The Deaf Part 15

[230] Mr. E. S. Tillinghast, of the Oregon School, in a letter to the writer. See also Report of Oregon School, 1880, p. 4.

[231] On efforts to secure schools, see _Southern Literary Messenger_, i., 1835, pp. 134, 201.

[232] It is to be noted that some of the older schools did not look with favor upon the rapid increase in the number of the schools. The creation of many new ones was sometimes advised against, it being declared that the existing ones could answer for all the country, and that pupils would gain by attending them. See Report of Pennsylvania Inst.i.tution, 1830, appendix, p. 14; American School, 1824, p. 6; 1826, p. 4.

[233] In some cases pathetic appeals were made for money. See Address before New York Forum in behalf of New York Inst.i.tution, 1819; Discourse p.r.o.nounced at Request of Society for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, appendix (address to the public), 1818; Circular of President and Directors of New York Inst.i.tution, 1818; Addresses to Contributors to the Pennsylvania Asylum, 1821; Report of Pennsylvania Inst.i.tution, 1826, appendix, p. 19.

[234] In New York exhibits of pupils were given in a score of cities and towns, in a third of which there were repet.i.tions. _Annals_, xviii., 1873, p. 80. In Illinois there were more than two score exhibits given, witnessed by some 50,000 persons. Report of Illinois School, 1868, p.

36.

[235] In connection with the New York Inst.i.tution there was a society called the New York Female a.s.sociation, "to aid in giving support and instruction to the indigent deaf and dumb", which lasted from 1825 to 1835. It raised in one year $1200 for "unsuccessful applicants". See Address and Const.i.tution, 1830; Report of New York Inst.i.tution, 1826, p.

6.

[236] See Report of Mississippi School, 1872, p. 17; _Annals_, ix., 1857, p. 178.

[237] In a few instances, as in North Carolina, the counties were authorized to raise funds by a special tax.

[238] Aid was besought of the national government by a number of schools. In 1826 Congress was asked for the endowment of the inst.i.tutions then in being which had not already been a.s.sisted. See Address of Lewis Weld in the Capitol in Was.h.i.+ngton, 1828, p. 8. In 1833 the Senate pa.s.sed bills granting land to the schools in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, but these failed to be acted upon in the House.

Proceedings of Laying of Corner Stone of Ohio Inst.i.tution, 1864; Report of Ohio School, 1869, p. 52. Later there were applications from individual schools, most seeking grants of land. Requests came from Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nebraska. A towns.h.i.+p was usually desired, though Vermont asked for 10,000 acres for the benefit of a hospital for the insane and for the education of the deaf and blind. See Laws of Vermont, 1851, no. 81; New Jersey, 1823, p. 124; Report of New York Inst.i.tution, 1846, p. 14; Michigan School, 1858, p. 46; History of Wisconsin School, 1893, p. 6; Proceedings of Convention of American Instructors, i., 1850, p. 171.

[239] In Indiana several cities made efforts to secure the school. In Bloomington $4,000 was raised, and an offer extended of a special local tax levy of one cent on $100 of property for its benefit. _Annals_, vi., 1854, p. 150.

[240] Thus in Kansas the school was established on condition that 20 acres be granted for a site, and 150 for its benefit; in Minnesota that 40 acres be provided; and in Colorado that 5 be provided. In Indiana the school was first only provisionally located by the statute.

[241] In one or two instances "contract" schools were provided for, the managers receiving a certain amount from the state and reserving the balance left after the payment of expenses as their compensation. This plan, however, did not continue long, and was generally condemned. See _Annals_, iii., 1851, p. 34.

[242] In Kentucky the school was placed under the trustees of Centre College at Danville, and so remained for fifty years.

[243] The schools in Indiana and Tennessee were compelled for financial reasons to close for six months, and that in Oregon for eight months, shortly after they had been opened. Report of Tennessee School, 1847, p.

9; History of Oregon School, 1893, p. 4; _Annals_, x., 1858, p. 106. To add to the difficulties in some instances, was the belief that not enough deaf children could be a.s.sembled for a school.

[244] The number in the beginning at the Kentucky and Texas schools was 3, at the New York and Illinois 4, at the Indiana and Tennessee 6, at the Hartford 7, and at the Ohio and Missouri 1.

[245] On the difficulty in getting the pupils in, see Report of Iowa School, 1865, p. 12; 1868, p. 8; Arkansas School, 1872, p. 15; Indiana School, 1877, p. 15; Kentucky School, 1846, p. 1; West Virginia School, 1879, p. 10; Illinois School, 1854, p. 11; Wisconsin School, 1859, p.

15; _Annals_, iv., 1852, p. 241.

[246] See Report of Michigan School, 1874, p. 43.

[247] In many of the schools there was, and still is, a formal requirement of good character.

[248] In some of the states the pupils were long known as "beneficiaries". The power of appointment was not infrequently vested in the governor of the state.

[249] In Tennessee a charge was at first made for board, with the result that no pupil appeared; and after a month or two this was removed.

Report of Tennessee School, 1845, p. 14; _Annals_, ix., 1857, p. 118.

See also Proceedings of Convention of American Instructors, iii., 1853, p. 169. As to the desirability of free transportation, see Report of Ohio School, 1843, p. 11.

[250] At the American School a charge of $200 was laid for each pupil at first. This was reduced after a time to $150, then to $115, then to $100, and finally removed altogether.

[251] In Ma.s.sachusetts the law for a number of years allowed no applications under fourteen, while in Georgia the age limits for pupils sent to Connecticut were from ten to forty. At the first Convention of American Instructors, it was agreed that it was not expedient to receive pupils under ten, while twelve was considered more suitable.

Proceedings, i., 1850, p. 223. On the ages of admission and attendance, see _Annals_, v., 1852, p. 141; xviii., 1873, p. 176; Report of American School, 1833, p. 23; Iowa School, 1865, p. 11; Indiana School, 1871, p.

19; Missouri School, 1856, p. 14; Proceedings of Conference of Princ.i.p.als, i., 1868, p. 43; Doc.u.ments of Senate of New York, 1838, no.

25 (Report of Secretary of State on Relation to Deaf and Dumb).

[252] How well America has performed its duty towards the deaf has been generally recognized in other countries. In the Encyclopedia Britannica (eleventh edition) the deaf of America are referred to as the best educated deaf in the world. A German opinion is that "America has given special attention to the care and education of deaf-mutes". _American Journal of Sociology_, vii., 1902, p. 532. See also G. Ferreri, "American Inst.i.tutions for the Education of the Deaf", 1908; Education of Deaf Children, Evidence of E. M. Gallaudet and A. G. Bell, Presented to Royal Commission of the United Kingdom on Condition of the Blind, the Deaf and Dumb, etc., 1892; E. M. Gallaudet, Report on Deaf-Mute Inst.i.tutions in the American Commission at the Vienna International Exhibit, 1873, Report of United States Commissioners, 1876, ii.; J. C.

Gordon, "Notes and Observations upon the Education of Deaf Children", 1892; E. E. Allen, "Education of Defectives" in "Education in the United States", 1900; E. G. Dexter, "History of Education in the United States", 1906, p. 470; G. G. Smith, "Social Pathology", 1911, p. 245; Cyclopedia of Education, 1911, p. 257; _Education_, xviii., 1898, p.

417; W. H. Addison, Report of a Visit to Some of the American Schools for the Deaf (the Mosely Commission), 1907; _a.s.sociation Review_, ii., 1900, pp. 70, 159, 273; xi., 1909, p. 495; _Annals_, xliv., 1899, pp.

177, 342, 439; xlv., 1900, pp. 16, 126, 205, 297.

CHAPTER X

ORGANIZATION OF THE INSt.i.tUTIONS AND GENERAL PROVISIONS

ARRANGEMENTS IN THE DIFFERENT STATES

Provision for the education of the deaf is made by the different states as a general rule in local inst.i.tutions. In only four states are deaf children sent at public expense to a school outside for their instruction: Delaware, New Hamps.h.i.+re, Nevada, and Wyoming. In these, owing to their comparatively small populations, it has been considered more economical and satisfactory to contract with the school in an adjoining state.

In each of the other states there is at least one inst.i.tution, or sixty-five in all. In Connecticut and the District of Columbia[253]

there are two, in Ma.s.sachusetts three, in Pennsylvania four, and in New York eight. In some of these the schools are distributed over the state the better to reach all the pupils. In the Southern states there are usually separate departments in the regular inst.i.tutions for children of the colored race,[254] but in some there are special arrangements. In Virginia there is one school for the white deaf and blind, and another for the colored. In North Carolina there is a school for the white deaf, and another for the blind with a department for the colored deaf and blind. In Alabama, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Texas each there is a school for the white deaf and another for the colored deaf and blind.[255]

In nearly all the states these schools are strictly public inst.i.tutions, owned by the state and supported wholly by taxation, and are under the direct control and supervision of the legislature. In a few of the Eastern states the inst.i.tutions are in private hands and operated under their immediate direction, and in some cases supported in part by endowment funds, but at the same time receiving appropriations from the state, and subject to its authority and general oversight. They are thus "semi-public" or "quasi-public" inst.i.tutions, and will need a brief separate treatment, as will also the "dual schools," where the deaf and blind are educated together.

SEMI-PUBLIC INSt.i.tUTIONS

The semi-public inst.i.tutions are seventeen in number, and are found in six states: Connecticut, Maryland,[256] Ma.s.sachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania,[257] and Vermont. Inst.i.tutions in these states have remained private corporations from the time they were established, some of them being, as we have seen, the first schools that were created for the deaf. A certain number were especially favored by private munificence at their beginning, and continued to be supported by private funds till the state came to their aid and undertook to a.s.sist by regular appropriations. Other schools have been similarly organized, but have always depended largely on the appropriations from the state. All of them are in the hands of societies,[258] organized and chartered as corporations under the laws of the state. In some cases members.h.i.+p is open to those interested on the payment of the regular dues or fees.[259]

These inst.i.tutions, while corporate bodies, are under the authority and supervision of the state. Their relation to the state and the conditions under which they exist may be understood from their position in New York. Here the inst.i.tutions were chartered by the state as benevolent societies, the buildings and grounds being presented, or the money for them collected, by the trustees, and the property reverting to the state if alienated to another use.[260] These schools are all subsidized from the state treasury in _per capita_ allowances for the pupils received;[261] and to some, especially the newer ones, there are general appropriations from time to time for buildings and the like. The regular grants, however, are often not sufficient for the cost of maintenance, which means that the inst.i.tutions are instructing the children of the state, and maintaining them, at a cost to which the state contributes only a part. Such balances are covered from the endowment funds and private donations, but it would seem that the state gets a good bargain from the transaction.[262]

On the other hand, it is to be remembered in connection with these schools that in the matter of the education of certain of the children of the state this duty is turned over to a private society. An anomalous situation, it would seem, is thus created, the state abdicating one of its most important functions as now conceived. The question, however, is not of great practical moment, and the matter may be likened to the general policy of the state when it contracts out for any of its work to be done. If economy and efficiency are secured, it is felt that there can be little ground for objection. A more important question arises in the matter of the granting of public money to a private inst.i.tution. The matter of such state subsidies has already received considerable discussion,[263] and may receive even more attention in the future.

Notwithstanding, these private inst.i.tutions for the deaf were largely organized before the present att.i.tude in the matter: they have in some cases really antic.i.p.ated the duty of the state, and in a general consideration of the subject would probably be the last to be condemned.

"DUAL SCHOOLS"

"Dual schools," that is, schools in which there are departments both for the deaf and the blind, are found in ten states: California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Montana, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.[264] In a number of other states the deaf and the blind were for a certain period educated together, either the two cla.s.ses being provided for jointly from the first or a department for the blind being later created; but in time in these the two cla.s.ses have been separated, and distinct schools for the blind set up.[265]

As a general thing, this arrangement of having the deaf and the blind together in one school has been regarded as unfortunate, and educators of both cla.s.ses have protested against it. The question has thus been stated: The deaf and the blind "have nothing in common in the matter of education, and the bringing of the two cla.s.ses together is a prolific source of friction and compromise."[266] The blind, it seems, are the worst sufferers, as they are in a minority, are often considered only a department or cla.s.s in an inst.i.tution designed primarily for the deaf, and consequently receive less attention than they should.[267] However, this arrangement has not been adopted as a deliberate policy on the part of the state: rather, it was begun when the school was young, pupils of both cla.s.ses few, and one plant was thought adequate; and was allowed to continue as a makes.h.i.+ft till separate schools could be created. As the states have grown in population and resources, most have seen the wisdom of severing the blind from the deaf; and even in the states where the dual school is retained it is probably only a question of time till provision will be made for the separate education of the two cla.s.ses, and eventually there will be independent schools for each in all the states.

PROVISION FOR THE DEAF-BLIND

In 1824 at the school for the deaf at Hartford, Connecticut, the first deaf-blind pupil in America began to receive instruction. To-day the names of certain ill.u.s.trious deaf-blind persons are known over the civilized world.[268] Such children are provided for at present more often in schools for the deaf than in schools for the blind, only one or two schools for the latter cla.s.s instructing them. The deaf-blind, however, do not form a large cla.s.s, and only in a small number of schools are they to be found.[269] In certain cases where the school is only for the deaf, special permission with a special appropriation has to be obtained, but there has been little difficulty met here from the legislatures. To certain of the deaf-blind individual benefactions have been made, as legacies, donations and subscriptions, sometimes given to the inst.i.tutions to hold in trust; and in some cases these funds are for life.

PROVISION FOR THE FEEBLE-MINDED DEAF