Visual Culture and Disability: The Continuing Influence of Common Touch

The recent Visual Culture Program (VCP at LCP) exhibition Common Touch: The Art of the Senses in the History of the Blind explored the history of the education of the blind during the 19th century. A multi-sensory installation comprised primarily of contemporary artworks and Library Company raised- print texts, Common Touch also included a portrait photograph of Frederick N. Jacobson and his wife.

Jacobson, a blind preacher, and his wife Susanna served as a visual and thematic focal point in the exhibition. He was a blind man who defied Victorian stereotypes of the visually impaired.  He was educated, had a career, and was  married. A recent acquisition, the 1890 cabinet card photograph showing Jacobson reading a Bible with his fingers became a part of our holdings a few months before the exhibition opened.

As often happens in our exhibitions, Library Company materials on display embody long-realized collecting strengths or ones we have begun to foster. Our Michael Zinman Collection of Printing for the Blind has been at the core of our holdings related to disability studies for some years now, as well as represents a corollary to the mission of the Visual Culture Program — to challenge our conceptions of sight. Jacobson, a blind preacher, and his wife Susanna served as a visual and thematic focal point in the exhibition. He was a blind man who defied Victorian stereotypes of the visually impaired.  He was educated, had a career, and was  married. A recent acquisition, the 1890 cabinet card photograph showing Jacobson reading a Bible with his fingers became a part of our holdings a few months before the exhibition opened.

This interrelationship between visual culture and disability has affected recent acquisitions pursued by VCP, which seeks to bolster our graphic holdings that document the visual history of disability in America. Consequently, we have added materials to the collection that portray disability through a wide range of contexts, including this 1891 color advertisement for artificial eyes designed by Philadelphia opticians Queen & Co. Striking and surreal, the rows of brown and blue specimens showcased the artistry of the makers of the false eyes in addition to that of the lithographer of the print. The fine details used to render the irises and blood vessels indicate the care required to craft the prosthetics and their graphic depictions.

The circa 1898 illustrated letterhead of The Invalid Appliance Co., “manufacturers of modern mechanical appliances for the alleviation of the suffering” in Chicago also found a home at the Library Company. Adorned with vignettes of a number of the company’s designs, including “Reclining Chairs,” “Columbia Rolling Chairs,” and “Self-Propelling Chairs,” the piece of commercial ephemera sheds light on the evolution and ingenuity of mechanics in the lives of people with disabilities at all ages and stages of life.