| Artist |
Pattison, designer |
| Credit line |
Gift of Fred Gissoni, 2007.57 |
| Date |
ca. 1960 |
| Description |
Bottom-hinged, nickel-plated slate with 4 lines of 37 cells. Bottom plate has raised dots for writing left to right with a hollow-tip stylus. Paper inserts through opening between plates, along hinged-edge. Writer can open the top plate to check braille without removing the paper. Two pegs on back of slate fit into 7 pairs of holes along front edges of board. Hinged metal clip at top center of board is made of aluminum and has two pins to secure paper.
(a) board; (b) slate |
| Dimensions |
H-12.6 W-10.25 D-0.75 inches |
| Dimension notes |
Overall dimensions. Slate measures 2.25 (h) x 12 (w) in. |
| Made |
Pattison |
| Material |
Nickel, Wood |
| Object ID |
2007.27a-b |
| Object Name |
Slate, Desk |
| Place of Origin |
Louisville, KY |
| Provenance/History |
Designed and made circa 1960 by a Mr. Pattison, who was a tool & die maker at General Electric in Louisville at the time. His daughter, Inez, was visually impaired. Although she did not use a braille writing device, her father became interested in designing the upward-writing slate, which he gave to Fred Gissoni to try. Like other upward-writing slates, this one creates undesirable ghost dots. Gissoni received the board slate from Pattison in 1966 and donated it to the Callahan Museum in 2007. |
| Search Terms |
Aids for the blind and visually handicapped |
| Subjects |
Slates
Braille
Tactile writing |
| Title |
Upward-writing braille board slate |
| Used |
Tested by Fred Gissoni |
|
