Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet

1
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet

• Thank you to Becky Burbank for the information

2
His Life

• Born in Philadelphia December 10,1787
• Graduated from Yale 1805
• Entered the Theological seminary at Andover in
  1811 and was licensed to preach by 1814

3
Meeting Alice

• 1814- met his nine year old neighbor Alice
  Cogswell.
• Taught her hat
• Schools in America did not teach deaf children
  schools in France England did
• Traveled to England to find out more about
  teaching the deaf

4
Going to England

• Braidwood family (Joseph Watson)
• Gallaudet couldnt learn Braidwoods methods
  unless he agreed to their conditions
• 1 work for them for three years
• 2 promise to keep their secret even back in
  America
• 3 have to take a Braidwood with him to be an
  assistant in his new school
• Gallaudet decided that he would not accept the
  Braidwoods rules, so he told them no

• First School for the Deaf run by the Braidwood
  family

5
Finding Laurent Clerc

• Learned French teachers of the deaf were in
  England demonstrating their teaching methods
• One teacher was deaf man- Laurent Clerc
• After the demonstration Gallaudet met the
  teachers who invited him to their school with no
  ridiculous bargains

6
Getting Started

• Gallaudet learned how to sign rather quickly at
  the French School
• Convinced Laurent Clerc to join him in America in
  an attempt to begin the first school for the deaf
• They would sail to America and begin their school
  in 1817

7
The First American Deaf School

• Seven deaf students (including Alice) entered
  American School for the Deaf 1817
• School was first called American Asylum at
  Hartford for the Education and Instruction of the
  Deaf and Dumb (1819-1895)
• Oldest school for the deaf in America Gallaudet
  was principal teacher

8
Marriage and Children

• Married Sophie Fowler, a deaf student, after she
  graduated
• 8 children (all hearing)
• Youngest son- Edward Miner Gallaudet who would
  later found Gallaudet University

• Edward Miner Gallaudet

9
Retirement

• Retired from being the principal of his school in
  1830
• By then there were many more schools for the deaf
• There were schools in NY, Penn, OH, and Kentucky
• After retiring Gallaudet wrote many books to
  support sign language and education for the deaf

10
The Legacy

• Died in 1851
• Edward Miner Gallaudet continued in his footsteps
• Began 1st college for the deaf in 1864 became
  the first President.
• Later renamed Gallaudet University after Thomas
  Hopkins Gallaudet
• Inspired millions of deaf people across the world
  and all because of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet