Books for the Blind: Stephen Preston Ruggles.

Anna Gardner Fish, a devoted employee of Perkins for 44 years, is remembered for her loyalty to the school as well as for her vast knowledge of the people and happenings on campus. Throughout her extended service at Perkins, she wrote for almost every issue of The Lantern, right up until her death in April 1941. Whenever somebody had a question about Perkins’ history, they would turn to Miss Fish. So it is perfectly fitting that her writings be included in this museum. The following passage about Stephen Preston Ruggles was written by Anna Gardner Fish and appeared on pages 3 and 8 of the December 15, 1936 issue of The Lantern.

It was a new field of endeavor into which Dr. Howe ventured when he opened his school for the blind in 1832; for a hasty tour of inspection of institutions of the kind in Europe, previously made, had yielded more points of departure than features to be incorporated in his new undertaking. Untried methods and knotty problems must have confronted him at every turn, and his own ingenuity must have been sorely taxed in meeting them.

How fortunate indeed was he to find at his right hand a helper of understanding mind, or inventive skill and of mechanical knowledge and precision. This man was Stephen Preston Ruggles, whose labors for Dr. Howe and in behalf of the blind were of inestimable value, giving the needed start in appliances for that day and paving the way for modern devices of the present time. He, it was, who built the first printing press for this school, in 1835, from his own design, and two years later he manufactured a similar one for the school for the blind in Philadelphia. In this latter year (1837) he made the big Globe which is one of our unique and priceless possessions and which, in its prominent position in the lobby, meets the eye of everyone who steps within the portals of the Howe Building.

This globe, so far as can be ascertained the only one of its kind in the world, was made by Mr. Ruggles with an exactitude which calls forth admiration. It is thirteen feet in circumference and is composed of 700 cross pieces of wood, so arranged that the only effect of contraction would be to flatten the poles. Its wooden horizon bears the signs of the Zodiac, and there are movable meridian lines which may be used in connection with astronomical facts. Its proportions are true and accurate, and its general outlines, in spite of a shifting world, are still dependable. Mr. Ruggles’ work in furtherance of the education of the blind was not limited to these major achievements but covered a wide field of lesser accessories which have none the less helped to make smooth the paths of both the teachers and the taught. Dr. Howe, in his seventh report of the school (1838) gave credit to Mr. Ruggles for his zeal, interest and ability.

An excellent oil portrait of Mr. Ruggles hangs in the historic museum, the gift of his grandniece, Mrs. A. F. Batchelder of Lancaster, New Hampshire, in 1929. It portrays a genial countenance, with fine features, keen eyes and intent gaze. It is well that the memory of this valuable assistant to Perkins Institution should be preserved for us in so vivid and pleasing a manner.