The Ontario School for the Blind

Photos by Alan L Brown - June, 2005

 

Plaque Location

In the City of Brantford
at coordinates N 43 08.912 W 80 16.805

Click here for an interactive larger map
© 2010 Microsoft

Plaque Text

In 1869, on the recommendation of the Rev. Egerton Ryerson, Superintendent of Education, funds were allocated to establish the first provincial school for blind children. The Ontario Institution for the Education of the Blind, which included the nearby gate-keepers lodge, opened on May 1, 1872, with eleven students. Under its first Principal, Dr. E. S. Wiggins, the residential institution combined elementary school subjects with manual and vocational training, and soon gained recognition for its contribution to the theory and practice of education the blind. By 1881 enrolment had risen to 201. Renamed the Ontario School for the Blind in 1913, it later introduced secondary school courses and in 1974 became The W. Ross Macdonald School in honour of Ontario's Lieutenant-Governor.

Related Ontario plaque page
Ontario School for the Deaf

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Posted February 9, 2009 - This is a great picture of the Superintendent's residence, known as the "Sardarghar" or chief's house. I had the pleasure of living in it with my family, the Armstrongs, from 1955 to 1972. The property and facilities at the former O.S.B as I knew it were the best. Tom

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