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The History of the American Printing House for the Blind: A Chronology
1850s: A Need for Books
1854: A blind Kentuckian, Morrison Heady, began collecting donations for the printing of Milton's Paradise Lost in raised letters called Boston Line Letter.
1856: Dempsey B. Sherrod, a blind man from Mississippi, began to canvass his home state to raise funds for the establishment of a national publishing house to produce books in raised letters.
1857: Sherrod convinced the state of Mississippi to issue a Charter of Incorporation to Aid in Establishing a Publishing House to Print Books in Raised Letters, for the Benefit of the Blind. This publishing house was to be located in Louisville, Kentucky.
1858: The General Assembly of Kentucky Passed An Act To Establish the American Printing House for the Blind.
1860s: The Civil War & Broken Promises
1860: The American Printing House for the Blind received its first operating funds from private citizens in Mississippi and Kentucky -- $1,000 from each state. Superintendent Bryce M. Patten ordered a press, and the Printing House was set up in basement rooms in the Kentucky Institution for the Education of the Blind.
1861: Before the fledgling institution could begin its work of embossing books, the Civil War broke out, wiping out any possibility of the southern states making good on their promises of funding.
1865: The war ends and a state allocation from Kentucky, along with individual donations from Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois, allowed the Printing House to begin the work for which it was founded.
1866: APH produced its first book, Fables and Tales for Children, in Boston Line Letter.
1870s: A Federal Subsidy For Embossed Books
1876: The American Printing House had earned a reputation for quality and its central location provided easy access to river and rail transportation. The American Association of Instructors of the Blind (AAIB) elected a committee to draft a congressional bill to provide federal funding for blind students.
1879: On March 3, 1879, the first federal act benefiting blind students was passed. The federal Act to Promote the Education of the Blind provided funding to the American Printing House for the Blind for printing embossed books and producing apparatus for blind students throughout the country. This funding continues today through the Federal Quota Program.
The End of the 19th Century: Building & Rapid Growth
1883: Federal funding created new demands for embossed books and the Printing House soon outgrew its basement room at the Kentucky School. State funds were made available and, a new building, located next to the Kentucky Institution for the Education of the Blind, was formally dedicated on June 12, 1883.
In the remaining years of the 19th century, the APH production of embossed books increased dramatically, growing from a fifteen-page publications catalog in 1894 to a 100-page listing ten years later.
1900s - 1920s: The Era of Braille Production Begins
1922: An addition to the west side of the building doubled the capacity of the press room and bindery.
Gradually, New York Point and Boston Line Letter were phased out in favor of braille, and later, interpoint braille that was embossed on both sides of a page. Improvements were always in the works for a better stereograph machine, a faster press--anything that would lower the cost of embossed book production. Catalog offerings were basic--braille slates, writing guides, maps, spelling frames, etc.
1928: Introduction of the Reader's Digest® in braille.
1930s: New Products and Services
1931: The Pratt-Smoot Act provided funding for literature for blind adults. A machine shop was established and arithmetic slates, writing frames, and the Beetz (music) Notation Graph were designed or improved.
1932: Adoption of Standard English Braille eliminated the need for books in different tactile systems.
1934: An endowment fund for APH was initiated. This would help to subsidize magazine subscriptions and other programs not covered by Federal Quota funds.
1936: The recording studio and record production were established.
1938: Hugh Sutton narrated APH's first Talking Book, Gulliver's Travels. 32 books would be recorded that year.
1939: The Reader's Digest® was first recorded.
1940s: The Work Continues Despite a World War
The work week extended to 44 hours because of war-related labor shortage. The critical list of materials essential to the war effort included most of the materials used in APH products.
1946: Act to Promote the Education of the Blind was expanded to include large type. The APH Large Type Department was established.
1948: Large type textbook production began. A new factory building, adjoining the old building, was completed.
1950s: Expansion & Innovation
During the 1950s, International Business Machines (IBM) and APH partnered to write an English text-to-braille computer translation program.
1952: The Department of Educational Research was established. Products included stereograph machines, molded plastic relief maps, and globes. Fifty-two braille magazines were in production.
1955: A new administration building was formally opened on October 26, 1955.
1959: APH began recording Newsweek® Talking Magazine.
The Central Catalog textbook reference service was organized. This card catalog was used nationwide to report and locate textbooks that had been transcribed into braille by a wide variety of organizations. It was an early version of what is now known as the Louis Database.
1960s: The Digital Revolution Begins
1964: Computerization of braille translation began when IBM presented APH with an IBM709 Data Processing System mainframe computer, valued at two million dollars.
1964: APH completed the largest braille project ever undertaken--the World Book Encyclopedia® in braille.
New cabinet-style stereographs were built. UNICEF funded a project that sent older APH stereograph machines to foreign countries.
1970s: Preparing for Future Growth
1970: Flexible records introduced to replace hard discs for Talking Books.
1972: Employment reached 550 employees.
1974: Cassette tapes introduced for Talking Books.
1980s: Embracing the Computer Age
1980: A new $2 million addition was completed in 1980, bringing the facility to its present size of 282,000 square feet.
1981: APH produced the first recorded encyclopedia, the Talking Book Edition of the World Book Encyclopedia.
A computerized database for text books (Central Automated Resource List -- CARL) was introduced, replacing the Central Catalog card catalog.
APH Braille Transcription Editors (electronic braillewriting terminals) became operational. Braille production now largely computerized.
1987: Last Talking Book hard disc comes off press on May 8, 1987.
1988: Department of Educational and Advisory Services was created to coordinate and support the administration of the Federal Quota program and APH's work with its Ex Officio Trustees.
1990s: Moving Toward a New Millennium
Cassette tapes replaced flexible discs for recorded magazine production.
APH instituted a North American database of books in accessible media and included all APH products in its listings. (CARL ET AL, now known as Louis).
The Braille Research Center was initiated.
1994: The Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind opened October 12, 1994.
1998: APH File Repository was created to house publisher files and translated braille files. Accessible Textbook Initiative and Collaboration (ATIC) created to address the issues of timeliness and availability of textbooks in a variety of accessible media.
2000: APH launched two new databases -- Accessible Media Producers (AMP) and Fred's Head Expert Database. The Parts Catalog listing individual pieces of larger sets is published. This will be the first of several specialty catalogs, including the Adult Life Catalog, Family Life Catalog, and Bookstore Catalog.
2000s: The 21st Century and Beyond
2001: APH completed the first phase of the transition from analog to digital Recording Studios. Digital recordings of Talking Books offer increased quality and greater navigating capabilities at a lower cost.
2001: The Hall of Fame for Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field was announced along with the names of the first 32 inductees. The Hall is supported by the entire vision profession, but will be housed at APH.
2002: Nine of the ten "living legends" from the Hall of Fame were honored at APH's Annual Meeting. A record number of guests were in attendance for this historic presentation.
2003: APH's Accessible Textbook Initiative and Collaboration (ATIC) began the pilot phase of a new Large Print Production process. These books will be standard size textbooks with a variety of fonts and font sizes (minimum 18 point) and will be in full-color.
2003: APH released Book Port, a revolutionary portable book reading device that allows the user to download and read electronic text files with synthetic speech or digital recorded books (including DAISY books) with human speech.