News : New sign honors legacy of Mary Ingalls at IBSSS

A new sign is now present on the front lawn of the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School (IBSSS). The IBSSS and the people of Vinton have long been proud of their connection to alumnus, Mary Ingalls. Ingalls is one of the starring characters in the “Little House” books by her sister, Laura Ingalls Wilder, based on their family’s experiences homesteading. After Ingalls lost her sight due to illness her family pulled together in order to get the necessary funds, with help from the government of the Dakota Territory, to send her to the Iowa College for the Blind as IBSSS was known then. Ingalls experience at the school taught her academic and living skills to enhance her independence and confidence.

With the founding of the IBSSS Mary Ingalls Society local residents and historians have been working on getting out the word of this connection and encouraing people to add a stop at the IBSSS to their Laura Ingalls Wilder trips. The IBSSS Mary Ingalls Society first unveiled the plan for installing signs identifying the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School as a Mary Ingalls Site in January of this year. This plan has now become a reality thanks to generous gifts from John Anderson and the Michael Hibbs Memorial fund.

The lovely green and white sign designed by Robert Spangler using a drawing of Mary done by Christine Juhl identifies the school as a “Mary Ingalls School Site” in both print and Braille. The sign is located on G Ave in front of the school and a second will soon be installed along Highway 218 at the back of the school. They are positioned to be the perfect photo op and no collection of family photos from a Laura Ingalls Wilder trip will be complete without a photo of the school with these new signs.

Please take note of them as you are going by, or, even better, make a special trip to check them out. We’d love to see your photos, please share them on the IBSSS Mary Ingalls Society Facebook page.