Description: 3" x 4" photograph of a braille clock. In the 1820's Louis Braille, in his home country of France, developed code using raised dots to represent letters and numbers. The touch system code is used by people who are blind to read and write. This braille clock is from a collection of models for the Ohio State School for the Blind. The model clock has braille characters on its face. As a demonstration clock it has no apparatus inside the clock case, but the hands can be moved with a knob located in the back of the box. The model is length 12", width 12", height 6.5". Photographs and descriptions of models were included in the book "Models for the Blind," compiled by workers of the Ohio Writers' Program. The book was meant as a guide, to be used in the building and study of models, and as documentation of the achievements at the Ohio State School for the Blind. The models were a result of research, design and construction by employees of the Works Projects Administration. Models were made of durable materials to withstand regular usage. The average cost of labor for larger models was $45. A special room was built to store the models where teachers could borrow them to be used in classroom instruction. In 1837, the Ohio government established the Ohio Institution for the Education of the Blind. This institution was the predecessor of the Ohio State School for the Blind. It was the first public school for the blind in the United States. It was the first in the nation to be created and maintained entirely by the State government. The school opened its doors in 1839, and it was located in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Any blind children residing in Ohio could attend the institution. Eleven students enrolled at the Ohio Institution for the Education of the Blind this first year. The school initially had a maximum capacity of sixty students, but upon moving to a new building in 1874, more than three hundred students could attend at one time. Between 1839 and 1901, 2,058 students enrolled at the Ohio Institution for the Education of the Blind, with 339 attending in 1901 alone. In the early 1900s, the Ohio Institution for the Education of the Blind became known as the Ohio State School for the Blind, and the Ohio Department of Education assumed control of the school. In 1953, the school moved ten miles north of its original location to its present home. In 2005, 126 students enrolled in the Ohio State School for the Blind. Students as young as three and as old as twenty-one years of age attended the school. Students could receive their entire education (kindergarten through high school) at the institution. In addition, the Ohio State School for the Blind offered vocational training for its students. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B11F02_033_001
Subjects: United States. Work Projects Administration; Blind--Education--Ohio; Ohio State School for the Blind; Clocks and watches; Braille
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reverse reads: "This map which enables the blind pupils to "see" Columbus with their fingers is one of scores of models built by WPA workmen at the Ohio State School for the Blind, Columbus. Those raised bumps on the buildings, bridges and other structures are Braille letters." This is a photo of a miniature model of Columbus, Ohio. It was made so that blind people could build a mental image of an overhead photo of Columbus. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B11F03_12_001
Subjects: Columbus (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; Ohio State School for the Blind; Models; Blind persons; Braille; Schools--Ohio; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reverse reads: "The four animals - the horse, cow, hog and the sheep are made in high relief but scaled down in size. Each animal is made in the proper proportion to the other. The rooster and hen are scaled together." This is a tool to teach children what farm animals look like. The names of the animals appear in braille below the models. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B11F03_24_001
Subjects: Models; Schools--Ohio; Braille; Ohio State School for the Blind; Blind--Education--Ohio--Columbus; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: A blind student uses touch to explore models of what farm animals look like. Reverse reads: “Domestic Animals – The four animals – the horse, cow, hog and the sheep are made in high relief but scaled down in size. Each animal is made in the proper proportion to the other. The rooster and hen are scaled together.” View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B11F04_20_001
Subjects: Models; Schools--Ohio; Braille; Students; Ohio State School for the Blind; Blind--Education--Ohio--Columbus; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)