PEDIATRICS Vol. 66 No. 3 September 1980, pp. 365
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CHARLES DICKENS DESCRIBES HIS IMPRESSION OF THE CHILDREN AT THE PERKINS INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND

T. E. C. Jr. MD

In his American Notes, published in 1843, Dickens vividly described his six months' visit to the United States between January and June 1842. None of the public institutions that he visited made a more favorable impression on him than the Perkins Institution for the Blind, located in Boston.

He wrote:

I went to see this place [the Perkins Institution] one very fine winter morning: an Italian sky above, and the air so clear and bright on every side, that even my eyes, which are none of the best, could follow the minute lines and scraps of tracery in distant buildings. Like most other public institutions in America, of the same class, it stands a mile or two without the town, in a cheerful, healthy spot; and is an airy, spacious, handsome edifice.

The children were at their daily tasks in different rooms, except a few who were already dismissed, and were at play. Here, as in many institutions, no uniform is worn; and I was very glad of it, for two reasons. Firstly, because I am sure that nothing but senseless custom and want of thought would reconcile us to the liveries and badges we are so fond of at home. Secondly, because the absence of these things presents each child to the visitor in his or her own proper character, with its individuality unimpaired—not lost in a dull, ugly, monotonous repetition of the same unmeaning garb, which is really an important consideration.

The wisdom of encouraging a little harmless pride in personal appearance even among the blind, or the whimsical absurdity of considering charity and leather breeches inseparable companions, as we do, requires no comment.