User:Lee717/American Printing House for the Blind

The American Printing House for the Blind (APH) in Louisville, Kentucky promotes the independence of blind and visually impaired persons by providing specialized materials, products, and services needed for education and life. APH is a nonprofit, manufacturing company. It is the largest company of its kind in the world, the oldest in the United States, and the only federally-funded manufacturer of educational products for pre-collegiate students with visual impairments in the U.S.

Pre-History
Twenty one schools for the blind had sprung up in the U.S. in the first half of the nineteenth century, but the printing capacity for tactile books in the country grew at a slower pace. Only some of these schools had their own small print shops; teachers often had to send to Europe for embossed books for their students.

In the 1850s, Dempsey Sherrod, a blind Mississippian, began to mount a fund raising campaign for the establishment of a national printing house for embossed books.

Charters and Early Years
As a result of Sherrod’s efforts, the state of Mississippi issued a Charter of Incorporation to Aid in Establishing a Publishing House to Print Books in Raised Letters, for the Benefit of the Blind. The location chosen for this publishing House was Louisville, Kentucky. The American Printing House for the Blind was officially established on January 23, 1858 by an act of the Kentucky General Assembly.

By 1860, APH had received its first operating funds and began to set up in the basement of the Kentucky Institution for the Education of the Blind. Before APH could begin embossing books, however, the American Civil War broke out, halting operations. It was only in 1866 that APH finished its first book, which was called Fables and Tales for Children and was embossed in Boston Line Letter, a type of raised print developed by Samuel Gridley Howe.

In 1879, Congress passed Public Law 45-186 An Act to Promote the Education of the Blind, which established APH as the only federally-funded manufacturer of educational materials for the blind.

Growth of the Company
By 1883, APH had outgrown its space in the basement of the Kentucky Institution for the Education of the Blind. State funds were used to erect a three-story brick building for APH on the adjacent property on Frankfort Avenue to the west of the school.

Originally, APH produced books embossed in raised letters, specifically Boston Line Letter. It did not produce a book in braille until 1893, though it had begun embossing books in a different dot system called New York Point in 1874. It was not until 1932 that braille was named as the standard system for British and American English.

APH printed its first book in large print in 1936, though full production did not begin until 1948. APH also opened its first recording studio in 1936, finishing its first recorded book, Gulliver’s Travels, in 1937.

APH Today
Today, APH employees just under 300 people, 10 to 11 percent of whom are blind and visually impaired. Located at 1839 Frankfort Avenue, the building that houses APH has grown from the original three story brick building erected in 1883 to a size of 280,000 square feet. The last addition was completed in 1980.

Funding
The U.S. government continues to set aside an appropriation for APH each year under An Act to Promote the Education of the Blind from 1879. This is money that can be used for the purchase of products from APH for students who meet the legal definition of blindness, which is a visual acuity of 20/200 in the better eye with the best possible correction or a field of vision 20 degrees or narrower. The appropriation is not given directly to APH, but rather administered by a network of APH Ex Officio Trustees under the Federal Quota Program. These individuals in each state and outlying territory of the U.S. are responsible for taking a census of eligible students and deciding how best to spend the portion of the appropriation allotted to each student.

Other sources of funding for APH included catalog sales from customers not purchasing products with Federal Quota money, contract work, and private donations.

Products and Services
Departments at APH include Braille, Large Type, Educational Aids, Technology, Accessible Tests, Talking Books, and Research.

APH produces recorded copies of Reader's Digest and Newsweek magazines as well as printing Reader's Digest in braille.

Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind
The Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind opened in October 1994.

The Hall of Fame for Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field
APH houses The Hall of Fame for Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field on its fourth floor. The Hall was conceived of at the 2000 conference of the International Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impairedand opened at APH on October 11, 2002 with thirty two charter members. Inductees to The Hall are recognized for excellence in service to people who are blind and visually impaired. As of August 2009, forty two individuals have been inducted, including Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan Macy.