APH News & Press
Unveiling of Sculpture Portrait of Helen Keller Donated to Museum by Local Law Firm
News Release: Louisville, Kentucky, February 21, 2000
The law firm of Ogden Newell and Welch has generously donated a bronze relief sculpture of Helen Keller to the Marie and Eugene Callahan Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind. The sculpture, which was created in 1907 by Winifred Holt, shows Keller in profile. When Helen Keller felt it, she was so pleased that she wrote her signature with a tool in the clay from which the bronze form was cast.
A reception celebrating this new gift will be held in the museum from 5:00 - 7:00 P.M. February 22, 2000. There will be an unveiling ceremony at 6:00 P.M.
The sculpture is an important addition to museum collection. Currently, the exhibit devoted to Helen Keller has photographs, the Book of Psalms from the braille Bible she used and a personal letter to a Printing House employee. The portrait will be installed so that visitors may touch it.
The sculpture is important to the history of blindness because of its creator, Winifred Holt, as well as its famous subject, Helen Keller. Winifred Holt and her sister Edith Hold were founders of The Lighthouse in 1905 at their home in New York City. After World War I, she also founded Lighthouses in Europe for rehabilitation of blinded war veterans. The organization is now known as Lighthouse International. Holt and her husband Rufus Mather traveled worldwide establishing Lighthouses on behalf of blind people. She was awarded the Legion of Honor from France and other international and national awards for her contributions to the field of blindness.
The Marie and Eugene Callahan Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind was founded in 1994. The museum explores the educational history of blind people and the role of the Printing House in this history. Artifacts include historical tactile books, maps, educational aids, mechanical writers, braille production machinery, phonographic recording equipment and players, photographs and illustrations. The exhibits are accessible to all disabilities, with audio phones, braille labels, and touchable exhibits for blind visitors. It is open Monday - Friday, 8:30 - 4:30 and is located on the second floor of the American Printing House for the Blind, 1839 Frankfort Avenue, Louisville, Kentucky.
The American Printing House for the Blind, founded in 1858, is the oldest organization of its kind in the United States and the world's largest not-for-profit company that creates educational, workplace and life-style products and services for blind or visually impaired people.
Contact Roberta Williams, Public Relations Specialist, for more information. Telephone: 1 -800-223-1839 or (502) 895-2405; e-mail: rwilliams@aph.org