Letter from John Bennett to Anne Sullivan, Sept. 17, 1889, (pp. 3 & 4 of 5)

Handwritten letter to Annie Sullivan from John A. Bennett, Acting Director of Perkins Institution (now Perkins School for the Blind)

John Bennett

... special case and that the $30000 paid by the state did not cover her care. To admit Helen, without charge, whose care is exactly like Edith Thomas' except that she is from a state which pays nothing to the institution I fear would cause just complaint on the part of our state authorities. Another reason is that the institution is under a moral obligation to receive, as pupils, all blind children of suitable age and condition in the New England states on payment of $300 each by their respective states, and our readiness to do so in the past has prevented other blind schools from springing up in the other N. Eng states. If we were to receive you and Helen, there might come an application from Maine the next day for the admission of a girl who would in consequence have to wait for at least a year and we should be in the position of having deliberately disqualified ourselves from performing our obligation. We refused to take a girl from New Jersey last Saturday on this very ground. I do feel justified in making this offer and am certain the trustees would approve [in:-] to furnish Helen with all of the apparatus from...