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

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Page 81

UNFOLDING YEARS, 81

we could afford a housekeeper for we were tired of taking many of our meals out and shifting for ourselves at home. We were fortunate in finding just the right sort of person. Mrs. Margaret Chew, whom everyone called "Grandmother" an elderly but still active woman, came to us in the fall of 1925 and remained for five years. 
Also in the year 1925, Mrs. Gertrude T. Rider, now Librarian for the Blind, Library of Congress, and National Director of Braille, American Red Cross, resigned her dual position because of her approaching marriage. She became Mrs. Fred Harpham and went to live in Akron, Ohio. When Mrs. Rider first communicated her plans to me and said she expected me to carry on the work of Braille Transcribing, I was greatly disturbed. I was hesitant to assume such a responsibility without her help, but there seemed no one else available and qualified to fill the position, and the work must go on. Thus it came about that I was placed in complete charge of the Red Cross Work of Braille Transcribing, as well as being Assistant in what was now know as the "Service for the Blind" In the Library of Congress. But I was not to have the title of "Director" for many years -- a fact which was a thorn in the flesh. 
The Librarian of Congress, Doctor Herbert Putnam, appointed his cousin, Miss Margaret D. McGuffey, as Librarian for the Blind and she was given the title of Director of Braille for the Red Cross. Miss McGuffey as a brilliant woman, educated in this country and abroad, but she knew nothing of work for the blind. Furthermore, she was in poor health. At first she tried to direct our work. When she found that I was quite capable of handling it, although willing to cooperate with her and accept any suggestions which were at all feasible, she gradually left me alone to carry on. We became good friends and I learned much from her in the way of general management and the philosophy of getting along with people. After two years death took her from our midst. Mrs. Maude G. Nichols was then placed In Charge of the Service for the Blind and I was given the title of Acting Director of Braille for the Red Cross.

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UNFOLDING YEARS, 81 we could afford a housekeeper for we were tired of taking many of our meals out and shifting for ourselves at home. We were fortunate in finding just the right sort of person. Mrs. Margaret Chew, whom everyone called "Grandmother" an elderly but still active woman, came to us in the fall of 1925 and remained for five years. Also in the year 1925, Mrs. Gertrude T. Rider, now Librarian for the Blind, Library of Congress, and National Director of Braille, American Red Cross, resigned her dual position because of her approaching marriage. She became Mrs. Fred Harpham and went to live in Akron, Ohio. When Mrs. Rider first communicated her plans to me and said she expected me to carry on the work of Braille Transcribing, I was greatly disturbed. I was hesitant to assume such a responsibility without her help, but there seemed no one else available and qualified to fill the position, and the work must go on. Thus it came about that I was placed in complete charge of the Red Cross Work of Braille Transcribing, as well as being Assistant in what was now know as the "Service for the Blind" In the Library of Congress. But I was not to have the title of "Director" for many years -- a fact which was a thorn in the flesh. The Librarian of Congress, Doctor Herbert Putnam, appointed his cousin, Miss Margaret D. McGuffey, as Librarian for the Blind and she was given the title of Director of Braille for the Red Cross. Miss McGuffey as a brilliant woman, educated in this country and abroad, but she knew nothing of work for the blind. Furthermore, she was in poor health. At first she tried to direct our work. When she found that I was quite capable of handling it, although willing to cooperate with her and accept any suggestions which were at all feasible, she gradually left me alone to carry on. We became good friends and I learned much from her in the way of general management and the philosophy of getting along with people. After two years death took her from our midst. Mrs. Maude G. Nichols was then placed In Charge of the Service for the Blind and I was given the title of Acting Director of Braille for the Red Cross.