Accession Number: 2019.32.1
Scope & Content: Photostat print of drawing depicting the corner of Frankfort Avenue and Bellaire Avenue in Louisville, KY and the footprint of the Kentucky Industries for the Blind building. Titled, "Topographic Survey for Kentucky Industries for the Blind/Scale 1"=10' - June 1962/Hubbard E. Rudy Co. - Consulting Engineers/422 West Liberty St. - Louisville, KY."
Creator: Hubbard E. Rudy Company
Interview Date: / /
Collection: KSB Collection
Credit Line: Kentucky School for the Blind Collection, 2019.32.
Administrative History: Filed at the Kentucky School for the Blind and transferred to the museum in August 2017. The "Industrial Workshop for the Adult Blind" was established by the Ky School for the Blind in 1913 by KSB Handicraft Teacher Clifford Martin in two rooms at Frankfort and Williams Streets, with two employees making mops. In November 1913 the workshop moved to "an old frame house formerly the Clifton Post Office" at 2211 Frankfort Avenue, began making brooms, and had six employees. In October 1916, the workshop moved to 2101 Frankfort Ave, and in October 1917, added the adjacent cottages at 2105 and 2109 Frankfort Avenue. By April 1918, Governor A.O. Stanley approved an annual appropriation and the workshop became the property of the state. The workshop also employed a traveling home teacher. In October 1918, the workshop rented the building formerly used as the "Clifton Picture Show" at 2005 Frankfort Avenue and a few months later opened a retail shop in the adjacent 2003 Frankfort Avenue. The two property transactions described in this file document the purchase of these properties, 2001-2007 Frankfort Avenue. A two-story, fireproof structure was constructed there in 1924-25. The workshop was separated from KSB in 1956 and was renamed Kentucky Industries for the Blind. A new building was built at 1900 Brownsboro Road in 1970. In 2005, KIB became a division of North Carolina based L.C. Industries, still with a mission to provide meaningful employment for the BVI community.