Josie Wood
Josephine Ethel "Josie" Wood (22 January 1874 – 4 April 1965) was a South African educator, co-founder of the South African Library for the Blind and the South African National Council for the Blind.
Early life
Josephine Ethel Wood was born in
Career
From her own home at first, Josie Wood maintained the lending library of braille materials, a list of borrowers, and the materials for mailing the books. She was the library's primary fundraiser, selling her own art to support the project. Soon she was commissioning braille transcriptions of more works for her patrons, and sending abroad for donations of money and books. She established a long-running relationship with the National Library for the Blind in London. She arranged favorable shipping deals with carriers of the braille materials, and eventually with the postal service.[3]
A new building ("Bannerman Building") and hired staff were added by 1925, when the
Personal life and legacy
Wood died in 1965, aged 91 years.[3] In 1966, the Josie Wood Wing of the South African Library for the Blind was dedicated in her memory. There is a The Josie Wood Trust Fund for the South African Library for the Blind, which funds programs in literacy for blind children and youth.[6]
References
- ^ "Josephine Ethel (Josie) Wood" South African History Online (2011).
- ^ "About Us", South African Library for the Blind website.
- ^ a b c V. H. Vaughan, Fifty Years of Service: The Story of the South African National Council for the Blind (SANCB 1979): 20-24; 364-367.
- ^ Lindie van Zyl, "Imfama – Mapping our Progress over the Past 50 Years" Archived 22 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine SANCB.
- ^ R. W. Bowen Medal Recipients, 1963-2011[permanent dead link], SANCB.
- ^ The Josie Wood Trust Fund for the South African Library for the Blind, info4africa.