1840 print byJohn Caspar Wild showing the Twentieth and Race (then Sassafras and Schuylkill Third) Streets building
ThePennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind opened in March 1832. A few years later, on October 27, 1836, a new building was dedicated on the northwest corner of Schuylkill Third (now Twentieth) and Sassafras (now Race) Streets on what is today the site of theFranklin Institute in theLogan Square neighborhood of Philadelphia.[3]
The school's founder,Julius Reinhold Friedlander, died on 17 March 1837, after years of poor health. At the time of his death, he was less than 36 years old.[3]: 122
During the early 1900s, the school offered athletic programs for its students.[4] In June 1907, Overbrook's track and field team members defeated their rivals from the Baltimore School for the Blind in the annual intercollegiate competition held between the schools.[5]
That same month, Professor Olin H. Burrit became the new superintendent of the school. He had previously been employed as the superintendent of the New York State School for the Blind.[6]
In December 1907, the school's forty-member choir performed at the dedication of Philadelphia's Grace Baptist Temple.[7]
The school was renamed the Overbrook School for the Blind in 1946, expanding and growing over the next decades. The school building suffered a fire in 1960.[8]
The building began to experience leaks in 2012 and a complete roof replacement was undertaken that same year. The building'sLudowici tiles were replaced with new ones produced by the original manufacturer.[9]
Elisabeth Freund (1898–1982), German-Jewish educator who developed a Touch and Learn Center for the school that was a model for other blind centers internationally.[11]
^abFreund, Elisabeth D. (1959).Crusader for light: Julius R. Friedlander, founder of the Overbrook School for the Blind, 1832. Philadelphia: Dorrance & Co. pp. 92–93.
^"The Blind Engaged in Sports." Carlisle, Pennsylvania:Carlisle Evening Herald, June 11, 1907, front page (subscription required).
^Hanus, Chrystine Elle (November 2014)."A standard of excellence".Professional Roofing. National Roofing Contractors Association. RetrievedFebruary 16, 2024.
