Hello Mr. Wyatt,
Wow! This is awesome. I am so happy to learn that Mr. Shotwell was blind.
This fits in with my observation that most advancement in the education of
blind folks has come from blind folks ourselves. Think of Louis Braille or
Helen Keller.
Another great thing is that he, my wife, our NFB state president and I also
graduated from Eastern Michigan University. I am proud of Eastern for its long
record of openness to educating everyone, regardless of blindness.
Our legacy is that once we get something going, sighted folks take it over and
push us to the background. The school for the blind, when I attended was quite
good. There were a number of competent blind teachers who provided positive
role models for us students, along with good sighted teachers. We competed
well with regular ed schools in athletics and music and such things as debate
and forensics. Many MSB graduates moved on to have successful careers as
leaders in government and the private sector. There was one study in the
1980’s that reported that Michigan School for the Blind graduates had the
highest per capita income of any state school for the blind in the nation.
In the 1990’s the closure of the school was done, despite strong efforts of
blind people to prevent it, entirely by sighted folks who had little or no
knowledge of the education or abilities of blind folks. We fought hard in the
state legislature and were successful in the House of Representatives. We were
defeated in the Senate due to Senator Degrow from Port huron who equated the
Scool for the Blind with a mental institution that was being closed in his
district. There is a misperception that educating blind children in a classroom
with sighted students is better for the blind student and that somehow
associating with fellow blind students is detrimental. Actually, nothing can
be further from the truth. Blind students in regular ed are often separated,
misunderstood mistreated and bullied and they often do not have access to the
array of resources available in a setting dedicated to their education as is
available in a residential school setting. Congregating blind students
improves self confidence and allows for the sharing of successful and valuable
techniques of doing things as a blind person. Fortunately, there is still 1
legacy of the school, that is, Camp Tuhsmeheta, a camp facility near Greenville
which does provide some of these benefits to blind youth even if on a much
reduced volume.
As you may gather, I am still frustrated and angry about this unreasonable
action. These are my views and are not necessarily those of other blind folks,
though there are certainly many who feel as I do. Today, blind folks are being
taught in their local schools and the outcomes are widely variable. Some are
doing pretty well while others are not.
The percentage of blind folks who are being taught Braille has dropped from
around 40% in the ‘60’s to around 9% today. Braille is, arguably, at least as
valuable today as in the past. For instance, mathematics or coding for
computer programming is practically impossible without Braille.
Well, pardon me for my rant. This is something important to me and I work with
the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan to assure that blind young
folks are getting the best education possible under, sometimes, difficult
circumstances.
Thank you for helping keep the history alive and relevant.
Warmest Regards,
Fred
From: Ken Wyatt [mailto:kenj46@xxxxxxxxx] ;
Sent: Friday, April 3, 2020 8:32 AM
To: Fred Wurtzel <f.wurtzel@xxxxxxx>; Bea Furman <healingsongcmt@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Michigan School for the Blind
Fred, I am responding to both you and Bea with a capsule of information about
Mr. Shotwell that I unearthed in my research just yesterday. I have more, but
will be writing for a local weekly (the Albion Recorder), since Mr. Shotwell
was reared here as a boy, and his grave is here in a family plot. My interest
grew out of another story I was writing about an old legend at the cemetery,
which involved his family, not him. It was only in research that I stumbled
across Ambrose M. Shotwell and his story. It deserves to be retold, and some
credit given to him. Anyway, here's a little information to let you know one of
the founding fathers of the School for the Blind. If you care to stay in touch,
I should complete my writing in the next week. I'll gladly share the results
after publication. Good to hear from you. And thanks, Bea, for passing my
question along for others who might have some information. Ken Wyatt
P.S. I took the paragraph below from an online digitalization of a 1914 report
of the School for the Blind. Some of it is not quite intelligible - a common
problem with digitalization.
+++
Ambrose M Shotwell was born in Elba. N. Y. May 30, 18.53; graduated from the
New
York State School for the Blind at Batavia in 1873, and from the Michigan
Normal College at Ypsilanti in 1878. He resided chiefly with his parents on a
farm in Concord Township, Jackson Co., Mich., making brooms, coaching students,
reading law, publishing a bi-monthly paper in the b' teres of the blind etc. He
drafted Representative S. A. Strong's bill, the passage of which by the
legislature 1879 Established the Michigan School for the Blind as a separate
institution, which was opened at Lansing in September, 1880; was employed in
state schools for the blind in Wisconsin, Arkansas anti Michiean - compiled and
published genealogical annals of the Shotwell family in America, etc.. 1898.
Ken and GiGi Wyatt
750 Swains Lake Dr
Concord MI 49237
517-524-7163
On Thursday, April 2, 2020, 09:59:17 PM EDT, Fred Wurtzel <f.wurtzel@xxxxxxx
<mailto:f.wurtzel@xxxxxxx> > wrote:
Dear Mr. Wyatt,
I am a graduate of the Michigan School for the Blind. I graduated in 1969. I
saw a post from you on the Michigan School for the Blind Alumni list serve. It
was posted by Bea Furman, a friend of mine. I do not know anything about Mr.
Shotwell, however, I am very interested in the topic and would be happy to talk
to you if you feel I may be of help. There are a very few older alumni still
alive who may have knowledge of this person. Unfortunately we alumni are a
disappearing group.
Warmest Regards,
Fred Wurtzel, President
Capital Area Chapter National Federation of the Blind of Michigan.
