In 1835, Dr. William Awl of Columbus and Dr. Daniel Drake of
Cincinnati presented recommendations to the Ohio General Assembly
to establish a school for the blind. Legislation, signed by then
governor of Ohio Duncan McArthur on April 3, 1837, provided
funding to create the first state-supported residential school for
the blind in the United States. The Institution for the Education
of the Blind opened July 4, 1837, with five students. A year
later, the first permanent structure, housing 60 students, was
built on a nine-acre tract of land on the eastern edge of the
city, and that was followed in 1874 with a larger facility near
Fulton and Main streets. The school was honored and recognized
in 1937 as being one of the finest schools for the blind in the
country. In 1953, a new school for the blind was built at the
present location at 5220 North High Street.
( Ohio Bicentennial logo)
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