Rosetta Hall Korean Braille Textbook Designated as Cultural Heritage

Symbolic Artifact of the Dawn of Special Education for the Visually Impaired
"Meaningful Even as the First Attempt to Decode Hangul Braille"

The Korean Braille textbook created by American missionary Rosetta Sherwood Hall (1865?1951) is now being preserved as a cultural heritage asset. On the 5th, the Cultural Heritage Administration announced that it has registered the 'Rosetta Hall Korean Braille Textbook,' housed at the Daegu University Braille Publishing Museum, as a National Registered Cultural Heritage. It was evaluated to have sufficient historical value as a symbolic artifact of the inception of special education for the visually impaired.

This learning material was produced using the 4-dot Korean Braille system invented in 1897. It was developed by adapting the 'New York Braille,' created at the New York Institute for the Blind, to the Korean language. It includes parts of the content from Baejae Hakdang's Korean textbook 'Chohak Eonmun.' The book was made by piercing thick hanji paper treated with oil using a needle. Its dimensions are 13.4 cm in width and 21.3 cm in height.

This book was used for about 30 years until Park Du-seong announced the 6-dot Braille-based 'Korean Braille Hunmaejeongeum' on November 1926. It helped students at the Pyongyang School for the Blind, including the visually impaired Oh Bong-rae. Oh Bong-rae was a special educator known as the 'Helen Keller of Joseon.' He studied at the Tokyo School for the Blind in Japan and worked as a teacher at the Pyongyang School for the Blind.

Hall's Korean Braille was not widely used due to the limitations of the 4-dot Braille system, such as the inability to distinguish between the initial and final consonants. Therefore, organizations like the Korea Blind Union recognize the 6-dot Braille 'Korean Braille Hunmaejeongeum' as the first Korean Braille textbook. 'Korean Braille Day (November 4)' was also designated to commemorate Park Du-seong's creation of the 6-dot Braille textbook. However, the Cultural Heritage Administration stated, "The first attempt to decode Hangul into Braille alone is meaningful."

Hall is known as the founder of the Pyongyang School for the Blind, Korea's first special school, and the Pyongyang Kwanghye Women's Hospital. She treated women, visually impaired individuals, and children by visiting remote areas directly, as well as running the hospital. She provided medical education opportunities to Korean women, producing many female doctors. She passed away in 1951 and is buried alongside her husband, William James Hall, at the Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery in Hapjeong-dong, Mapo-gu.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.