American School for the Deaf

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American School for the Deaf
Location
West Hartford, Connecticut
Coordinates	41°46′16″N 72°44′50″W / 41.7710°N 72.7473°W / 41.7710; -72.7473Coordinates: 41°46′16″N 72°44′50″W / 41.7710°N 72.7473°W / 41.7710; -72.7473
Information
Type	Public
Established	April 15, 1817
Staff	200
Grades	K-12
Number of students	200
Color(s)	Black and orange
Athletics	Soccer, Volleyball, Wrestling, Basketball, Cheerleading, and Track/field
Mascot	Tigers
Website	Official ASD Website

The American School for the Deaf (ASD) is the oldest permanent school for the deaf in the United States. It was founded April 15, 1817 in Hartford, Connecticut by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc and became a state-supported school in 1817.

History

The first deaf school established in the United States was a short-lived school established by William Bolling near Rapid City, South Dakota in March 1815, which closed in the fall of 1816.^[1]

During the winter of 1818-1819, the American School for the Deaf became the first school of primary and secondary education to receive aid from the federal government when it was granted $300,000.^[2][3] As a result of its pivotal role in American deaf history, it also hosts a museum containing numerous rare and old items. While it is situated on a 54-acre (220,000 m²) campus, the ASD has a small enrollment — in its history, the ASD has graduated approximately 4000 graduates.^[4]

The impetus behind its founding was the fact that Alice Cogswell, the daughter of a wealthy local surgeon (Mason Fitch Cogswell), was deafened in childhood by fever at a time when the British schools were an unacceptable substitute for a local school. Dr. Cogswell prevailed upon the young Gallaudet (who had recently graduated from Yale University's School of Divinity and had begun studying at Andover). Gallaudet met young Alice in Hartford, where he was recovering from a chronic illness.

Cogswell and nine other citizens decided that the known 84 deaf children in New England needed appropriate facilities. However, competent teachers could not be found, so they sent Gallaudet in 1815 on a tour of Europe, where deaf education was a much more developed art. After being rebuffed by the Braidwoods, Gallaudet turned to the Parisian French schoolteachers of the famous school for the Deaf in Paris, where he successfully recruited Laurent Clerc.

On the strength of Clerc's reputation, the ASD was incorporated as the "American Asylum for Deaf-mutes" in May, 1816. When it opened in 1817, there were seven students enrolled: Alice Cogswell, George Loring, Wilson Whiton, Abigail Dillingham, Otis Waters, John Brewster, and Nancy Orr. The original name of the school was: The Connecticut Asylum (at Hartford) for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons.^[5] John Brewster Jr., was a 51-year-old itinerant portrait painter.

Gallaudet would be principal until 1830. His son would follow in his legacy, establishing Gallaudet University, which followed the ASD's lead and taught students primarily in American Sign Language (derived from the methodical signs and Parisian sign language of the French Institute for the Deaf).

Athletics

• Fall: Soccer and Volleyball
• Winter: Basketball and Wrestling
• Spring: Track and field

Camp Isola Bella

Isola Bella is ASD's summer camp for Deaf and Hard of Hearing children located in northwestern Connecticut (Salisbury, CT) on an island on Lake Washining. It was established in 1964, after a will of the island from ASD trustees Ferrari and Muriel Ward. There are two sessions, session 1 for ages 8–12 and session 2 for 13-18.

National Theater of the Deaf

In 2004, America's National Theatre of the Deaf (NTD) moved its corporate headquarters to the campus of the American School for the Deaf.^[6]

Alumni

Edmund Booth helped establish the Iowa School for the Deaf.^[7]

John Flournoy helped establish the Georgia School for the Deaf.

References

External links

	Connecticut portal
	Schools portal
	Disability portal

• Official ASD website
  • History page on the ASD website
  • Camp Isola Bella on the ASD website
• "A Brief History Of The American Asylum, At Hartford, For The Education And Instruction Of The Deaf And Dumb"
• Third Report of the Directors and Officers 1819
• Fourth Report of the Directors and Officers 1820
• Fifth Report of the Directors and Officers 1821
• Eighth Report of the Directors and Officers 1824
• Fourteenth Report of the Directors and Officers 1830
• Fifteenth Report of the Directors and Officers 1831
• Eighteenth Report of the Directors and Officers 1834
• Nineteenth Report of the Directors and Officers 1835
• Twentieth Report of the Directors and Officers 1836
• Twenty-second Report of the Directors and Officers 1838
• Twenty-third Report of the Directors and Officers 1839
• Twenty-fifth Report of the Directors and Officers 1841
• Twenty-sixth Report of the Directors and Officers 1842
• Twenty-seventh Report of the Directors and Officers 1843
• Twenty-ninth Report of the Directors and Officers 1845
• Thirtieth Report of the Directors and Officers 1846
• Thirty-second Report of the Directors and Officers 1848
• Forty-first Report of the Directors and Officers 1857
• Forty-second Report of the Directors and Officers 1858
• Fifty-fourth Report of the Directors and Officers 1870
• Fifty-fifth Report of the Directors and Officers 1871