On October 1, 1893, the Industrial Home for Blind Men was founded by Eben Porter Morford;[3] he became the superintendent. By 1894 seventeen blind men lived in the home.
In 1952, IHB established a braille and large print textbook library for children. Also in 1952, George Hellinger opened the first Low Vision Eye Service within a blindness agency. In 1953 a summer day camp was started. In 1967 IHB opened a preschool for children.
During the 1960s, IHB founded the federally funded Anne Sullivan Macy Service for people who were deaf-blind. In 1967 the Helen Keller National Center was established by a unanimous act of Congress, and IHB was chosen to operate the program, which provided comprehensive rehabilitation training for people with a severe dual sensory loss or impairment.
In 1983, IHB established a day treatment program for adults who are developmentally disabled and who are also blind or deaf-blind. In 1985, the Board of Trustees renamed the organization to the Helen Keller Services for the Blind.[4]
