Past and Present Remembrances of Louis Braille

The braille code, created by Louis Braille (1809-1852), represents access to information and education, the currency of the future for children and adults who are blind or visually impaired. Being able to manage and manipulate information is vital not only to economic success but also to a person's dignity and perceived self-worth as an educated individual. It is therefore important, regardless of whatever educational program is involved, that we ensure that individuals have choice in learning and access to information now and in the future. In 2009, the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB) will celebrate Louis Braille's 200th birthday throughout the year by publishing essays and excerpts relating to Louis Braille and the code he created. I have been honored by being invited to be the series editor of the JVIB Louis Braille Bicentennial Celebration. Essay topics will include teaching braille in public schools; issues of print versus braille and uncontracted versus contracted braille; braille competencies; consumers' and teachers' points of view on the importance of braille; braille translation technology and its impact on literacy; and the state of the art concerning the Unified English Braille Code. The October 2009 issue will be a Special Issue on Literacy, and that month's Braille Celebration column will include a brief summary of information on Louis Braille that is not widely known. The last celebration of Louis Braille and his life conducted by the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) can be found in the March 1952 issue of one of JVIB's earlier incarnations, New Outlook for the Blind. Instead of celebrating the birthday of Louis Braille, as we will do this year, that issue marked the 100th anniversary of his death in 1852 and included the first authoritative biography of Louis Braille in the English language. Entitled The Reading Fingers: Life of Louis Braille, 1809-1852, it was a slightly abridged version of the French biography written by Jean Roblin and was translated by Ruth G. Mandaline. (The full translation of The Reading Fingers was published by AFB in 1955, and an electronic version of the booklet appears online as part of AFB's celebration of Louis Braille at: .) To further commemorate the 100 years since Braille's death, AFB and its affiliate the American Foundation of Overseas Blind (now known as Helen Keller International) issued a special seal bearing a likeness of his face and the dates of his life. The seal was entitled: "Louis Braille Centennial, 1809-1852, Light-Bearer to the World of Darkness." (An image of this seal can be viewed online in the JVIB Time Line, available at: .) I will not go into detail on the life of Louis Braille here, since the literature is already rich with accounts of his life, but I will simply highlight some interesting points that I hope the reader will enjoy as much as I do. Please check back every month to continue the celebration of this man's unique life and the impact his code has had in the 200 years since his birth. ACCOUNTS OF Louis BRAILLE'S BIRTH AND DEATH The description of Louis Braille's birth and early life from the Roblin biography provides a glimpse into life in the 19th century: The fourth of January, 1809, was a day of happiness for the Braille family. The parents, however, were no longer very young; but Simon-Rene Braille [a harness maker, aged 44] said proudly that the new baby to be born would be "the companion of his old age." ... Suffering labor pains, Monique [Baron Braille, aged 39] had been impatiently awaiting the birth.... At four o'clock in the morning, a small, puny creature, with flabby, wrinkled skin was born, and for some time, it was thought he would not live. (Roblin, 1952, p. 65) But live he did, the youngest of four siblings. As a boy of 3 years, Louis went to his father' s forbidden workbench and, "in hands, still too chubby to be skillful," took hold of a knife and a piece of leather to cut. …