Description: 3" x 4" photograph of a plow from a collection of models for the Ohio State School for the Blind. The plow is one of man's most important tools, used to break the ground for planting. In earliest form, the plow was little more than a sharp stick. A major advance in plow design was the moldboard plow, a general purpose plow, also known as a walking plow. As shown in the model, the largest part of its blade is called the moldboard, to which is attached the plow's actual point, the share. The share bites into the ground while the rear moldboard, the larger part of the plow blade, turns the earth aside. The moldboard plow reduced the amount of time needed to prepare a field, in effect, it allowed a farmer to work a larger area of land. The model is length 11.5", width 3.5", height 4". 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_032_001
Subjects: United States. Work Projects Administration; Blind--Education--Ohio; Ohio State School for the Blind; Plows
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)