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COMMONWEALTH of MASSACHUSSETS

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES,

PERKINS INSTITUTION AND MASS. SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND, SOUTH BOSTON, Sept. 30, 1880.

TO THE MEMBERS OF THE CORPORATION.

Gentlemen, -- In accordance with the requirements of the by-laws of the institution, we, the undersigned trustees, present to you, and through you to the executive of the commonwealth and to the legislature, the following report for the year ending Sept. 30, 1880: --

We are very desirous that the general state of the establishment should be known, and that every suitable means should be employed to keep the mind of the public enlightened and the sympathies of our fellow-citizens awake with regard to the blind wherever they may be found.

The publication of our annual report is one of the means for promoting this end, and the fact that those whom we thus address represent to a very great extent the enlightment and the benevolence of the community at large emboldens us to come forward year after year and ask attention for our affairs.

In reviewing the history of the past twelve months, we may say at the outset that the general condition of the institution has been entirely satisfactory to the board, and that nothing has occurred to mar its advancement.

The kind interest which the wise, the intelligent, and the benevolent of the community have continued to take in the welfare of the blind, has been a source of great encouragement to us.

The quarterly reports of the director made to our board have set forth in detail the statistics of entrances and discharges. The substance of these communications is, that there have been 179 blind persons immediately connected with the institution, in all its departments, as pupils, instructors, employes, and work men, or women. Present number, 156.

The health of the household has been remarkably good. No death and no case of serious illness has occurred during the year.

The sanitary arrangements of the establishment are in excellent condition, and the medical supervision of our physician, Dr. Homans, has been regular and thorough.

The trustees can speak in terms of approbation of the uniform cleanliness of the buildings, of the personal neatness of the pupils, and the quiet and order which have pervaded the school.

The teachers and officers have performed their part zealously, and have worked faithfully to further the welfare of those committed to their care.

The pupils in general merit commendation for their good behavior and obedience to the rules and regulations established for their government.

We have endeavored to administer the affairs of the institution in such a manner as to attain the best results which the means at our disposal could effect; and, although we claim no infallibility, we cannot but be thankful for the degree of prosperity which has attended our efforts.

The institution is well appointed in all its departments, and its work is carried on with good results. We have aimed to improve those systematic arrangements which have heretofore proved satisfactory, to carry forward the original plan of the institution, to enlarge the sphere of its usefulness, to incorporate in its workings the fruits of enlightened experience and the results of the best thought given to this branch of education, and to perpetuate the spirit of beneficence towards those for whose good the school was founded. But, although we have continued to press on in the way of progress, we do not allow ourselves to think that our system of instruction and training is complete in its details and perfect in its appointments. On the contrary, we are aware of its shortcomings, and are ever ready to welcome all rational improvements, and make such changes as shall promise after thorough examination better results than we have yet attained.

Such is in brief the record of the year now closed. While we look back upon what has been accomplished during the past twelve months with gratitude, we regard the present with proper satisfaction, and the future with encouragement and hope.

THE PRESENT STATE OF THE SCHOOL.

The main object of the institution -- which is to give to blind youth of both sexes the same kind and degree of instruction as is afforded to other children in the best common schools of New England, and to train them up to industry and professional attainments -- has been steadily and successfully pursued, and has been followed by good results. The means and methods employed to promote this end have been improved and perfected from year to year, and our course of education embraces all branches which are necessary to fit pupils for a life of enlightened activity and usefulness.

The modes of instruction followed in the various departments of the institution are of the most approved character, and its graduates will bear comparison in point of intellectual attainments with those of any organized academy. Those who attended the graduating exercises of our school, or who have become otherwise familiar with its workings and with the present: condition of its departments, will bear testimony to this fact.