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The main part of this volume constituted the Lowell Lectures, delivered in Jacob Sleeper Hall, Boston University, during November 1953. Since then, the lectures have been considerably revised and amplified to include material ruled out by the inexorable fifty-five-minute period allowed for each of eight lectures. Originally bearing the title "Social Aspects of Blindness," the final manuscript had so far transcended that limitation that the present title, "The Story of Blindness," is a more comprehensive description.

In trying to tell the story of blindness, my purpose has not been to extol those who carryon with spirit and success when sight is impaired, although for them we must have the highest respect, nor to bemoan the fate of those who seem unable to rise above their physical handicap, and for whom we cannot escape responsibility; but to tell those who still enjoy the full benefit of sight that they have a responsibility for that segment of society which is without sight. The burden rests the more heavily upon the sighted when it is realized that fully one-half, and perhaps three-quarters, of blindness could be prevented by appropriate medical and social services. And if a sense of social responsibility for those without sight is lacking, we may well strike at self-interest-for it may happen to you. The National Society for the Prevention of Blindness states that at least 750,000 Americans now living will be overtaken with blindness.

In preparing this book for publication, I have tried to select and present from the vast amount that has been written about blindness enough to show attitudes toward those without sight and to relate the efforts of many, both institutions and individuals, in all parts of the world, to alleviate the condition of the blind and to reduce its crippling consequences. If in citing institutions there may seem to be a tendency to refer too often to the school with which I was associated, insularity is not entirely the reason. ~"or I found, as did Richard S. French when writing From Homer to Helen Keller) that Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind, by reason of the voluminous reports of its first superintendent and because of the great publicity given it, has by far the most complete and satisfactory records. Without intentional slight to the institutions in New York and Philadelphia, it may be best to follow the history of the Ne'" England Institution for the Education of the Blind, as it was originally called, with a view to seeing what was typical in its early growth and also to understand certain movements on behalf of the blind that had their beginnings in this more than in any other institution. In Boston, too, and later in Watertown, there has always been a very clear conception of educational ends, which, coupled with the long tenure of the superintendents and the unbroken continuity of effort toward those ends, makes the institution in large measure the norm for judgment of the work of other institutions.

And also if there may seem to be too many references to Samuel Gridley Howe, it is not a matter of partiality, but rather of authority. For it is beyond question that his fertile mind and humanitarian spirit made him stand far above all others. When Edward E. Allen, a successor of Dr. Howe and my immediate predecessor at Perkins, was asked to name the ten outstanding leaders in the field of the blind in America, he listed nine and then concluded:

Samuel Gridley Howe, pioneer and original first cause of many movements and inventions; maker of the Roman line type which took the first prize in the World's Fair of London in 1851; sane prophet of the future of the blind; promotor of the idea that their diffusion in society is their salvation; writer of our most philosophical reports on the education of the blind. Where Howe sat was ever the head of the tableI In making the acknowledgments customary in a preface, I wish first of all to express my deep gratitude to Ralph Lowell, Trustee of the Lowell Institute, for inviting me to join the distinguished company of scholars who through one hundred fourteen years have been giving the pllblic lectures made possible under the will of John Lowell, Jr. This invitation tied me down, as I told Mr. Lowell at the time, to put in writing the knowledge of the blind acquired through twenty years as Director of Perkins Institution. During these years, opportunity to learn ranged from daily contact with blind children to participation in national and international conferences dealing with the problems of blindness. I would also thank those who faithfully came to the several lectures and patiently heard them through. The lectures were also made available to larger audiences when broadcast over Station WGBH-FM. As a result of both mediums, I received many pleasant and informative comments, for which I am most grateful.

Following the broadcast of the lecture in which I intimated that a possible reason for Samuel Gridley Howe's determined decision to go to Greece to take part in the revolution of the Hellenes was due to the fact that he had been jilted by a Boston young lady, I received a telephone call from a woman who assured me that that was true. She remembers well, she said, her grandmother often telling of "that foolish Hap Howe who jilted the distinguished and wonderful Dr. Howe. With her trousseau complete and the wedding plans all made, she ran off with another man named Howe but not related to the great Dr. Howe." And to reveal the wide range, I must add that when one of my sons and his wife were listening to one of the broadcasts their three-year-old daughter playing nearby suddenly looked up and said, "That sounds like Button" (her name for her grandfather). Going closer to the radio, she listened for a moment, then walked away saying, "He doesn't make any sense! "

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