Accession Number: 2009.24.16.703-723
Description: (21) BW prints; .703: Indian boy sits on floor with hands on a page of braille; behind him a woman in a sari sits behind a table decorated with a floral tablecloth and a vase of flowers beside a white headed man in clerical robes; a large basket of fruit is off to the left; .704: Group shot of staff at the school, in three ranks with women sitting in front and second two ranks of men and women standing; tile roofed building in background; .705: Indian woman in sari and white haired man in clerical robe holding a note card stand behind a microphone on a stand; .706: White haired man in white robe and colored stole presents stack of books to Indian woman in sari and long braid; .707: Choir of Indian boys and girls sing into stand microphone on stage, flanked by Indian man and woman; .708: Four Indian girls and boys stand with their arms folded and looking to left in front of microphone on stage; an adult stands behind each of them, three men and a woman; .709: Four Indian boys and girls stand stiffly in front of a microphone; two are gesturing with their hands; a man watches from the right; .710: Four Indian girls in saris hold drumsticks crossed over their heads on a raised stage; an adult woman watches from between them; the tiled roof of the school is right behind them; .711: Four Indian boys sing into a microphone on a stage; an Indian woman stands to the right; .712: Four Indian girls in saris sing into a microphone on a stage; an Indian woman wearing dark glasses stands to the right; .713: Three young men stand in front of a microphone; the young man on the left wears a headwrap and costume-like cloak; a paper star dangles overhead; .714: Ten Indian boys and girls stand in a line on stage singing; a microphone and a paper star dangle overhead; .715: A young Indian man dressed in white stands stiffly beside an artifical Christmas Tree decorated with balloons, garland and greeting cards; .716: Four Indian Boys and their sighted guide, a girl in a sari stand in the stage lights; .717: Under the watchful eye of a white haired man in clerical robes; an Indian woman puts two pieces of fruit into the hands of an Indian girl; a second woman has her hands on something that looks like a book in the background; .718: A long tile covered walkway underneath a covered verandah, lined on both sides with boys sitting on the floor eating out of tin basins; a woman bends over dipping something out of a larger basin to one of the boys and other servers can be seen behind her; .719: Boys and girls are squatting in a field of vegetation, possibly weeding the plants; three adults stand among them supervising; .720: Two Indian boys stand on a bamboo scaffold or framework, amidst a spray of other foliage; .721: A white headed man in clerical robes stands in the middle of the scene holding an open Bible; their are metal basins of food on the floor in front of him and he is flanked by other adults standing respectfully; .722: A wider shot of the scene in .721; now we also see a tile covered walkway with boys sitting on the floor on both sides with tin plates or basins in front of them; some have their hands clasped in attitudes of prayer; and the heads of the adults seen in .721 are bowed; .723: An even wider shot; now we can also see that the girls of the school are also present as the blessing is read over the food. .
Medium: Photographic Paper
Date: ca. 1970
History/Provenance: The School for the Blind at Palayamkottai was founded as a girl's school in 1890 by Anne Jane Askwith, principal of Sarah Tucker College.
Credit Line: AFB Migel Memorial Library Collection, 2009.24
Subjects: Asia Choirs (Music) Christmas Dancers Eating & drinking India Prayer Schools for the blind and visually impaired