NYS School For The Blind In Batavia Turns 150
I was fortunate to have known my grandma's aunt Agnes, my dad's Great Aunt. My grandma was also named Agnes, so I'm pretty sure she was named for her aunt. So she was considered my great, great aunt. Anyway, "Aunt Agnes" passed away in 1999 and she lived to be a week shy of her 100th birthday. That in itself seemed like a miracle to me because Aunt Agnes was also blind from a very young age. Not to be overly sentimental, I don't have a ton of memories of her but the ones I do have are ones that I share now with my brothers and my parents. So my dad has been going through old stuff. He came across Aunt Agnes's diploma from when she graduated from high school. He contacted the school and went to their anniversary celebration back in June and donated the diploma to the school. I just wanted to post it in here because it seems like something I will want to remember. I'll put the article behind a Live Journal cut so that it doesn't take up so much room.
BATAVIA - As dignitaries filed in for the New York State School for the Blind’s 150th Anniversary Celebration, the care that survives long after graduation was shared in a quiet corner of the auditorium.
Vincent Tagliarino, from the Class of 1954, chatted alongside a girl set to graduate in two weeks and her classmate. Both laughed and smiled at the chance to trade stories set in the same places more than six decades apart.
The reaction from the crowd of alumni was louder when speakers offered memories of well-liked teachers, activities, and that half-moon cookies - a beloved lunch treat - would be served as part of the festivities that ensued Friday.
For students, it was a chance to sing and share in pride they can carry back home, into the workforce, and return to their alma mater. Jacob, who had chatted with Tagliarino, arrived in Batavia last spring having spent his early teens feeling responsible for his challenges. Not physical challenges - I’m a procrastinator, he said, and his class attendance had slid to the point where he wasn’t going to school.
“I lacked self-confidence that I could perform at the same level as my peers,” said Jacob, who thanked the staff and a stable, structured atmosphere at the NYSSB for reversing that feeling. “They gave me the confidence in myself to step outside my comfort zone, and that wasn’t easy.”
He is now working toward a Regents diploma with a feeling of independence “because my teacher believes in me.”
“I know I’m making progress toward my goals, but there are days I wish I was home and back in my old routine,” Jacob added. “Fortunately the staff at NYSSB have pushed me to do better, and to graduate and pursue a degree in psychology.”
Cheers came from many of the staff, whose purple shirts carried the school’s name in print and braille.
A slideshow played before the ceremony showed the school evolving with new technology, as students went from working typewriters to modern touch-screen computers. But aspects of their education, like Scouting, music and entrepreneurial projects, have survived.
State Archivist Thomas Ruller filled in the gaps from the Sept. 2, 1868 arrival of Samuel Stillwell, the school’s first student, to its centenary. Stillwell left when his family traveled west within a year of his Batavia schooling, Ruller said, but among the first students was Genesee County native Ambrose Shotwell, who became a prominent educator and advocate for braille text in Michigan.
“He was gentle in spirit, cautious in judgement ... a great student, and untiring worker for those who are blind,” Ruller said, quoting from a 1914 biography. “No one (in his field) commands greater respect.”
The popular history of the school was shared by Alumni Association President Edwin Cooney, who in 1950 was the youngest student at the NYSSB, and by 1966 was its eldest.
Describing what the first day of the semester was like, Cooney recounted what was an annual change in emotions as he felt the car slowing as it came down Richmond Avenue each fall.
“There was a lump in my throat as I said goodbye to my mom and dad,” he recalled. “But inside, there was a feeling of excitement.”
Boys would delight to hear the “bouncing echo” of the cement and the cleanliness of their dorm. As roommates arrived, talk would turn to summer experiences and hit records. Students would seek out their first-year classmates and offer support for “the inevitable homesickness.”
“In bed, we’d be whispering far into the night ... until the morning bell (rung) - you really and truly got it, that summer vacation was over,” Cooney said.
Decades later, he appreciated the “heart wrenching decision” parents have made since 1868 - to send their vulnerable children sometimes hundreds of miles away. But it became a natural part of his childhood.
Superintendent Barb Lemen watched as alumni and students, and Jack Herring - the nephew of 1919 graduate Agnes Hamilton - all spoke. She thanked them all, the emotion overcoming her as her own place in that story came up.
“I could not be more proud to be a part of the NYSSB history,” Lemen said, telling the crowd “I’m a Marine, I’m not supposed to cry.”
“It’s been my privilege to get to know each and every one of the alumni, thank you for being part of (this history).”
She’d go on to hand Herring a framed photo of Hamilton found in the school’s archives; tell alumni the famed chimes have been repaired; and reveal that staff have recorded a “memory book” of alumni stories that has been digitized and will be sent to all of them.
“The best history is the history of individuals, the stories we tell about the people we know, the people that influenced us, the people that make a difference,” said State Archivist Thomas Ruller, who was impressed to the reaction to Assemblyman Steve Hawley’s mention of “a great piano player” Johnny Brunson elicited. “That’s history, that’s the stories we need to keep in our hearts and need to pass on to one another.”
Hawley said the stories will continue - citing failed efforts to close the school during both his and his father’s terms in the Assembly.
Credit:
http://www.thedailynewsonline.com/bdn01/alumni-keep-nyssbs-history-alive--20180609
/lj-cut>
*****
Here is a video from the local news up there. My dad isn't in it but it is pretty interesting to me.
“This Blind School is here to stay for as long (as it is needed),” Hawley said to cheers. “We love you, and we love what this school does for all of you.”
BATAVIA - As dignitaries filed in for the New York State School for the Blind’s 150th Anniversary Celebration, the care that survives long after graduation was shared in a quiet corner of the auditorium.
Vincent Tagliarino, from the Class of 1954, chatted alongside a girl set to graduate in two weeks and her classmate. Both laughed and smiled at the chance to trade stories set in the same places more than six decades apart.
The reaction from the crowd of alumni was louder when speakers offered memories of well-liked teachers, activities, and that half-moon cookies - a beloved lunch treat - would be served as part of the festivities that ensued Friday.
For students, it was a chance to sing and share in pride they can carry back home, into the workforce, and return to their alma mater. Jacob, who had chatted with Tagliarino, arrived in Batavia last spring having spent his early teens feeling responsible for his challenges. Not physical challenges - I’m a procrastinator, he said, and his class attendance had slid to the point where he wasn’t going to school.
“I lacked self-confidence that I could perform at the same level as my peers,” said Jacob, who thanked the staff and a stable, structured atmosphere at the NYSSB for reversing that feeling. “They gave me the confidence in myself to step outside my comfort zone, and that wasn’t easy.”
He is now working toward a Regents diploma with a feeling of independence “because my teacher believes in me.”
“I know I’m making progress toward my goals, but there are days I wish I was home and back in my old routine,” Jacob added. “Fortunately the staff at NYSSB have pushed me to do better, and to graduate and pursue a degree in psychology.”
Cheers came from many of the staff, whose purple shirts carried the school’s name in print and braille.
A slideshow played before the ceremony showed the school evolving with new technology, as students went from working typewriters to modern touch-screen computers. But aspects of their education, like Scouting, music and entrepreneurial projects, have survived.
State Archivist Thomas Ruller filled in the gaps from the Sept. 2, 1868 arrival of Samuel Stillwell, the school’s first student, to its centenary. Stillwell left when his family traveled west within a year of his Batavia schooling, Ruller said, but among the first students was Genesee County native Ambrose Shotwell, who became a prominent educator and advocate for braille text in Michigan.
“He was gentle in spirit, cautious in judgement ... a great student, and untiring worker for those who are blind,” Ruller said, quoting from a 1914 biography. “No one (in his field) commands greater respect.”
The popular history of the school was shared by Alumni Association President Edwin Cooney, who in 1950 was the youngest student at the NYSSB, and by 1966 was its eldest.
Describing what the first day of the semester was like, Cooney recounted what was an annual change in emotions as he felt the car slowing as it came down Richmond Avenue each fall.
“There was a lump in my throat as I said goodbye to my mom and dad,” he recalled. “But inside, there was a feeling of excitement.”
Boys would delight to hear the “bouncing echo” of the cement and the cleanliness of their dorm. As roommates arrived, talk would turn to summer experiences and hit records. Students would seek out their first-year classmates and offer support for “the inevitable homesickness.”
“In bed, we’d be whispering far into the night ... until the morning bell (rung) - you really and truly got it, that summer vacation was over,” Cooney said.
Decades later, he appreciated the “heart wrenching decision” parents have made since 1868 - to send their vulnerable children sometimes hundreds of miles away. But it became a natural part of his childhood.
Superintendent Barb Lemen watched as alumni and students, and Jack Herring - the nephew of 1919 graduate Agnes Hamilton - all spoke. She thanked them all, the emotion overcoming her as her own place in that story came up.
“I could not be more proud to be a part of the NYSSB history,” Lemen said, telling the crowd “I’m a Marine, I’m not supposed to cry.”
“It’s been my privilege to get to know each and every one of the alumni, thank you for being part of (this history).”
She’d go on to hand Herring a framed photo of Hamilton found in the school’s archives; tell alumni the famed chimes have been repaired; and reveal that staff have recorded a “memory book” of alumni stories that has been digitized and will be sent to all of them.
“The best history is the history of individuals, the stories we tell about the people we know, the people that influenced us, the people that make a difference,” said State Archivist Thomas Ruller, who was impressed to the reaction to Assemblyman Steve Hawley’s mention of “a great piano player” Johnny Brunson elicited. “That’s history, that’s the stories we need to keep in our hearts and need to pass on to one another.”
Hawley said the stories will continue - citing failed efforts to close the school during both his and his father’s terms in the Assembly.
Credit:
http://www.thedailynewsonline.com/bdn01/alumni-keep-nyssbs-history-alive--20180609
/lj-cut>
*****
Here is a video from the local news up there. My dad isn't in it but it is pretty interesting to me.
“This Blind School is here to stay for as long (as it is needed),” Hawley said to cheers. “We love you, and we love what this school does for all of you.”
Click to view