Harry World Braille Day!

HARRY WORLD BRAILLE DAY!
January, 4, 2011 Is World Braille Day!
So-called “War of the Dots”, and a wonderful interlude on the use of raised text in the Halifax School for the Blind.
There had been a raised-dot writing process before Braille invented his own, but it took up more space. Braille simplified it, and quickly taught his friends and fellow classmates at the Paris school for the blind how to use it. Previous to that, blind people had been taught to read using embossed letters. Letters would be embossed by getting paper wet and then putting it down on carved (wooden? Metal? I can’t remember) 3-d letters. This strikes me as in credibly cumbersome.
At first, Braille’s new method was embraced by the school. However, when the former headmaster retired, a new headmaster came in and was determined to get rid of everything that had been done by the former one. I wrote some notes about this:
“To dramatize and enforce the new system [of embossed writing for the blind], Dufau made a bonfire in the school’ rear courtyard and burned not only the embossed books created by Huay’s [First principal of the first school for the blind in Europe] original process but also every book printed or hand-transcribed in Louis’ [Braille{ new code. This comprised the school’s entire library, the the product of nearly 50 years’ work. To make sure no Braille would ever again be used at the school, he also burned and confiscated the slates, styli, and other Braille writing equipment.”
“Dafau’s students rebelled and Braille survived. The older students taught the younger students despite the punishment of slaps across the hands and going to bed without dinner.”
Braille made its way from France across England and then across to North America.
One thing I like about Braille is that it was invented and refined by blind people. Despite attempts to wipe it out, blind students refused to give it up—much like Sign Language, in fact.