The Deaf Part 12

The earliest effort for the establishment of a school for the deaf in America of which we know was made almost contemporaneously with the opening of the nineteenth century, and at the time that such schools were being created over Europe. There lived at this time in Boston a man named Francis Green, who had a deaf son. This boy he sent to the school in Scotland which Braidwood had started; while he himself became much interested in the subject of the education of the deaf. In 1783 he published in England a work ent.i.tled "_Vox Oculis Subjecta_." In 1803 he had, with the help of some of the ministers, a census made of the deaf in Ma.s.sachusetts, when 75 were found, and it was estimated that there were 500 in the United States. Green felt the need of a school, and in several of the publications of the time appeared his writings, in which he urged the creation of one.[167]

It was in 1810, however, and in the city of New York that the real beginning of deaf-mute education in the United States was marked. This was when John Stanford, a minister, found several deaf children in the city almshouse and attempted to teach them. Though his efforts continued but a short time, it was these from which resulted the establishment a few years later of a school in the city, the New York Inst.i.tution.[168]

In Virginia shortly afterwards a second school was started, which in itself is to be set down as an important stage in the course of the early attempts to create schools for the deaf in America. In 1812 there came to the United States John Braidwood, a member of the family which was in control of the inst.i.tution at Edinburgh, Scotland, in the hope of establis.h.i.+ng a school. He began plans for one at Baltimore, but before it had gotten under headway, he was called to Virginia to undertake the instruction of the deaf children of William Bolling, of Goochland County. This private school continued, with seemingly satisfactory results in the progress of the pupils, for two and a half years. In 1815 it was moved to Cobbs, Chesterfield County,[169] to be open to the public. The school now promised well, and there were already several pupils. However, Braidwood was looking about for other opportunities, and had been in touch with several parties in regard to the employment of his services.[170] In 1816 he went to New York, where he proposed to start a school, and collected a few pupils, only to return to Virginia again after a few months. In 1817 he began operations anew, this time at a private cla.s.sical school at Manchester under John Kilpatrick, a minister. In less than a year this too was abandoned by Braidwood, who soon after met his death. Kilpatrick attempted to continue the school only a year or two longer, possibly even taking a few pupils with him when he moved to c.u.mberland County in 1819; and so was brought to an end the checkered career of this early school for the deaf in Virginia.[171]

Such were the beginnings of the instruction of the deaf in America.

With the exception of these undertakings, barely touching the surface in the number of children reached, the only means of education possible in the land was in sending children to a school in Europe, which was done in the case of a few wealthy parents. For the great ma.s.s of the deaf, isolated and scattered though they were at the time, there was no instruction to be had.

But this period was now nearly pa.s.sed. Attention in more than one quarter was being directed to the deaf and the possibilities of their education; and in the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of not a few men a feeling was astir that instruction was somehow to be brought to them.[172] The seed was already sown, and by the time the school in Virginia was broken up, others were beginning to arise elsewhere. When the work was finally to be taken up, it was to be upon a solid foundation which should last with the lastingness of education.

BEGINNING OF THE FIRST SCHOOLS

The seat of the first permanent school to be established in the United States for the education of the deaf was Hartford, Connecticut; and the name of the one man with which the beginning work will forever be coupled is that of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. America, however, was not to commence the work of itself: the spirit and the method had to be brought from Europe.

Early in the nineteenth century there lived at Hartford a young deaf girl, Alice Cogswell by name, the daughter of a physician, and in her a group of men had become interested. An investigation of the number of the deaf had been made in 1812 by a body of clergymen, when 84 were found, and it was estimated that there were 400 in New England, and 2,000 in the United States; and the question of a school had been considered.[173] In 1815 the friends of Alice Cogswell decided to organize a society for the purpose of providing means to instruct some of these, and to secure an instructor. To take up this work, attention was directed to Gallaudet, then a young theological student. He was fixed upon as the man to go to Europe and acquaint himself with the methods there employed. Gallaudet responded at once to the appeal made to him, and proceeded to prepare himself forthwith.

The same year, 1815, saw Gallaudet start upon his errand, his expenses being defrayed by the society.[174] He first visited England, but finding there a monopoly composed of the Braidwood and Watson families, he betook himself to France. In this country he met with a warm reception, and here he eagerly set upon his labors of study and investigation at the school which de l'epee had established. He observed closely, and then the following year turned his face towards America, equipped for the great work before him, and bringing with him one of the deaf teachers from Paris named Laurent Clerc.

On Gallaudet's return the second part of the undertaking for the creation of a school was to be accomplished, namely, the securing of funds, which required half a year more. For this purpose Gallaudet and a few others set about soliciting contributions. New York, Philadelphia, Albany, New Haven, and other cities were visited, and the interest in the new undertaking was shown by the response made.[175] By the time the school was ready to open, over $12,000 had been obtained, which was soon after more than doubled.[176] The contributions came from various sources, including individuals, societies and churches, and were from not a few states, and even foreign countries. A charter was granted the society in 1816 by the legislature of Connecticut; and $5,000 was appropriated for the school,[177] which was probably the first appropriation of public money for education not in regular schools.[178]

On April 15, 1817, the new school threw open its doors, and thus was established the first inst.i.tution for the instruction of the deaf--in fact, the first for any of the so-called "defective cla.s.ses." Its success was a.s.sured from the start, and there were many applicants, coming from different parts of the country. The school had to depend mainly upon private contributions, and for its maintenance efforts had to be continued to collect funds, pupils being taken for this purpose to several cities for exhibition, especially before church a.s.semblies and the legislative bodies of New England.[179] It was not long in appearing, however, that, as the school was really to be national in scope, the United States government might be appealed to for aid. Visits were accordingly made to Was.h.i.+ngton in 1819, and the interest of certain of the members of Congress was secured. Among these was Henry Clay, who showed a particular regard for the new undertaking, and it was largely through his influence that Congress was prevailed upon to bestow upon the school 23,000 acres of the public land, from which in time $300,000 was realized.[180] It was the understanding, there being no census of the deaf at this time, that any state or individual might partic.i.p.ate in the benefit of this grant, and that the school was to be open on equal terms to all.[181]

Though the school was regarded as national in one sense, it was also felt to be particularly New England's from the share that these states took in its development. Very soon after it had commenced operations a lively interest had been manifested; and in 1825 a meeting was held at Hartford of official representatives of all these states except Rhode Island, to discuss the possibilities of co-operation in its work.[182]

Hardly, indeed, had the school entered upon its labor when, without solicitation, Ma.s.sachusetts began sending its deaf children to it. It was followed in turn by the others, all the states of New England thus coming to provide for their children here as at a common school--a policy continued with all for many years. By this arrangement a certain amount from the state treasury was allowed for each pupil. The action of Ma.s.sachusetts was taken in 1819, of New Hamps.h.i.+re in 1821, of Vermont and Maine in 1825, of Connecticut in 1828, and of Rhode Island in 1842.

Two other states, far removed from New England, also by special legislative grants provided for pupils in this school for a time. These were Georgia and South Carolina, both beginning in 1834.[183] In addition, there were private pupils sent here from a number of states.[184]

The school at Hartford was now in full operation, with a nation-wide interest upon it.[185] But scarcely had it received its first pupil when other schools began to be established, and indeed New York and Pennsylvania are hardly to be considered behind Connecticut at all, schools in these states being in the course of formation when the Hartford school was opened. From the concern now apparent in many sections, it was soon evident that the new work was to spread over the land, and that the education of the deaf had achieved for itself an established position.

In New York, as we have seen, the Rev. John Stanford had found several deaf children in the almshouse of the city, and, moved by their condition, had sought to teach them. Interest was felt by other men, and the agitation for a school was furthered by letters from the American consul at Bordeaux in 1816, one of which was written by a French teacher and addressed to the "Philanthropists of the United States." A census was made of the deaf in the city,[186] meetings were held in their behalf, a notable one taking place at Tammany Hall, and private funds collected. In 1817 a charter was secured from the legislature, and the following year the school was opened. The city of New York displayed a warm interest in it, making a special appropriation at its beginning, and undertaking the support of a number of pupils for a time, besides furnis.h.i.+ng quarters free of cost. In 1819 the state legislature, after an exhibit of pupils, decided to a.s.sist, making an appropriation for the benefit of the school, and soon afterward allowing a certain amount for each pupil. In 1821 New Jersey began sending children to the school, action being taken in this state by a unanimous vote.

Pennsylvania followed close upon Connecticut and New York. A committee had been organized in Philadelphia in 1816 to secure contributions for a school, and meetings had been held, though without immediate result.

Late in the year 1819, or early in 1820, David Seixas, a Jew, finding several poor deaf-mute children to whom he gave shelter, made attempts to teach them. In the latter year a society was formed by certain citizens, after a meeting in the rooms of the American Philosophical Society; and being pleased with the work of Seixas, it decided to adopt his school. The following year, after an exhibit of pupils, the school was incorporated by the legislature, and granted a _per capita_ appropriation of $160, while contributions from friends were numerous.

In 1821, also, pupils were admitted from New Jersey, this state providing for them both at the New York and Philadelphia schools. In 1827 Maryland, and in 1835 Delaware, authorized the sending of children to the Pennsylvania Inst.i.tution, exhibits of pupils having been made before the legislatures of these states.[187]

Kentucky in 1823 was the fourth state in the Union to establish a school. In this case, however, action was taken directly by the legislature, and the school has always been the property of the state.

In 1826[188] Congress granted to it a towns.h.i.+p of land in Florida, on the theory that this school would be the center for pupils from the western and southern states; and it was for some years the place of education for many of the children from the southern states,[189] and also for a number from western states. With the establishment of this school directly by the state begins a new policy in the provision for the education of the deaf--the work no longer being entrusted to private individuals and societies. All the states that followed Kentucky in the creation of schools, with the exception of Maryland and some of the New England states, adopted this policy.

Ohio came next in 1829, although an attempt had been made to establish a school in Cincinnati as early as 1821.[190] Pupils were also received into it from neighboring states.[191] In 1838 Virginia established a joint school for the deaf and the blind, after exhibitions of pupils had been given in the state. In Indiana a private school was started in 1841, and three years later the state inst.i.tution, action being taken by the legislature without a single dissenting vote. In this state another stage is reached in the work of educating the deaf: education which had hitherto been, by statute, free to the "indigent" only is in positive terms made free to all. This was done in 1848, and the action has been thus described:[192]

The doors of all asylums built at public expense for mutes, for the blind, and for lunatics were thrown open to all, that their blessings, like the rain and dew of heaven, might freely descend on these children of misfortune throughout the state, without money and without price.

Well might this paean break forth, for this is probably the broadest benevolent legislation ever enacted up to this time.

In Georgia a private school was opened in 1842, and in 1846 the state school was established, after a visit of pupils from the Hartford school. In 1845 a school was started in Tennessee, after an exhibit of pupils from Kentucky. The same year in North Carolina, after an exhibit of pupils from Virginia, a school was opened for the deaf and the blind, though one had been projected as early as 1828.[193] In 1846 a school was established in Illinois, the bill pa.s.sing the legislature by a unanimous vote. To it came pupils from Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin. In 1849 a school was established in South Carolina. Thus by the middle of the nineteenth century, or thirty-two years after the founding of the first school in America, there were schools in a dozen states. In the next quarter century schools were created in nineteen other states, and since in nearly all the remainder.

EARLY IDEAS CONCERNING THE SCHOOLS FOR THE DEAF

It was but natural that for some years the providing of schools for the education of the deaf should be looked upon with wonder. To many the very thought of their instruction seemed strange. Curious notions had been held as to the deaf-mute's mind, and it was not certain how far it was capable of instruction.

By some the idea of the education of the deaf was received with scarcely concealed skepticism, and despite the enthusiasm of the promoters and despite the cordial interest manifested in many quarters, there were not a few doubters. Efforts to educate the deaf were even declared quixotic and absurd. When the state of Illinois was erecting a building to be used as a school, it was by some called "the state's folly."[194] The legislatures themselves occasionally had misgivings, and now and then an appropriation was voted for a school more in hope than otherwise.[195]

The work was thus with many often misunderstood, and a few of the schools did not have altogether easy sailing.

But when it was found that the deaf could be, and were being, educated, not only were all doubts dispelled, but the astonishment almost goes beyond bounds, and even pa.s.ses into a rapture of thanksgiving. Visitors, in some cases, flocked to the places where these wonderful things were transpiring. They came to convince themselves, and stood hushed in admiration at the spectacle before them.

The accounts of a number of the early schools attest the greeting given to the new work. The New York Inst.i.tution in its first report[196]

speaks of the "numerous visitors" and their "expressions of mingled surprise and delight." In the new Pennsylvania Inst.i.tution interest was markedly aroused. By _Poulson's American Daily Advocate_ of Philadelphia it was stated that 1,600 people crowded into a church to witness an examination of pupils, and by the _Columbian Observer_ it was declared that this scene "was impressive beyond description," and that "the exercises excited wonder mingled with the acutest sensations of compa.s.sion for these isolated beings."[197] An early report of the Tennessee School[198] speaks of the interest "evinced by the great numbers of persons" who visited the school, which was shown "by the sympathy warmly expressed with the great affliction" of the pupils, and the "surprise at the attainments made by them."

Indeed, the new work is more than once referred to in the accounts of the period as a miracle. The age of miracles, we are told, was not past.[199] When a private school was opened in Kansas, the advertis.e.m.e.nt ran: "Behold the educational miracle of the nineteenth century. The deaf hear, the dumb speak, the blind see."[200] The wonders of education had become all the more marked and expectations were aroused to a high pitch, when it was seen about this time that the blind and other cla.s.ses as well were being instructed. Great things were believed to be in store for the human race.

With the schools for the deaf there was now general approbation and support. Doubters were silenced, and the promoters took heart. Soon the new inst.i.tutions had won for themselves a place in the intelligent and affectionate regard of all; and to those instrumental in their creation the people universally "pledged their grat.i.tude."

AIMS OF THE FOUNDERS

Though the first schools for the deaf in the United States were founded to a considerable extent with the idea of charity or benevolence present, yet this was not so much the uppermost purpose as to provide instruction for them; or rather, it may be said that the benevolence itself was prompted by the desire to see the deaf led from the darkness of ignorance to the light of education. It is true that many of the pupils were recognized as ent.i.tled to material a.s.sistance as well as instruction. Some of the schools were chartered as benevolent inst.i.tutions, while several even avowed themselves as charitable affairs.[201] It is also true that the promoters were in part concerned with deaf children found in poverty, these being likely to engage not a little attention. It was desired to furnish homes for a number without charge; and early accounts and statutes speak of the "care," "aid,"

"maintenance" or "support"[202] of these children. But it is none the less true that the great purpose in establis.h.i.+ng inst.i.tutions was educational, and the instruction of the children was the primary and chief thing guiding the hands of the men who created the schools. In the prospectuses of some of the schools any object is disclaimed other than that of education. In a circular describing the proposed school in Kansas were the words: "This is not an asylum, but a school for the education of the deaf."[203] Homes, or inst.i.tutions, were provided largely for the reason that this plan appeared the only practicable means of reaching a considerable number of pupils.

With the early workers, then, the purpose was to give the children an education. But this was not all. In their vision, a far greater opening presented itself. Heretofore the deaf had been outcasts from society, had no place among civilized beings, and were a dead weight in the community. Now all was to be changed. Eyes saw a glorious transformation: the deaf were to be restored to society, and education was the magic by which it was to be done. In full measure were the founders thrilled with this prospect; and to reclaim the deaf from their condition was the great resolve.

Many of the early reports, charters and organic acts express such a purpose, and speak of the "lonely and cheerless condition" of the deaf, and the hope to "restore them to the ranks of their species." In the preamble of an "Address to the Inhabitants of Pennsylvania," prepared by the society to establish the school in this state,[204] the deaf are said to be in "entire and invincible separation from the vast stores of knowledge which human talent has acc.u.mulated--ignorant of the truths of Revelation, her glorious a.s.surances and unspeakable consolations," all being "among the bitter ingredients which fill up the vast measure of the affliction to the deaf and dumb;" and that "among the various efforts of philanthropy and learning to enlarge the circle of human happiness and knowledge, none should perhaps rank higher than those which have been directed to the discovery and application of means for the instruction of the deaf and dumb."

In language glowing and impa.s.sioned the condition of the deaf without education is described. Almost universally they are thought of as abiding in impenetrable silence and deep darkness. In an address delivered before the New York Forum in behalf of the New York Inst.i.tution[205] in its early days, it is a.s.serted that the deaf dwell in "silence, solitude and darkness," and in the second report of this school[206] they are declared to be "wrapt in impenetrable gloom of silence, sorrow and despair." In an Ohio report[207] they are said to be in "intellectual and moral midnight;" and in a Michigan report[208] to be "groping in thick darkness." In a Louisiana report[209] they are called "sorrow-stricken children of silence;" and in a Kentucky report[210] their lives are described as "dark, dreary and comfortless."

The _Southern Literary Messenger_[211] of Richmond, Virginia, characterizes their existence as "intellectual night." The New York _Commercial Advertiser_[212] in the year the first school was opened affirms that "their intellectual faculties ... are ... locked in the darkness of night and shrouded in silence." In an address delivered shortly after the opening of the Tennessee School[213] they are referred to as "entombed in a prison." The _Albany Argus_ and _Daily City Gazette_[214] points to the deaf man as "abandoned to his hard fate, to wander in darkness, the pitiable object of dismal despair." In an address delivered in the Capitol in Was.h.i.+ngton[215] the deaf are said to be "doomed to wear out their lives in intellectual darkness."

The results of education were to be great beyond measurement, and the pa.s.sing of the deaf from ignorance to education is likened even to the glories of the Resurrection. A Committee of Congress[216] in recommending the granting of land to the Kentucky School speaks of education as "the only means of redeeming this unfortunate portion of our species from the ignorance and stupidity to which they would otherwise be consigned by the partial hand of nature, and, indeed; of transferring them from a state of almost mental blindness to that of intellectual and accountable beings." The New York _Statesman_[217]

speaks of the effects in "improving the moral principle, which is torpid and almost obliterated, and opening the way to moral and religious instruction and knowledge of the Deity which is almost void." An early report of the American School[218] tells of the transition of their "imprisoned minds which have too long been enveloped in the profoundest shade of intellectual and moral darkness to the cleansing and purifying light of Divine Truth." An Ohio report[219] states that they "have come forth into the light of truth, that truth that teaches them that they possess a rational and immortal spirit." In the address in behalf of the New York Inst.i.tution before noted,[220] it is said of the deaf that the "powers of torpid and dormant intellects are resurrected from an eternal night of silence." The first report of the Minnesota School[221] refers to the deaf as "liberated from the winding sheets of silence and ignorance," and tells how "their souls vibrate with such joy as Lazarus felt when he stepped forth from the gloom of the grave."

In the first report of the Indiana School[222] the state of the deaf without education is thus contrasted with that of the deaf with education:

Indeed, the difference between the uneducated and the educated mute is almost incredible. The former "winds his weary way" through life in ignorance and obscurity, often an object of charity, and almost a burden to himself; but the latter, gladdened by the genial rays of knowledge and fitted for the discharge of duty, becomes a blessing to his friends and to society, acts well his part as a member of the great human family, enjoys the present, and looks forward to the future with cheerfulness and hope.

The charter of the Pennsylvania Inst.i.tution refers to the desire of certain citizens "to restore the deaf and dumb to the ranks of their species;" and the preamble of the statutes creating schools in Kentucky and other states contains similar language. The purpose of the Illinois school is given in the organic act, the language of that of Nebraska and other states being almost identical:

To promote by all proper and feasible means the mental, moral and physical culture of that portion of the community, who by the mysterious dispensations of Providence, have been born, or by disease have become deaf, and of course dumb, by a judicious and well adapted course of education, to reclaim them from their lonely and cheerless condition, to restore them to the ranks of their species, and to fit them to discharge the social and domestic duties of life.

The object of the schools in Wisconsin, South Dakota, and other states is declared to be:

To afford the deaf and dumb of the state, so far as possible, an enlightened and practical education, that may aid them to obtain the means of instruction, discharge the duties of citizens.h.i.+p, and secure all the happiness they are capable of obtaining.

The early educators of the deaf felt themselves that they were indeed carrying the light to s.h.i.+ne in a dark place. In the language of one of the foremost of them:[223]

Then the great triumph of science and benevolence over one of the most terrible of human calamities will be complete, and the deaf and dumb, objects of interest, but hardly of compa.s.sion, will stand forth among their kindred who hear, heirs of all the hopes, the privileges and the lofty aspirations of their race.

EXTENSION OF THE MEANS OF INSTRUCTION OVER THE COUNTRY

Interest in the education of the deaf had thus become general, public concern was awakened, and movements were early on foot in not a few states to start schools. The enthusiasm aroused by the success of the first schools only increased the hopes that others would be provided to reach the deaf children in all the states. A writer in the _North American Review_ in 1834[224] declared that there were "no doubts that the wants of the deaf and dumb will soon be supplied, and that the public beneficence already extended to a portion will, before the lapse of many years, be extended to all."