Tennessee School for the Blind

Tennessee School for the Blind was first conceived in the mind of James Champlin. Champlin, blind from birth, was inspired by visiting S.G.Howe and his Boston Asylum for the Blind. In 1843 Champlin launched a small private school for the blind in Nashville with the help of a group of ladies from the First Presbyterian Church. So successful was his program that on January 29, 1844, the Tennessee Legislature voted to underwrite the establishment of a "state" school for the blind. In 1853, a permanent facility was built on Lebanon Rd. at Asylum St. in Nashville. In 1861, the property was appropriated for a military hospital during the Civil War. Victorious Federal troops later destroyed it by fire. Following the devastating war, the school struggled to survive until philanthropist Judge John M. Lea purchased the Claiborne Mansion on Fillmore St. (108 Hermitage Ave.), and donated it to the state for the school. The institution flourished at this location for some 80 years. In 1949 the state bought the Clover Bottom Farm, and set apart one hundred acres for the campus. In 1952, TSB entered new facilities built on this famous plantation in Donelson, a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee. A major renovation of the school was completed in 1993, prior to TSB’s Sesquicentennial celebration. The school continues at this location to the present, serving students through our campus and outreach programs.