Our Mission
The mission of the Maryland School for the Blind is to serve students with blindness or low-vision of all abilities from birth through 21 throughout their educational journey.
Our History
In 1853 our school, first known as the Maryland Institution for the Instruction of the Blind, opened its doors in downtown Baltimore. The superintendent was David E. Loughery who was a blind graduate of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind.
Though the first eleven years saw several changes in leadership, the school settled into a period of tremendous growth under the direction of Frederick Douglas Morrison, who was superintendent from 1864 to 1904. Mr. Morrison was a national leader in his profession, who was instrumental in the founding of the American Association of Instructors of the Blind and an early proponent of a controversial new system called “braille”.
In 1868 Mr. Morrison moved the campus to much larger quarters on North Avenue and changed the name to The Maryland School for the Blind. In 1872, when segregation was still common practice, he was a founder of The Maryland School for the Colored Blind and Deaf and served as the superintendent of both schools..
In 1908 John Frances Bledsoe, who became superintendent in 1906, moved the school to its present location in the Northeast corner of Baltimore City.