Visual Instruction, Division of

The first state-sponsored program using visual aids for educational purposes was funded by the New York State Legislature in 1886. At this time, the Superintendent of Public Instruction contracted with the American Museum of Natural History to provide free illustrated lectures on scientific subjects such as anatomy, physiology, zoology, and physical geography. At first, these lectures were only given in New York City and were attended by teachers and the general public. Soon after, lecture materials were provided to normal schools throughout the state. The Museum produced lantern slides and obtained projection equipment, which it deposited with participating normal schools. In 1895 the provision of slides and equipment was extended to any school district in a city or village having a population over 5,000.

The Board of Regents of the State of New York began a similar program in 1896. As a part of the Board's educational extension work, the Home Education Bureau circulated sets of lantern slides and photographic prints to be used for instruction, and large wall pictures to be used for schoolroom decoration. These items were loaned to libraries, extension centers, evening and summer schools, and other educational extension organizations. Shortly after the 1904 establishment of the State Education Department under the administration of the Board of Regents, the Board authorized a unified lantern slide program administered by the newly created Division of Visual Instruction (DVI). Whereas previous legislation had funded "visual instruction" to be administered by multiple entities, Chapter 683 of the Laws of 1906 was the first state statute to appropriate funding for the DVI itself.

The Division collected and classified photographic negatives from which lantern slides and photographic prints were made for loan to schools and libraries. In 1911 a fire in the State Capitol destroyed virtually the entire collection of about 29,000 negatives, most of the lending collection of lantern slides and photographic prints, and nearly half of the lending collection of wall pictures. Using the estimated 60,000 lantern slides that were on loan at the time of the fire, the DVI began rebuilding its collection of negatives and slides. As part of the rebuilding process, the Division devised new classification and accessioning systems and collected negatives depicting a wider range of subjects than the previous collection. Most negatives were purchased directly from photographers or stock photo houses. Images were carefully selected for composition and content and were used to develop sets of slides correlated to various subjects in the elementary and secondary school curriculum.

The DVI prepared and published topical lists of slides and annotated study guides for use with slide sets. It loaned slides either in prepared sets or individually. Obsolete or outdated images were periodically withdrawn or replaced with new images. The Division retained a single copy of each outdated image. Also around this time, the Division began to produce publications under the name "Visual Instruction Division," even though there is no evidence its name was ever officially changed. Throughout the 1930s funding for the DVI's programs gradually declined while demand for loans and lantern slides continued to increase.

During a general reorganization of the Education Department in 1937, the DVI was renamed the Bureau of Radio and Visual Aids and placed under the Division of School Administrative Services. Shortly thereafter the Bureau began to decentralize its slide loan program by placing loan collections of slides at some State normal schools. The lantern slide loan program was discontinued in 1939 and the loan slide collection was divided among normal schools, museums, and school districts. Subsequently the Bureau (later renamed the Bureau of Audio and Visual Aids) concentrated exclusively on research and advisory services to schools regarding the educational use of audio-visual media. In 1960 the Bureau was discontinued and its functions transferred to the Bureau of Classroom Communications.