Accession Number: 2014.35
Description: BW photo of Helen Keller seated in foreground in front of Visagraph console, her hands exploring a metal foil readout on the right side of the machine; standing left to right behind the machine are Dr. Carl Strehl (halfway out of the picture), Pierre Villey (beard and dark glasses), Robert Naumburg, A.K. Shah, A. Lundberg, Ryntaro Kimura, Ian Fraser, and Robert Irwin; the men wear convention ribbons. Reverse has an Associated Press caption sheet glued to edge and is ink-stamped with an AP identification stamp.
Medium: Photographic Paper
Print Size: 8" (h) x 10" (w)
Date: 14-Apr-31
Photographer: Associated Press
History/Provenance: Associated Press photo sold on ebay by a collector. According to reading machine researcher Mara Mills, the Visagraph "was one of the very early scanner-based reading machines, invented shortly after the Optophone. It produced raised print instead of tones."
Credit Line: Museum Purchase, 2014.35
Subjects: Assistive technology Reading devices
