Answer: The Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind

In January 1833, a group including philanthropists Roberts Vaux and John Vaughan and diplomat Robert Walsh met in Philadelphia to discuss the formation of an educational facility for blind students. They were, in part, inspired by the success of such schools already operating in England and Europe. And they sought out Julius R. Friedlander, who tutored blind children in Europe, as the school’s first principal. Friedlander had immigrated to Philadelphia from Germany in 1832 with the purpose of creating a school for the blind in the city.

The Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind was initially set up in a rented building, but by the time of Friedlander’s untimely death in 1839 at the age of thirty-six, it had been established at 20th and Race streets. In 1899, the school moved to a new home at 64th (now North 64th) Street and Malvern Avenue in the city’s Overbrook neighborhood. In 1946, the school’s name was changed to the Overbrook School for the Blind.

Among HSP’s collections is a volume of Julius Friedlander’s correspondence (Am.06858). Additionally, we have a run of annual reports and other publications from and relating to the school and its history in our library. We also recently acquired a few Overbrook School for the Blind yearbooks dating from the 1970s (#4050).