The following are links provided to resources that are in the process of being to be moved to this site. Legacy text resources will be located on the Internet Archive, which utilizes optical character recognition (OCR) and downloadable file formats, including Daisy, to provide access to users who are blind and visually impaired. We acknowledge that OCR is prone to errors, and cannot recognize graphics or handwritten text, thus creating barriers to some of these materials. It is our intention that by providing the materials as is, the resource is findable online to all while we work to get these materials on this site where OCR is cleaned up. If any of Perkins Archives resources accessed online aren't accessible in part or in whole, to a user because of a disability, we will create an accessible version upon request my emailing Archives@Perkins.org.

Correspondence is addressed to the director of Perkins School for the Blind. The bulk of the correspondence prior to 1900 is from Isabel Greeley, principal matron of the Kindergarten from May 1887 to July 1900. From 1900-to 1921, Nettie B. Vose, matron of the boys’ school, Julia M. Hill, matron of the girls’ school, and  Mary J. Jones, matron of the primary department, provide the majority of administrative correspondence.

Topics include: daily administration of the Kindergarten, including invoices and Ladies Visiting Committee reports; student enrollment and letters from parents; deafblind students, including Thomas Stringer and Willie Elizabeth Robin; updates from teachers regarding special students and open teaching positions; fundraising activities; admittance and discharge papers from Massachusetts General Hospital.

Correspondence from 1887-1899 is addressed to Isabel Greeley, principal matron of the Kindergarten. From October 1899-1906 correspondence is addressed to Nettie B. Vose, matron of the boys’ school and former assistant to Miss Greeley.

Main correspondents include Perkins director Michael Anagnos; interim director John Bennett; Miss Martha Sawyer, clerk to Anagnos; Dr. G. M. Rowe, superintendent of Boston City Hospital; Thomas Stringer; Effie Thayer, special teacher to Willie Elizabeth Robin; Emily W. Foster, friend, and member of the Perkins Corporation.

Topics include administrative duties, including teacher appointments and field trips; student enrollment and school schedules; updates on students’ health, including discharge papers and status reports from Boston City Hospital; and letters from parents.

The digitized correspondence volumes and boxes are divided into incoming and supplementary correspondence. The links are arranged by volume and years, earliest to latest, spanning 1890-1906. Links to transcribed indices, when available, are followed by links to digitized copies on the Internet Archive. Not all resources in this collection have been digitized. More information as well as the full list of correspondence is available on the Kindergarten collection finding aid on Perkins.org