Did the Real Mary Ingalls Really Go to Blind School?
Yes, in the Little House on the Prairie book series, Mary Ingalls, one of the sisters of Laura Ingalls, becomes blind as a teenager due to an illness called scarlet fever. And the books began to focus on saving enough money in order to send Mary to blind school. Because finances were a constant struggle to the pioneering family, Laura also began working to save her wages to pay for Mary’s tuition and necessities for attending the school in Iowa.
The Ingalls managed to save enough money and Mary Ingalls attended the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School, a school for blind children, in Vinton, Iowa, where she learned to read and write in braille, as well as other skills that would allow her to be self-sufficient as a blind person. She also studied music, and became proficient in playing the piano and organ.
It is worth mentioning that the series is based on the real-life experiences of the Ingalls family, but it is not a strictly historical account. The author Laura Ingalls Wilder drew from her own life and memories and used literary license in the creation of her books, as well as what Mary told her about the blind school at the time.
