THE PHIL HATLEN MUSEUM PRESENTS:

HISTORY FRAMED!
150 years in Austin

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New! High School students at TSBVI to create walking tour of museum. See who's behind the voices.

Come see why Billy the Kid, The University of Texas and the deep sounds of gospel music play important roles in the history of The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

In 1856, one student from Rusk County walked up the steps of our first home - an elegant house built by Abner Cook near downtown Austin - and a school was born. One hundred and fifty years and hundreds of thousands of students later, the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired serves not only Austin or Texas’ community, but blind students, parents, educators and others throughout the world.

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HISTORIC SITES

TSBVI’s historic campuses include the Neill-Cochran House, which the school occupied for two years before the state built us our own campus at the corner of 19th and Red River. The school spanned the entire block to “East Street,” otherwise known as Interstate 35. It was at this residence that General George W. Littlefield as well as Louis Hancock and other descendents of the Texas Revolution served as guardians of our institution.

In the 1900s, several other institutions, such as the Institute for Deaf, Dumb and Blind Colored Youths, the Dickson Orphanage and the Blind, Deaf and Orphan School would all culminate into the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. This campus, built on a hill that overlooked Austin from afar, now rests almost in the middle of the city.

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TALENTED STAFF,
TALENTED STUDENTS

Talented teachers were a specialty at the school, with notables such as Maud Cuney Hare, a black woman who fought for and won the right to stay in a Boston school dormitory in the late 1800s, when such things were not be possible.

Other graduates like Fred Lowery, or “Fred the Whistler” whistled sweet tunes with the likes of Dorothy Rae and Bing Crosby. Some, like O. W. Stewart, went on to be the superintendent of the Oklahoma School for the Blind.

Famous musicians, such as singer-songwriter Leon Payne and gospel groundbreaker, Arizona Dranes were taught by TSBVI teachers who believed in them and knew they would make their place in the world. And they did.

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CONTINUING A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION

Today, the school serves over 8000 children in Texas. Worldwide, however, the numbers are countless because of the unique curriculum developed at the school and sold all over the globe.

As the leader in education of the blind and visually impaired, TSBVI is proud of its rich history, much of which can be viewed at the TSBVI museum which opened this year in celebration of TSBVI’s Sesquicentennial.

A little history of the school.

TSBVI MUSEUM
1100 W. 45TH STREET
HOURS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: CALL AHEAD FOR WEEKDAY TOURS: 512-206-9207EMAIL