Broom Factory for Blind People

In 1919, Bertha Hanford established the Duluth Lighthouse for the Blind in 1919. It included a workshop and social center for blind people in Duluth, Minnesota. What's more, the members of the local blind community operated a broom factory until 1943. Hanford, who had lost her sight in 1903, wanted to offer employment for people on the Iron Range. The broom factory manufactured five sizes and styles of whisk brooms, seven kinds of house and parlor brooms, and four varieties of mops.

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“Range Broom Factory: 1920 – 1943”