The Purpose of this Archive of Documents

This project is the singular work of David Holladay, a member of the staff of Duxbury Systems. The project started with an effort to update one page in the Duxbury Systems website that relates to the history of the the Duxbury Braille Translator. I wanted a better accounting of the complex story of how the MIT braille project of the 1960's was turned over to MITRE corporation, which through the actions of Joseph Sullivan, and Robert Gildea became Duxbury Systems. This document-gathering project has included many more documents as I discovered additional stories that can be told.

Here is a collection of interesting files not yet put into the menus.

1960's

There is no dispute that APH was the first to deploy computer-based braille translation, MIT took the lead since MIT was more interested in letting others further develop its tools.

Some observations about this time period:

• There are two conferences at the AFB on nine-dot braille. It appears that the management of AFB and APH wanted to switch to nine-dot braille.
• The timing and the title of some of the conferences hints at the tension between MIT and APH.
• I am pleased to feature Abraham Nemeth's Ph.D. thesis in this collection.

1970's

As we start the 1970's, the MIT braille software project is turned over to MITRE Corporation. Under the leadership of Robert Gildea. Soon, Joe Sullivan joined this project at MITRE. I have made every effort to collect every braille-related document issued by MITRE. In the early 1970's, Atlanta's warehouse of braille textbooks burned. Federal money was used to deploy MIT embossers and MITRE DOTSYS software to meet this emergency.

Unfortunately, the Vietnam War caused a cut off of funds to MIT for rehabilitation. The leadership on this work turned over to private vendors. In July 1975, Robert Gildea, Anne Simpson & Joseph Sullivan met at Simpson's home in Duxbury, Massachusetts to form Duxbury Systems. Soon after, Joe and Gen Sullivan bought out their partners as initial sales did not meet expectations.

The book Computerized Braille Production, the proceedings of a meeting in London in 1979, shows the vast amount of work done around the world on applying computers and peripherals to braille production. It is important to recognize how much work occurred outside of the United States.

1980's

The 1980's brought the microcomputer into this field. This was a time of intense turmoil of computers, peripherals, software, and technology. These changes allowed David Holladay and Caryn Navy to enter this field with their work on the popular Apple II computer, which opened new markets for schools and blind individuals.

There were more European conferences on computerized braille production. Unfortunately, I was not able to obtain files except for #1 and #3.

1990's and 2000's

These sections contain papers which are relevant to this collection, which is written at a later date. Fortunately, it should not be difficult to navigate these sections.

In 1971, I was a freshman at MIT. In mid October, I met Caryn Navy, another freshman who happened to be blind. As I looked up issues of blindness and braille, I noticed that over the last 10 years, there were an enourmous number of projects at MIT related to blindness. This is the reason I want to obtain information on some of these MIT projects.

Web Links

• Joe Sullivan and David Holladay have written "Early History of Braille Translators and Embossers" for the Duxbury Systems website.
• The articles are written by Robert Mann in 1986 and 2002 deal with the history of the development of the Braille Translators during the 1960's and 1970's.
• B.T. Kimbrough has written Dots And Doubts: Technology And Turmoil Continue To Flourish After Braille's First Century and a Half
• Access World has many articles on the history of Sensory Aids products
• ERIC (Education Resource Information Center) is another major resource for full-text documents
• The Veteran's Administration has kept its archive of the Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development from the early 1960's to this day on its website.
• The Wikipedia article on "The Optacon" is especially detailed. I wish that there were more detailed articles on other sensory aids products and categories on Wikipedia.
• Enerstvedt, Regi. Th. (1996) Legacy of the Past (Those who are gone but have not left:) Some aspects in the history of blind education, deaf education, deaf-blind education, and epilogue; with emphasis on the time before 1900. Forlaget Nord-Press, Dronninglund, Danmark. 399 pp.
• Bibliography on Braille Automation and Related Research, Prepared by J.M. Gill March 1978
• The Bibliography on Deaf-Blind; Compiled For The Northwest Regional Center for Deaf-Blind Children, Seattle, Washington By Janice Walter and Andrea Currie (1974)
• ACM SIGCAPH archive

Some Comments

This collection started as an extension to "Tech Support Heaven," an internal website for Duxbury Systems staff. It has grown to a size that it appears to be a significant resource for this field. To create this, we raided the considerable data collections of Joe Sullivan and David Holladay. More documents were added via the intensive use of Google, with Google Scholar and the Internet Archive being key resources. A tip of the Hat to the NFB for funding the digitization of so many important documents.

Status of Documents being Sought

These are the documents that would help augment this collection. Any comments about this collection are welcome. david@duxsys.com Duxbury Systems wishes to honor all copyrights. We will include or exclude items from this collection at the request of the copyright holder.

Various Dissertations (mostly from MIT)

• A Real Time Braille Translation System, by Fred L. Luconi, S. M. Thesis, Electrical Engineering, June 1965
• Lichtman, S.A., "The Design of a High-Speed Slave Brailler for a Braille Converter Device" Thesis (S.B.), Dept. of Mech. Engr, MIT, May 1961.
• Eglinton, I. G., Preliminary Design of the Mechanical to Electrical Coding Conversion for a Typewriter to Braille Converter. Thesis (S.B.), Dept. of Mech. Engr., MIT, May 1961.
• Maskrev, R. H., Design and Construction of a Braille Keyboard for the High-Speed Electric Brailler. Thesis (S.B.), Dept. of Mech. Engr., MIT, May 1963.
• Kennedy, D.W., "A High-Speed Braille Embossing System - 3 Volumes" Thesis (S.M.), Dept. of Mech. Engr., MIT, May 1963.
• Armstrong, A.E., "A Braille Telecommunication Terminal," Thesis (S.M.) Dept. of Mech. Engr., MIT, June 1965.
• Greiner W. E., "Development of Braille For Class Room Use," Thesis (M.S., Dept. of Mech. Engr. MIT, Feb 1968.
• Sturges, R. H. Jr., Design Modifications of the M. E. Brailler. Thesis (S.M.) Dept. of Mech. Engr., MIT, May 1969.
• Scott, D. B., Jr., System for the Production of Braille. Thesis (S.M.), Dept. of Mech. Engr. MIT, June 1969.

Proceedings and Report(s)

• Sensory Aids Evaluation and Development, Final Report to Vocational Rehabilitation Administration, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Contract SAV-103645, Sept. 1, 1964 to Sept. 30, 1965, 115 pp. October 31, 1965

European Conference Series

Between 1973 and 1990, there were 6 European conferences on Computerized Braille Production. The first conference was republished as SIGCAPH Newsletter #15 in March 1975 and is available from the ACM. The third conference was widely published, full scans are available as well. The other proceedings are quite rare.

• (not seeking, listed for completeness) Computerized Braille Production, Proceedings of the First International Workshop in Münster Germany, 1973 edited by R. A. J. Gildea, G. Hubner, H. Werner, 1974
• Computerized braille production: Proceedings of the international Workshop in Copenhagen (Denmark), September 1974 By Helmut Werner In Schriftenreihe / Rechenzentrum, Universität Münster; no. 30, Rechenzentrum der Universität Münster, 1978, International Workshop on Computerized Braille Production; (Copenhagen, Denmark): 1974.09.
• (not seeking, listed for completeness) Computerized Braille Production: Today and Tomorrow (Third Workshop in London), edited by Croisdale, Derrick W., Herman Kamp, and Helmut Werner; papers presented in London, 1979, printed by Springer-Verlag, 1983.
• Computerized Braille Production, Proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop in Toulouse, France, Sep. 1981
  
  
• Computerized Braille Production: Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop, Winterthur, October 30 - November 1, 1985; [in memoriam Prof. Dr. Helmut Werner] Eds J.M. Ebersold, T. Schwyter and W. A. Slaby Eichstatt: Katholische Univ. 1986
• Computerized Braille Production, Proceedings of the Sixth International Workshop in Leuven Belgium, 1990 edited by G. Francois and J. Engelen, 1990
• European Braille Conference: papers and recommendations; arranged by the European Regional Committee of the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind in cooperation with Norges Blindeforbund (the Norwegian Blind Organization) in Oslo, 26-28 September 1973.
  [[ERIC: ED094534]] Presented are seven papers given at a 1973 conference on European braille by the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind. Arne Husveg sees braille as a continuing indispensable aid and recommends legislation giving the blind the right to free instruction and materials. The use of special braille systems of mathematical, physical, and chemical notation are considered by Dr. R. Nikolussi who notes the lack of a uniform international technical braille notation. J. Vinding examines modern methods and transcribing and printing braille such as computerized reading of inkprint, translating into braille symbols, and printing. Possibilities for international cooperation discussed by A. Ammannato are the establishment of an European center for the manufacture and sale of braille paper and the free distribution of braille materials among nations. D. Bell focuses on the importance of providing special periodicals in braille and on tape. An international survey on the blind person as reader, listener, and buyer of literature is reported by D. Spychalski. Recommendations from the conference center on: the continuing importance of braille; the importance of special notation, signs, and systems in braille; transcription and printing; the need for cooperation in production; the need for more periodicals for the blind; and the need for improved international lending arrangements. Additionally recommended by the conference is a World Braille Year in 1975 to further the use of braille.
• The Louis Braille British Conference on Research into Reading and Listening by the Visually Handicapped, Girton College, Cambridge University (England), 6th-9th January 1975.

Other Papers

• Leffler, Lois C., "The Development of a Computerized Grade II Braille Translation Algorithm," Wescon Technical Papers 1971, Session 30. August 24, 1971.
• Boyles, Marion P., and LaGrone, Robert E., "Computer Braille Translation of the Atlanta School System." Wescon Technical Papers 1971, Session 30. August 24, 1971.
• Haynes, Robert L., An "Automated Braille Translation System" Wescon Technical Papers 1971, Session 30. August 24, 1971.
• Puckett, R. E., Enhancement of Grade 2 Braille Translation, Final Report, U. of Kentucky, 1971.

Books by Louis Braille

• Petit mémento d'Arithmétique À l'usage des commençants, contenant les nombres entiers et les fractions décimales, suivi de cent problèmes. By Louis Braille, Printed by l'Institution Royale des Jeunes Aveugles (1838).
• Éléments d'Arithmétique, Contenant les entiers et les fractions, suivis d'un appendice sur l'extraction de la racine carrée. By Louis Braille, Printed by l'Institution Royale des Jeunes Aveugles (1840).