DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Adelia M. Hoyt memoir and photographs

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Page 77

UNFOLDING YEARS, 77

she was also a wonderful organizer. Her confidence in my ability carried me through many a perplexing situation. She read the letters to me and I was expected to write suitable answers. Together we worked out many a difficult problem, and came to enjoy our collaborations in preparing articles and reports for publication. 
I brought to my work some natural ability as a writer and teacher; a knowledge of work for the blind and the workers throughout the country, acquired during the years when my interest had never lagged. Above all, I was determined to succeed now that this opportunity had come to me, not only to earn a fair salary but to participate in the very kind of work I loved best -- that of helping my fellow blind. 
Those first two or three years were filled with many trying experiences which taxed my physical strength to the utmost, It seemed that whenever I cam to a really difficult place in my life some good friend came to my rescue. This time it was Mrs. Edith Kale. Mrs. Kale was employed by War Service in the Library of Congress. She had been temporarily assigned as secretary to Mrs. Rider to carry on a special line of work. Her desk was near mine and often unobtrusively she would come to me when I was in trouble, correct some mistake in my typing or explain something I did not understand. Her daughter. Norma then a young high school girl, came on Saturdays and did my filing. All this was a great help for which I was profoundly grateful! Mrs. Kale and her family are still included among my good friends. 
By 1921 Miss Mabel T. Boardman had been made National Director of Volunteer Service, American Red Cross, and the organization voted to make Braille Transcribing a part of its peace-time program; also that all volunteers should work through their local chapters. At that time only six chapters had undertaken the work. They were: Boston, Mass., Chicago, Ill., Pasadema, Calif., Providence, R,I., St. Paul, Minn., and Washington D.C. There were also a number of individuals working independently. They all looked to us in the Library of Congress for direction.

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UNFOLDING YEARS, 77 she was also a wonderful organizer. Her confidence in my ability carried me through many a perplexing situation. She read the letters to me and I was expected to write suitable answers. Together we worked out many a difficult problem, and came to enjoy our collaborations in preparing articles and reports for publication. I brought to my work some natural ability as a writer and teacher; a knowledge of work for the blind and the workers throughout the country, acquired during the years when my interest had never lagged. Above all, I was determined to succeed now that this opportunity had come to me, not only to earn a fair salary but to participate in the very kind of work I loved best -- that of helping my fellow blind. Those first two or three years were filled with many trying experiences which taxed my physical strength to the utmost, It seemed that whenever I cam to a really difficult place in my life some good friend came to my rescue. This time it was Mrs. Edith Kale. Mrs. Kale was employed by War Service in the Library of Congress. She had been temporarily assigned as secretary to Mrs. Rider to carry on a special line of work. Her desk was near mine and often unobtrusively she would come to me when I was in trouble, correct some mistake in my typing or explain something I did not understand. Her daughter. Norma then a young high school girl, came on Saturdays and did my filing. All this was a great help for which I was profoundly grateful! Mrs. Kale and her family are still included among my good friends. By 1921 Miss Mabel T. Boardman had been made National Director of Volunteer Service, American Red Cross, and the organization voted to make Braille Transcribing a part of its peace-time program; also that all volunteers should work through their local chapters. At that time only six chapters had undertaken the work. They were: Boston, Mass., Chicago, Ill., Pasadema, Calif., Providence, R,I., St. Paul, Minn., and Washington D.C. There were also a number of individuals working independently. They all looked to us in the Library of Congress for direction.