Miss Spitfire (21 page)

The main gate to the old Tewksbury State Almshouse grounds as it looks today. The administration building has become the Massachusetts Public Health Museum.

The page of the almshouse ledger recording Jimmie and Annie's arrival at Tewksbury and outlining a few facts about their family life. A notation of Jimmie's death on May 30, 1876, was later squeezed in between lines.

Workers in the almshouse laundry.
Courtesy of the Tewksbury Historical Society

The Perkins Institution for the Blind, as it appeared in 1904.
Courtesy of the Perkins School for the Blind

A classroom at Perkins, circa 1890. The U-shaped arrangement of desks was typical of Perkins.
Courtesy of the Perkins School for the Blind

Ivy Green, and the little house, as they appear today.
Photo by Larry Gillentine © 1995

The water pump at Ivy Green, silhouetted against the kitchen building.
Photo by Sarah Miller © 2007