James Morrison Heady (July 19, 1829December 19, 1915) was an American deafblind author. Heady published multiple volumes of children's books and poetry and was frequently referred to by the contemporary press as the "Blind Bard of Kentucky". He was one of the first advocates for books for the blind in the United States and he invented several devices to facilitate communication and improve quality of life for deaf and blind people.

Early life and education

James Morrison Heady was born July 19, 1829, in

Elk Creek, Kentucky Elk Creek is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Spencer County, Kentucky, United States. Its population was 1,539 as of the 2010 census. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the community has an area of ; of it ...

. He was blinded in one eye in early childhood by a chip from a woodcutter's axe, and at age sixteen he lost sight in the other eye while playing with a schoolmate. His hearing was damaged after a fall from a horse as a child, worsening until he was completely deaf by the age of forty. After losing his sight at sixteen, Heady attended the Kentucky School for the Blind for a year, then attended the Ohio State School for the Blind for another fourteen months. He learned to read embossed print and invented a "talking glove", a cotton glove with the letters of the alphabet printed at multiple places on the hand, using this tactile spelling to communicate with friends. He was largely self-educated through reading books and compiled one of the largest private collections of raised-type books in the United States. Morrison Heady talking glove

Writing and advocacy for the deaf and blind

Heady developed a number of friendships with other deafblind people, including Helen Keller and

Laura Bridgman Laura Dewey Lynn Bridgman (December 21, 1829 – May 24, 1889) was the first deaf-blind American child to gain a significant education in the English language, twenty years before the more famous Helen Keller; Laura's friend Anne Sullivan becam ...

. He also cultivated relationships with poet

John Greenleaf Whittier John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Frequently listed as one of the fireside poets, he was influenced by the Scottish poet ...

, physician

Simon Flexner Simon Flexner, M.D. (March 25, 1863 in Louisville, Kentucky – May 2, 1946) was a physician, scientist, administrator, and professor of experimental pathology at the University of Pennsylvania (1899–1903). He served as the first director of t ...

, and legal scholar

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, each of whom read to Heady. He read '' Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind'' and other periodicals in embossed print to keep informed about current affairs. In his 20s Heady traveled throughout the United States advocating for more books to be made available to the blind. In 1854 he began collecting monetary donations for the publication of Milton's ''

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...

'' in embossed type. Heady inspired Dempsey Sherrod, a blind man from Mississippi, to raise funds for a national printing house for books for blind people, which was established as the

American Printing House for the Blind The American Printing House for the Blind (APH) is an American non-for-profit corporation in Louisville, Kentucky, promoting independent living for people who are blind and visually impaired. For over 150 years APH has created unique products an ...

. In 1860 Heady was appointed by the printing house's board to solicit donations for publishing raised-type books. His literary career began when he would gather local schoolchildren to hear his stories about pioneer days; friends encouraged him to write and publish the stories. His first book, a children's biography of George Washington titled ''The Farmer Boy, and How He Became Commander-in-Chief'', was written by Heady in 1864 under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Uncle Juvinell; it sold over 8,000 copies. One of his most significant works was a book of verse titled ''The Double Night and Other Poems'', which touched on autobiographical themes of loss. He wrote in multiple genres, including children's books, romantic verse, and philosophical poetry. Heady devised several inventions in his lifetime, including several designed to make life easier for deaf and/or blind people. His inventions included a self-opening gate, a swivel chair, and a thermos to keep coffee warm. In the 1860s he built a hydraulic machine for raising water from wells and cisterns. Heady also created a working prototype of a steam-powered embossing press. Another of his inventions was the "diplograph", a typewriter that with the flip of a switch would type in one of three different embossed scripts used by the blind:

Boston line letter Boston line letter was a tactile writing system created by Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe in 1835, a popular precursor to the now-standardized braille. History Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, the first director of the New England Asylum for the Blind (now ...

New York Point New York Point (New York Point: ) is a braille-like system of tactile writing for the blind invented by William Bell Wait (1839–1916), a teacher in the New York Institute for the Education of the Blind. The system used one to four pairs of poin ...

, or

braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...

. He left Spencer County in 1901, moving to Louisville. Heady finished his last two works at age 86, shortly before his death. He died December 19, 1915.

Legacy

A biography of Heady's life, ''Beyond the Double Night'', was written by Ken D. Thompson and published in 1996. A historical marker was erected by the

Kentucky Historical Society The Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) was originally established in 1836 as a private organization. It is an agency of the Kentucky state government that records and preserves important historical documents, buildings, and artifacts of Kentucky's ...

in 2004 in Heady's hometown of Elk Creek, with text reading:

Selected publications

* ''The Farmer Boy, and How He Became Commander-in-Chief''. Boston : Walker, Wise, and Company, 1864 * ''Seen and Heard, Poems or the Like''. Baltimore : H.C. Turnbull, Jr., 1869 * ''Pleasant Pages and Bible Pictures for Young People''. Boston : Henry A. Young and Co., 1869 * ''Burl''. Nashville : Southwestern Methodist Publishing House, 1884 * ''The Double Night and Other Poems''. Louisville : Courier-Journal Job Printing, 1901 * ''The Red Moccasins: A Story''. Louisville : Courier-Journal Job Printing, 1901

References

External links

"Famous Deaf-Blind Poet Issues New Books at 84"
2-page story on Morrison Heady from ''The Silent Worker'' vol. 26 no. 7 (April 1914)
"Morrison Heady"
2-minute audio biography of Heady from the American Printing House for the Blind {{DEFAULTSORT:Heady, Morrison 1829 births 1915 deaths American people with disabilities Deafblind people from the United States American male poets American children's writers Writers from Kentucky 19th-century American inventors 20th-century American inventors People from Spencer County, Kentucky