Thousands of people visited her at the Perkins School, "asked for keepsakes, followed her in the newspapers, and read paeans to her in evangelical journals and ladies' magazines".[20] On Saturdays, the school was open to the public. Crowds gathered to watch Laura read and point out locations on a map with raised letters. Laura became "very much excited" by these events, but her teachers were concerned because Laura knew she drew more attention than the other students.[21] In the late 1840s, Howe said that "perhaps there are not three living women whose names are more widely known than Laura Bridgman's; and there is not one who has excited so much sympathy and interest."[22]