Hall Braille Writer

Hall Braille Writer

Invented by Frank Hall

The first prototype for the Hall Braille Writer was conceived by Frank Hall, Superintendent of the Illinois School for the Blind in 1892. It was created by a local gunsmith and machinist, Gustave Seiber. Hall took the prototype to the Munson Typewriter Company in Chicago, where Superintendent T.B. Harrison and designer Samuel J Seifried created six pilot models, delivering them to Hall on May 27th, 1892. Munson Typewriter also made an additional lot of 94 machines for Hall. Harrison and Seifried soon left Munson and began manufacturing the braillewriter full time, along with the Hall Stereotyper and later a tactile mapmaking machine. When the partnership dissolved, Samuel Seifried continued the business until his death in 1912. The Cooper Manufacturing Company took over the braillewriter. When M.B. Skinner bought Cooper in 1921, the Hall Braille Writer was redesigned and continued to be sold until Cooper sold the design, dies, and tools to the American Foundation for the Blind around 1930. AFB assembled a few additional machines from parts in stock, but at the same time was developing its own machine, the Foundation Writer.

Citation: Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind
https://sites.aph.org/museum-virtual-exhibit/
https://sites.aph.org/museum-virtual-exhibit/vex2/20455A35-0ADC-4E01-BBDD-178137740580.htm

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Gift of Spring 2022. This Hall Braille Writer was manufactured by the American Foundation for the Blind in the 1930s.

Sugar Grove Historical Society

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This Frank Hall Braille Writer was a gift to the Sugar Grove Historical Society from Eagle Scout Sean Liu (Sugar Grove Boy Scout Troop 41) who provided the leadership and volunteers to create the digital archives and website for the online version of the Bliss House Museum.

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