood, was acquired in 1890.{{cite web |last1=OBS history |title=Overbrook School for the Blind - Our Museum and History |url=https://www.obs.org/who-we-are/our-museum-and-history.cfm |access-date=16 December 2020}} Along with the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children and the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, it is one of four state-approved charter schools for blind and deaf children in Pennsylvania.
History
File:Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind by John Caspar Wild.png showing the Twentieth and Race (then Sassafras and Schuylkill Third) Streets building]]
The Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind opened in March 1832. A few years later, on October 27, 1836, a new building was dedicated on the northwest corner of Schuylkill Third (now Twentieth) and Sassafras (now Race) Streets on what is today the site of the Franklin Institute in the Logan Square neighborhood of Philadelphia.{{cite book |last1=Freund |first1=Elisabeth D. |title=Crusader for light: Julius R. Friedlander, founder of the Overbrook School for the Blind, 1832 |date=1959 |publisher=Dorrance & Co. |location=Philadelphia |pages=92–93}}
The school's founder, Julius R. Friedlander, died on 17 March 1837, after years of poor health. At the time of his death, he was not quite 36 years old.{{rp|122}}
During the early 1900s, the school offered athletic programs for its students."[https://www.newspapers.com/image/270397008/?terms=%22Overbrook%20School%20for%20the%20Blind%22&match=1 The Blind Engaged in Sports]." Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Carlisle Evening Herald, June 11, 1907, front page (subscription required). In June 1907, Overbrook's track and field team members defeated their rivals from the Baltimore School for the Blind in the annual intercollegiate competition held between the schools."[https://www.newspapers.com/image/168263082/?terms=%22Overbrook%20School%20for%20the%20Blind%22&match=1 Blind Boys Shine in Athletics on Track and Field]." Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 9, 1907, p. 15 (subscription required).
That same month, Professor Olin H. Burrit became the new superintendent of the school. He had previously been employed as the superintendent of the New York State School for the Blind."[https://www.newspapers.com/image/328894142/?terms=%22Overbrook%20School%20for%20the%20Blind%22&match=1 Prof. O. H. Burrit of Batavia Resigns]." Buffalo, New York: The Buffalo News, April 19, 1907, p. 5 (subscription required).
In December 1907, the school's forty-member choir performed at the dedication of Philadelphia's Grace Baptist Temple."[https://www.newspapers.com/image/168337142/?terms=%22Overbrook%20School%20for%20the%20Blind%22&match=1 Grace Baptist Church Dedicated]." Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 2, 1907, p. 14 (subscription required).
The school was renamed the Overbrook School for the Blind in 1946, expanding and growing over the next decades. The school building suffered a fire in 1960.{{cite news |title=Blind Telephone Operator – Heroine Of Fire |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oMAtAAAAIBAJ&pg=5287,3705009&dq=overbrook+school+for+the+blind&hl=en |work=Reading Eagle |date=March 11, 1960 |access-date=2010-11-21 }}
The building began to experience leaks in 2012 and a complete roof replacement was undertaken that same year. The building's Ludowici tiles were replaced with new ones produced by the original manufacturer.{{cite web |last1=Hanus |first1=Chrystine Elle |title=A standard of excellence |url=https://www.professionalroofing.net/Articles/A-standard-of-excellence--11-01-2014/3553 |website=Professional Roofing |publisher=National Roofing Contractors Association |access-date=16 February 2024 |date=November 2014}}
Notable people
Anne V. Ward (1877–1971) was both an alumna and a faculty member of Overbrook."[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/37763807/obituary_for_anne_v_ward_aged_56/ Anne V. Ward Dies, Teacher of Blind, 94"] The Philadelphia Inquirer (June 2, 1971): 53. via Newspapers.com
Elisabeth Freund (1898–1982) developed a Touch and Learn Center for the school that was a model for other blind centers internationally.Hirsch, Luise. 2013. From the shtetl to the lecture hall: Jewish women and cultural exchange.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Overbrook School for the Blind}}
- {{Official website|obs.org}}
- {{HABS |survey=PA-1637 |id=pa1044 |title=Pennsylvania Institute for the Blind, Sixty-fourth Street and Malvern Avenue, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA |photos=5 |cap=1}}
{{Schools in Philadelphia}}
{{Schools for the blind in the United States}}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:1832 establishments in Pennsylvania
Category:Educational institutions established in 1832
Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in Philadelphia
Category:Overbrook, Philadelphia
Category:Private schools in Pennsylvania
Category:Schools for the blind in the United States