Accession Number: AnnRep1.38
Scope & Content: Holdings: 1844/1845-1846/1847, 1851/1853, 1855/1857-1859/1861, 1865/1867-1875/1877, 1879/1881, 1883/1885-1889/1891, 1893/1895-1907/1909, 1911/1913, 1919/1921-1923/1925, 1927/1929-1931/1933, and enrollment and financial reports,1960/1961-1961/1962. Printed biennial reports of the Tennessee School for the Blind documenting the school's management, building, and student activities from 1844/1845 to 1933/1934. Reports include financial statements, and trustees, staff, and students are listed. An engraving of the school building appears in reports from 1879/1881 to 1893/1895; black-and-white photo illustrations in later reports. Reports of 1960/1961-1961/1962 are carbon copies of typewritten originals. Title varies: Report of . . . the Tennessee Institution for the Instruction of the Blind (1844/1845). Biennial Report . . . of the Tennessee Blind School (1859). Biennial Report . . . of the Tennessee School for the Blind (1871).
Creator: Tennessee School for the Blind
Interview Date: / /
Administrative History: The Tennessee School for the Blind was established by the state legislature of Tennessee in 1844. Originally called the Tennessee Institution for the Instruction of the Blind, the school was located in a large rented home in Nashville until a school building was constructed in 1853. Students were relocated to private homes in November 1861, when the school was taken over during the Civil War for use as a military hospital, first by Confederate troops and later by the Union army. The building was destroyed by the latter in 1862. The school reopened in 1867, occupying rented buildings until 1873, when it moved to a donated site where it would remain until 1952. That year the school moved into a newly constructed building in Donelson, a suburb of Nashville, where it is still located today. In 1881, the school established a separate Colored Department for blind African-American students. The school was integrated in 1965.
Subjects: Schools for the blind and visually impaired Education -- Tennessee Annual reports
Rights: Contact museum staff regarding reproduction of materials.