Museums offer a range of programs for visually handicapped visitors, the approach depending upon the type of museum. In a period of constricting financial resources, the emphasis is on creating the most wide-ranging and usable accommodations possible. Professionals serving visually handicapped people are called upon to act as consultants, as are the visually handicapped themselves, to use their experience in advising museums on outreach programs, tours, and other services that will draw in the hesitant consumer.
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References
1.
It is not the purpose of this article to provide a comprehensive survey of literature about museum accommodations for visually handicapped visitors. Helpful bibliographies are available from the M. C. Migel Memorial Library, American Foundation for the Blind, 15 W. 16th St., New York, N. Y. 10011; in Access to Cultural Opportunities: Museums and the Handicapped (Washington, D.C.: Association of Science-Technology Center, 1979); and in Alice P. Kenney, Access to the Past (Nashville, Tenn.: American Association for State and Local History, 1980). Many sources of technical assistance are listed in Arts for the Blind and Visually Impaired and “Accessible Heritage: Reaching Blind and Visually Impaired Visitors,” both available from the National Access Center, 365 West 20th Street, Apt. 12C, New York, N. Y. 10011. Materials appearing more recently include a videotape, Museum Accessibility for the Visually Impaired Visitor, available from the Office of Museum Programs, Smithsonian Institution, 2235 Ave. I, Washington, D.C. 20560. Many interesting facts about contributions of visually limited people to history and the arts may be found in Patrick Trevor-Roper, The World Through Blunted Sight (New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1970), unfortunately not yet available in recorded form, and in Elizabeth M. Harris, In Touch: Printing and Writing for the Blind in the Nineteenth Century (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1981).
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For further information about museum programs described in this article write to the following:
3.
PowellJerry, Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Del. 19735.
4.
JeskinJill, Chicago Historical Society, Clarke Street at North Avenue, Chicago, Ill. 60614.
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GarciaHerbert, San Mateo County Historical Society, 1700 W. Hillsdale Blvd., San Mateo, Calif. 94402.
6.
SmithRussell, Independence National Park, 311-313 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19106.
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WilliamSally, Wadsworth Atheneum, 600 Main Street, Hartford, Conn. 05103.
8.
BielenbergWarren, Fort McHenry National Park, Baltimore, Md. 21230.
9.
MontgomeryJohn, Appomattox Court House National Historic Park, P.O. Box 218, Appomattox, Va. 24542.
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WrightOlie, Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Site, Route 9, Bellefield–Hyde Park, N. Y. 12538.
11.
EarnstJohn, Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg, Pa. 17325.
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BercierCarolyn, Gallier House, 1118-32 Royal St., New Orleans, La. 70116.
13.
Arlington House: The Robert E. Lee Memorial, George Washington Memorial Parkway, Turkey Run Park, McLean, Va. 22101.
14.
BrownTish, M. H. De Young Memorial Museum, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, Calif. 94118.
15.
SteinerCharles, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, New York, N. Y. 10028.
16.
MajewskiJan, Smithsonian Institution, 1103 900 Thomas Jefferson Parkway, Washington, D.C. 20560.
17.
BarCheryl, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th Street at Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, Pa. 19101.
18.
Indiana State Library, Division for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, 140 North Senate Avenue, Indianapolis, Ind. 46204.
19.
VogelCamille, Horizons for the Blind, 7001 N. Clarke Street, Chicago, Ill. 60626.
20.
LevineMarguerite, American Foundation for the Blind, 15 West 16th Street, New York, N. Y. 10011.
21.
StuckeyKenneth, Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, Mass. 02172.
