Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet

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Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet bigraphy, stories - Educators

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet : biography

December 10, 1787 – September 10, 1851

For Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet’s son, see Thomas Gallaudet (1822–1902).

Reverend Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, LL.D., (December 10, 1787 – September 10, 1851) was a renowned American pioneer in the education of the deaf. Along with Laurent Clerc and Mason Cogswell, he co-founded the first institution for the education of the deaf in North America, and he became its first principal. When opened on April 15, 1817, it was called the "Connecticut Asylum (at Hartford) for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons," but it is now known as the American School for the Deaf.

Biography

Gallaudet was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended Yale University, earning his bachelor’s degree in 1805,Gallaudet, E.M., "Life of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet," pp. 19–25. graduating at the age of seventeen,Barnard, Henry, "Tribute to Gallaudet," p. 10. with highest honors,Heman, Humphrey. 1857. The Life and Labors of the Rev. T.H. Gallaudet, LL.D., New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, p. 23. and then earned a master’s degree at Yale in 1808.Dexter’s volume on early Yale graduatesBishop, Lottie Genevieve. 1939 Historical Register of Yale University. New Haven, Conn., Yale university. p. 272 to Google Books He wanted to do many things such as study law, engage in trade, or study theology. In 1814, Gallaudet became a preacher following his graduation from Andover Theological Seminary after a two-year course of study.Gallard, E.M., "Life of Thomas Hopkins Galllaudet," pp. 38–41.

However, Gallaudet’s wish to become a professional minister was put aside when he met Alice Cogswell, on 25th of May, the nine-year-old deaf daughter of a neighbor, Dr. Mason Cogswell.Gallaudet, E.M., "Life of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet," p.46. One day, as he observed her playing he started to teach Alice what different objects were and their names, teaching her words by writing them with a stick in the dirt. Then Cogswell asked Gallaudet to travel to Europe to study methods for teaching deaf students, especially those of the Braidwood family in Edinburgh, Scotland. Gallaudet found the Braidwoods unwilling to share knowledge of their oral communication method and himself financially limited. At the same time, he was not satisfied that the oral method produced desirable results.

While still in Great Britain, he met Abbé Sicard, head of the Institution Nationale des Sourds-Muets à Paris, and two of its deaf faculty members, Laurent Clerc and Jean Massieu. Sicard invited Gallaudet to Paris to study the school’s method of teaching the deaf using manual communication. Impressed with the manual method, Gallaudet studied teaching methodology under Sicard, learning sign language from Massieu and Clerc, who were both highly educated graduates of the school.

Having persuaded Clerc to accompany him, Gallaudet sailed back to America. The two men toured New England and successfully raised private and public funds to found a school for deaf students in Hartford, which later became known as the American School for the Deaf. Young Alice was one of the first seven students in the United States. This is where his school began.

In 1821, he married one of his former students, Sophia Fowler. They had children as well.

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet died in Hartford on September 10, 1851, aged 63, and was buried in Hartford’s Cedar Hill Cemetery plot section 3. There is a residence hall named in his honor at nearby Central Connecticut State University in Western Reserve College of Ohio.Gallaudet, E.M., "Life of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet," p. 319.

  • Gallaudet University took the Gallaudet name in honor of him in 1894. Known as Gallaudet College
  • A statue of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Alice Cogswell created by Daniel Chester French sits at the front of Gallaudet University.
  • A memorial honoring the 100th anniversary of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet’s birth was erected in 1887 at the American School for the Deaf.Gannon, Jack. 1981. Deaf Heritage–A Narrative History of Deaf America, Silver Spring, MD: National Association of the Deaf, p. 6 ()
  • A Great Americans series 20¢ postage stamp was issued by the United States Postal Service in June 10, 1983 to honor him.