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touching the letters. Heady's other inventions included the pull-chain home farm gate, furniture, utensils, and games. Built a steam-powered embossing press for
American Printing House for the Blind, and wrote and published prose, poetry, and songs. Entombed with his parents in the Elk Creek Cemetery.
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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
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The Blind Bard of
Kentucky was blind by fifteen and deaf before forty. Neither condition limited his contributions. As friends read aloud, he embossed notes on the Diplograph machine he invented and built. He invented the Talking Glove with the alphabet printed on it so others could communicate by
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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
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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
110:. 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.
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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
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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:
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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
433:"FAMOUS DEAF-BLIND POET ISSUES NEW BOOKS AT 84; Morrison Heady's Fame Is Not Limited to Louisville, Ky., Where He Lives -- He Is an Inventor, Architect, Musician, Story Teller, and Humorist as Well as Verse Maker"
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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
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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.
191:, which touched on autobiographical themes of loss. He wrote in multiple genres, including children's books, romantic verse, and philosophical poetry.
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Uncle
Juvinell; it sold over 8,000 copies. One of his most significant works was a book of verse titled
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From shelter to self-reliance : a history of the
Illinois Braille and Sight Saving School
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compiled one of the largest private collections of raised-type books in the United States.
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2-minute audio biography of Heady from the
American Printing House for the Blind
615:. Jacksonville, Illinois: Illinois Braille and Sight Saving School. p. 72.
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Heady developed a number of friendships with other deafblind people, including
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562:(A First Handtype Press ed.). Minneapolis, Minnesota: Handtype Press.
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Where I stand : on the signing community and my DeafBlind experience
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Deaf persons in the arts and sciences : a biographical dictionary
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93:(July 19, 1829 – December 19, 1915) was an American
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265:. Nashville : Southwestern Methodist Publishing House, 1884
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594:"The story of James Heady's life redefines 'blind ambition'"
313:. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 180–182.
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in 2004 in Heady's hometown of Elk Creek, with text reading:
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Annual Report of the
American Printing House for the Blind
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Coon, Nelson (February 1959). "Morrison Heady 1829-1915".
222:, was written by Ken D. Thompson and published in 1996.
384:. New Orleans, Louisiana. November 28, 1869. p. 10
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and improve quality of life for deaf and blind people.
277:. Louisville : Courier-Journal Job Printing, 1901
271:. Louisville : Courier-Journal Job Printing, 1901
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After losing his sight at sixteen, Heady attended the
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The farmer boy, and how he became commander-in-chief
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The Farmer Boy, and How He Became Commander-in-Chief
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The Farmer Boy, and How He Became Commander-in-Chief
520:. Kentucky State Printing Office. 1866. p. 6.
257:Pleasant Pages and Bible Pictures for Young People
537:. Boston: Walker, Wise, and Company. p. viii
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600:. Louisville, Kentucky. May 3, 1996. p. 15.
106:James Morrison Heady was born July 19, 1829, in
681:"Famous Deaf-Blind Poet Issues New Books at 84"
493:"American Printing House for the Blind History"
464:"The Blind Bard of Kentucky and Laura Bridgman"
247:. Boston : Walker, Wise, and Company, 1864
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129:One of Heady's inventions, the "talking glove"
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259:. Boston : Henry A. Young and Co., 1869
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628:"Blind J. M. Heady brought much joy"
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654:"James Morrison Heady (1829-1915)"
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251:Seen and Heard, Poems or the Like
269:The Double Night and Other Poems
189:The Double Night and Other Poems
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413:. December 23, 1915. p. 13
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117:for a year, then attended the
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687:vol. 26 no. 7 (April 1914)
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275:The Red Moccasins: A Story
717:American deafblind people
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102:Early life and education
220:Beyond the Double Night
148:John Greenleaf Whittier
76:December 19, 1915
634:. Louisville, Kentucky
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156:Lewis Naphtali Dembitz
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732:Writers from Kentucky
239:Selected publications
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154:, and legal scholar
91:James Morrison Heady
722:American male poets
632:The Courier-Journal
598:The Courier-Journal
108:Elk Creek, Kentucky
47:July 19, 1829
470:. October 24, 2014
437:The New York Times
411:The New York Times
382:The Times-Picayune
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685:The Silent Worker
439:. January 4, 1914
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84:(aged 86)
58:Elk Creek
185:pen name
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