Join our sustaining donors by giving monthly or quarterly gifts of any amount. We recognize our Sustainers with:

• Invitations to exclusive donor events
• Giveaways including tactile graphics, student-made items, and more

For all supporters who name The Maryland School for the Blind in their estate plans. Tell us about your gift so we may celebrate your generosity now by recognizing you as a Legacy Society member and inviting you to our special 1853 Legacy Society lunches and events. To join, you can include a gift to The Maryland School for the Blind in your will or trust. Make your bequest unrestricted or direct it to a specific purpose. Indicate that you would like to give a percentage of the balance remaining in your estate or trust, or indicate a specific amount.

• Invites to Society Lunches
• Exclusive Society Braille Pin
• Private tours of the campus
• Bi-annual lunch and learn events

In 1853 our school, first known as the Maryland Institution for the Instruction of the Blind, opened its doors in downtown Baltimore. The founding superintendent was David E. Loughery who was a blind graduate of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind. The Loughrey Giving level is named to honor him.

Annual gifts totaling between $1,000-$2,499. We recognize our Loughery donors with all previous benefits in addition to:

• Invitations to exclusive donor events
• Giveaways including tactile graphics, student-made items, and more

In 1864 the school experienced a period of tremendous growth under the direction of Frederick Douglas Morrison, a national leader in his profession, and an early proponent of a controversial new system called “braille.”In 1868 Mr. Morrison moved the campus to much larger quarters on North Avenue and changed the name to the Maryland School for the Blind.

Annual gifts totaling between $2,500-$4,999. We recognize our Morrison donors with all previous benefits in addition to:

• Private tours of the campus
• Your name listed in the Annual Report
  
  Make a 4-year pledge of $2,500 or more per year to have your name added to a potting table in our Early Learning Greenhouse.
  This benefit is specific to your giving level and does not accumulate like annual benefits.

John Frances Bledsoe became superintendent in 1906 and two years later relocated the school in 1908 to the present campus in northeast Baltimore. During his thirty-seven years at the helm of the school, Dr. Bledsoe oversaw its expansion and professionalization. It was during this period when the school began its residential program with the construction of four cottages and Newcomer Hall.

Annual gifts totaling between $5,000-$9,999. We recognize our Bledsoe donors with all previous benefits in addition to:

• VIP tent access at annual See Beyond Festival
• Coffee with the Superintendent
  
  Make a 4-year pledge of $5,000 or more per year to have your name added to a Donor Recognition Bench on campus.
  This benefit is specific to your giving level and does not accumulate like annual benefits.

Benjamin F. Newcomer, a wealthy industrialist who without his support and funding the school would have never have opened. Mr. Loughery proposed the school for the blind be established in Baltimore to Mr. Newcomer, with the knowlege that Newcomer had a brother and a sister without sight. Together they worked to arouse popular interest and, as a result of their efforts, the General Assembly incorporated the Maryland School for the Blind in 1853. Mr. Newcomer was secretary of the Board at its organization, became its treasurer in 1864, and its president in 1881. He continued in the latter position until his death, when he had been a member of the Board for forty-eight years.

Annual gifts totaling $10,000 or more. We recognize our Newcomer donors with all previous benefits, except 4 year commitments, including:

• 4 free tickets to private donor events
  
  Make a 4-year pledge of $2,500 or more per year to have your name added to a special tactile mural on MSB’s campus.