Beginner's Abacus

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Record 59/76
Copyright Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind
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Collection APH Collection
Artist American Printing House for the Blind
Credit line APH Collection, 2009.6.
Date 1999
Description Black plastic rectangular frame with recessed area in center ; red felt glued to bottom of recession; two steel rods, each holding nine (9) round moveable white plastic beads, run between short sides of the frame; cast into frame "APH".
Dimensions H-2.624 W-5.625 D-1 inches
Dimension notes overall
Made American Printing House for the Blind
Material Plastic, steel, wool
Object ID 2009.6.14
Object Name Abacus
Place of Origin Louisville, KY
People Cranmer, Terrence V.
Gissoni, Fred
Poppe, Karen
Provenance/History In 1962, Carson Nolan, APH president, and June Morris, APH vice president, led an APH project in which 150 abacuses were made at APH and tested for use by blind students at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, MA and in Cincinnati public schools. Fred Gissoni traveled to the schools to train instructors and students in use of the abacus, which was based on Terence (Tim) V. Cranmer's design and which would later be produced as the Cranmer Abacus at APH. After 12 weeks of testing, it was found that the students using the abacus had an increase of 4 grade levels in their mathematical skills. The simplified beginner's version was introduced in the 1999 catalog. The instruction manual, copyright 1997, was written by Karen Poppe.
Search Terms American Printing House for the Blind
Subjects Mathematics.
Arithmetic.
Blind.
Education.
Aids for the blind and visually handicapped.
Instructional aids, tools, and supplies.
Abacus.
Title Beginner's Abacus
Image Courtesy Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind. Note: use of some materials may be restricted, please call before publishing in any format.

For more information contact the museum at 502-899-2365    museum@aph.org
Last modified on: April 02, 2010