Stephen Kuusisto, University Professor and Director of Interdisciplinary Programs at the Burton Blatt Institute, spoke recently about the history of Braille and blind literacy at the Newberry Library in Chicago. “Everyone knows about Louis Braille but few know about the tactile reading systems that came before his remarkable invention,” Kuusisto says. “At the Newberry one can see some of the first efforts to create raised alphabets, as well as some of the first tactile maps for the blind from 18th century Europe.”

Kuusisto met with students from several liberal arts colleges who are learning about the history of literacy and archival research during a “term abroad” in Chicago.