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» WINNETKA WEEKLY TALK, SATURDAY, JULY 4, 1925 Hadley School for Blind Gains National Attention American Magazine Contains Glowing Article Setting Forth History of School Eprror's Note: --In the July issue of the American Magazine appears an ar- ticle by Neil M. Clark on William A. Hadley of Winnetka, founder and head of what is probably the only correspondent school for the blind. In this article, one of a series entitled "Interesting People," Myr. Clark tells of the circumstances pre- ceding and causing Mr. Hadley's blind- ness. The remainder of the article is an account, in Mr. Hadley's own words, of the events that led up to the founding of this remarkable school for the blind. Myr. Hadley tells of his first pupil, a blind woman living in Wichita, Kas., while teaching whom he gradually con- ceived and elaborated plans for an ex- tension of the school and an enriching of its curriculum. With his wife he at- tended a convention for the .blind in Towa, where he presented his plans and received a most cordial endorsement. From that time on the enterprise has steadily grown until now its influence has spread even into China and India, and the number of pupils and courses has rapidly increased. The article as it appears in the Amer- ican Magazine, follows: During the Christmas holidays, nine years ago, a teacher in one of the Chi- cago high schools had a severe attack of the grip and was compelled to lie abed for several days. He had not en- tirely recovered when school reopened; but he obstinately insisted upon rising and resuming his duties. A tragedy was the result. This teacher, William A. Hadley, had been troubled with his eves before. Now the condition was aggravated. Within a few weeks of his premature "recov- ery" he became totally blind! Opportunity, it seems, can choose strange disguises; for this great mis- fortune turned out to be Mr. Hadley's chance for service in a broader field than had ever before come his way : As a direct result of his blindness, he has undertaken a work that already has carried his name to tens of thousands of people in every state in the United States, and even abroad. It was a strange institution he found- ed, possibly the only one of its kind-- a correspondence school for the blind. "My blindness," he says, "was a mis- fortune in more senses than one. was far from wealthy; and when I lost my sight and my accustomed means of earning a livelihood, the burden of sup- port fell heavily on my family. In ad- dition I had to struggle against the feeling that I was no longer of any use in the world. As 1 became adjusted to my situation, I tutored a few stu- dents privately, but only a few; and there were five long years of idleness when I fought to believe that some- how, somewhere. there must come again an opportunity to use the abili- ties I had spent the better part of a lifetime cultivating." Mr. Hadley, be it said possessed de- grees from two universities, and had studied at two others. His teaching experience had been varied and thorough. "The opportunity I wanted," he con- tinued, "finally came in a curious way: the Rev. I. B. Plumar, a minister from the East, called at our house, and hap- pened to notice a book in Braille on the porch. Braille, you know, is the raised type used in printing for the blind. I mastered it soon after I lost my sight. "This minister mentioned a blind woman, a member of his congregation, who had few inferests. Then he asked this casual question: "'Could she learn Braille by corre- spondence ?' "The idea of correspondence courses for the blind had never occurred to me, and neither then nor later did I discover anybody else who had thought of it. But instantly it suggested to me a work, a service, an opportunity, such as I had long looked for in vain. "I knew that the vast majority of the blind were poorly educated and hope- lessly shut out from normal intellectual activity. I believed I saw a chance to do something worth-while to change that condition. Indeed, I immediately began writing to the superintendents of institutions for the blind in various states. {n my enthusiasm I even made tentative outlines of courses. "The first tangible result was a letter that reached me in 1920. A blind wom- an in Wichita, Kansas, wrote to ask if T could give her some instruction by mail. She had heard of me through the superintendent of the school for the blind in her state. 1 replied, saying that what I had in mind was experi- mental, but that if she was willing to try to learn, I was willing to try to teach her. So she became my first pupil. "For her I worked up a great deal of material, sent her books to study, as- signed lessons, had her prepare re- plies to questions and send them on to be graded and returned. In short, I went ahead on the plan used in corre- spondence instruction everywhere. When she had learned to read the Braille, I pointed out how she might continue her studies, and 1 eagerly turned to securing other students. "lI had no means to carry on any- thing extensive. I soon discovered, however, that a worthy task finds will- ing hands to help. Some neighbors be- came interested and helped to interest others. Funds were provided to send Mrs. Hadley and me to a meeting of workers for the blind held in Iowa. There I told what I had in mind and had already done, and the convention endorsed my plan. "From then the school has grown steadily. The raised-type magazines circulating among the blind mentioned the work, and the resulting demand for courses renewed the interest of my friends, who made themselves responsi- ble for organizing and incorporating a school under state laws. A budget was raised which enabled us to secure printing machines to emboss and print the books needed for the work, to meet the expenses of an office, and to pay me a salary, as well as to pay others employed to help me. "Applications for courses soon came faster than we could handle them. At first, I had been doing the work in our home. Soon, however, we rented offices over a store, where we still are. "In 1922, the first full year of opera- tion, we had 261 students. As students completed their studies, many dropped out, of course. The present enrollment is 350. "Students are enrolled from 44 states and from Canada, China, In- dia, Australia, and the Philippines. "We have embossed nine books, and printed many copies of these on ma- chines operated by our own hands. Among other tasks, we had to find time to write five special textbooks, in addition to the standard texts used. Our courses range from one on the ap- "There are 20 courses at present, and we add others as students want them in sufficient numbers to justify the ex- pense. Just now we have a waiting list of 21 students who want a course in life insurance salesmanship. Be- sides the courses, we maintain a cir- culating library, from which we send out books to every part of the coun- try. "There is no charge for instruction. As I told you, the blind are mostly very 1 ,poor. We have had prospective stu- dents who said they could not take courses because they lacked the money for stamps and for paper on which to write ! "Our students are very diversified in talent, age, occupation, and location. We limit instructions to adults, and have a few who are more than 70 years old! My last letter was to a young woman student in Montana. The one before that was to a blind colored minister in Florida, also a student. This. man, by the way, is most enthusi- astic, and wants every course we offer; he has just started psychology. "In some cases, we seem to have enabled students to increase their earn- ing capacity. For instance, a blind young man in Montreal was making brooms, but earned very little. He took our course in salesmanship, and with our help persuaded his father to let him try selling brooms. We have had many enthusiastic letters from him since. In the last one he said he was netting $36 a week. "There have been other cases of modest but substantial economic suc- cess following the studies, but I think our greatest service is that we give the blind--who would otherwise have to spend most of their time in idle dark- ness--useful mental occupation. We enable them to enter into the life of the world, and to feel that they too can do and live. "That is what the blind want most. When we were starting, I remember suggesting to a woman that if she could not read Braille, she might have regu- lar texts read to her by others. "But that is not the same thing! she protested. 'It means so much to do it yourself! "And that is true. Unfortunately, most people, when they do anything for the blind, give them what the blind do not want--pity. The blind want opportunity." : Mr. and Mrs. Orval Tower road, left last Thursday to mo- tor with & party of friends to Minoc- qua, Wis., to remain a week. Their son is at camp there for eight weeks. aE Mr. and Mrs. Philemon B. 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