Special Collections & Archives: Snapshots from the Archives

Snapshot from the Archives: Froebel's Braille Circle

November is UK Disability History Month, so for this Archives snapshot, our Archivist Kornelia Cepok reveals the work undertaken by former members of the Froebel Educational Institute (FEI) to support visually impaired children and war veterans.

The FEI women always had a well-deserved  reputation for being a driving force in the education of socially and otherwise deprived children, and improving their opportunities, often with very few resources. Most notably, leading FEI women established and managed kindergartens and schools for children from deprived backgrounds across the City of London, with the financial and personal support of both current and former students.

As far back as 1896, the Michaelis Guild was established as an alumni organisation for former FEI students (named after Madame Emilie Michaelis, first principal of FEI). By 1909 the Guild also included current students, and their social work activities were extended with a Braille Circle, the initial purpose of which was to transcribe books into Braille for children attending London County Council (LCC) Special Schools. This was initiated by Miss Rosalie Lulham, the inspirational Head of the FEI Nature Study Department from 1896 until 1934, who was also known for her great sense of social justice. (You may notice these women's names commemorated in some of the buildings on Roehampton's campus today!)

The first issue of “The Link” (1910), the publication of the Guild, reports that “this work has been taken up very enthusiastically”, so much so that twenty-four volumes of stories such as “The Water Babies”, “Adventures of Beowolf”, and “Peter Rabbit” were completed and “beautifully bound in blue or green linen covers”, and distributed  between several  Special Schools for blind children who had links with the Guild and the FEI.

The Guild continued this work until 1932, funded by subscriptions and further donations from members. The members were not usually trained in Braille, but Miss Lulham’s dedication played a pivotal role in not only sustaining the project, but also in training members and supplying them with Braille paper and tirelessly raising the funds to cover the growing costs of equipment. In addition, she occasionally organised visits for the members to these schools, providing an opportunity to learn about the education of blind children and better understand their needs. In 1910, she writes in “The Link” of “the poorer children”:

“who are in such special need of books that they can take home to read, and so pass happily those hours which otherwise they find so long and dull, when their more fortunate brothers and sisters are able to amuse themselves with all kinds of active games from which they are cut off by their lack of sight.

How much the blind children feel the need of books to read at home is illustrated by the act of one little boy whom, it was found, regularly at the end of each afternoon at school, collected from the waste paper basket the scraps of exercises in writing and dictation which had been thrown away and took his treasures home in the evening.”

Under Miss Lulham’s leadership, the initiative expanded as interest grew. Members began writing monthly Braille letters, Christmas and birthday notes to individual blind children, fostering a personal connection. During World War I, parcels of Braille books were also sent to St. Dunstan's Hostel for Blind Soldiers and Sailors, men who had lost their sight in the war. A copy of “The Link” from 1916 reports:

“The appeal made before the summer vacation for short Braille stories for the soldiers and sailors blinded in the war met with very generous response, and we were able to send some large packets of stories to St Dunstan’s, for which the Secretary sent his warm thanks.”

You can find out more about St Dunstan's from this 1928 film, made freely available online by the BFI archives. 

Members took a personal interest in some of the schools for blind children, raising funds to provide outings to the countryside, the zoo, and other attractions such as a performance of Peter Pan. They also arranged extended holidays for vulnerable children, supplied clothing to those in need, and organised treats and toys for Christmas and other occasions. Guild members even offered support to the staff of special schools, and a few members took such personal interest that they offered longer term sponsorships to individuals. One such case is reported in "The Link" in 1918:

“One new member has interested herself specially in one little boy, who is totally blind as the result of meningitis, and for whom the doctor strongly advised a resident school by the sea; his parents could only afford to pay a part of the cost and the London County Council gave a part, but there was still a deficit of £4 a year which this member has offered to make good. The boy has been sent to Brighton, and we hear that already his general health is much improved.

We wish more members would undertake to be a ‘letter-friend’ to one special blind child. This involves writing a letter in Braille once a month as a minimum, with an occasional extra letter, or little gift, at Christmas or on a birthday.”

The members’ enthusiasm was reciprocated by the children. “The Link” often reported that they eagerly awaited more books for their libraries and more letters. They sent flowers and keen thank you letters following donations of items such as fruit, Christmas treats, toys and musical boxes. One child from Shillington Street Special School is quoted in "The Link" from 1919:

“I am writing to thank you and the nice ladies for the beautiful musical-box that you sent us. It plays such pretty tunes…we are going to have it at handwork every Friday afternoon.”

After Miss Lulham stepped down from her active involvement due to time constraints in 1921, the Braille Circle gradually grew smaller and less active and eventually disbanded in 1932. 

All issues of “The Link” can be viewed in the Archives by appointment, along with this 1943 report on the Sunshine Home Nursery Schools for blind children, one of the recipients of the FEI Braille Circle’s work.

Modern day Roehampton University has of course moved with the times in terms of services for, and attitudes to, people with disabilities, including visual impairment. Most of our eBooks and journals are compliant with accessibility software such as text-to-speech - and the Sensus Access tool can even convert text to digital Braille!  For details of what the Library can offer to our current students and staff, see our Guide to Services for Users with Disabilities. 

Kornelia Cepok, Archivist, November 2024.