DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Adelia M. Hoyt memoir and photographs

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Page 18

SCHOOL DAYS
It was Wednesday, September 17, 1879, that mother and I arrived in Vinton, a little country town located on the banks of the Cedar river about half way between Cedar Falls and Cedar Rapids. School was late in opening that year, due I believe to some repairs on the building. The school bus met us at the station and we were driven a short distance to the Institution, known then and for many years thereafter as the Iowa College for the Blind -- I. C. B. for short. 
We were admitted at the back door near which was the sitting room of the Superintendent, Rv. Robert Caruthers and his family. It was unusually cold for that time of year and although the building was heated by steam it was hardly comfortable. No doubt this fact made me appreciate and remember the warm, bright room into which we were ushered. A big stove gave off a mellow warmth. A canary singing in the sunny south window made the place homelike. I shall always be grateful for partial sight in those days which enabled me to get a picture of my surroundings. Mrs. Caruthers, who acted as Matron, received us graciously, and soon her husband came in and kindly interviewed me. We were taken to the big dining room in the basement where we ate our dinner at the Superintendent's table. I recall that we had grape pie and I wondered what to do with the seeds for I never swallowed them, but how it was settled I fail to remember. 
After dinner, Miss Lorana Mattice, the blind lady whom I met the previous summer, was summoned and she took me in charge. Out in the long hall she introduced me to Kitty of whom she had told me during her summer visit, and we were left to get acquainted. Kitty who had been in school for a year or more knew all about the place. She introduced me to other girls and proceeded to show me around. She conducted me to the front door, across a wide porch,
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SCHOOL DAYS It was Wednesday, September 17, 1879, that mother and I arrived in Vinton, a little country town located on the banks of the Cedar river about half way between Cedar Falls and Cedar Rapids. School was late in opening that year, due I believe to some repairs on the building. The school bus met us at the station and we were driven a short distance to the Institution, known then and for many years thereafter as the Iowa College for the Blind -- I. C. B. for short. We were admitted at the back door near which was the sitting room of the Superintendent, Rv. Robert Caruthers and his family. It was unusually cold for that time of year and although the building was heated by steam it was hardly comfortable. No doubt this fact made me appreciate and remember the warm, bright room into which we were ushered. A big stove gave off a mellow warmth. A canary singing in the sunny south window made the place homelike. I shall always be grateful for partial sight in those days which enabled me to get a picture of my surroundings. Mrs. Caruthers, who acted as Matron, received us graciously, and soon her husband came in and kindly interviewed me. We were taken to the big dining room in the basement where we ate our dinner at the Superintendent's table. I recall that we had grape pie and I wondered what to do with the seeds for I never swallowed them, but how it was settled I fail to remember. After dinner, Miss Lorana Mattice, the blind lady whom I met the previous summer, was summoned and she took me in charge. Out in the long hall she introduced me to Kitty of whom she had told me during her summer visit, and we were left to get acquainted. Kitty who had been in school for a year or more knew all about the place. She introduced me to other girls and proceeded to show me around. She conducted me to the front door, across a wide porch, 18