History of Deafness

Deaf Culture Prominent in Martha's Vineyard 1690 - 1880

Many of the families in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, carry hereditary hearing problems; in some villages, as many as 25 percent of the residents are deaf. During this period, the Vineyard develops its own form of sign language. So many deaf people live in the community that most town meetings are also signed.

1700 History of Sign Language

Sign Language actually has roots in Europe. One version of its history has it beginning in Italy. It is also known that in the 18th century, the Abbe De l'Epee of France developed an early form of sign language that contributed to American Sign Language.

Abbe Charles-Michel De L'Epee

The "Father of the Deaf." He founded the Institut National des Jeune Sourds-Muets, Clerc's very first school.

"the Abbe De l'Epee developed a signing system called 'methodical signs' that he used to help students learn French. This system of methodical signs was carried on by his successor, the Abbe Roch-Ambroise Sicard, however with great modification. Both Laurent Clerc and Ferdinand Berthier wrote about these methodical signs and they basically described how useless they were (found in Harlan Lane's "When The Mind Hears" and "The Mask of Benevolence.") Clerc initially used them at the Hartford School, but they were discarded within the first year."

He was born in Versailles, France. He was a priest for 25 years then later became interested in teaching the Deaf. In 1760, he started a shelter for the Deaf in Paris and started teaching Deaf children in school conditions in Truffaut, France in 1762/63. There he lived with them, attending to their physical needs, supplying food, clothing and shelter as well as education." In 1776, he published a book "Instruction of Deaf and Dumb using Methodical Sign." He also wrote a dictionary primarily as "The Dictionary for the use of Deaf Mutes" and contained "more explanations than signs." He was "famous in all of Europe for his work with Deaf mutes."

First American School for the Deaf Founded 1817

First went to England to "study the oral methods of the Braidwoods." He applied for admission but because of complications he was denied. Sicard was in Paris lecturing at this time. Gallaudet went to Sicard and told him his mission. He was immediately invited to Paris to visit the school. He stayed their training, attending classes and receiving private lessons. He returned to America with Laurent Clerc and proceed to co-found the first America school for the Deaf with Laurent Clerc. Many teachers of the deaf train in Hartford, and, soon sign-based deaf schools in New York, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and elsewhere begin to flourish. Alice Cogswell, Gallaudet's initial inspiration to teach the deaf, is the first to graduate from the American School.

Laurent Clerc 1785-1869

A Deaf student who studied under De L'Eppe and Sicard. He graduated from and taught at the Royal Institution for the Deaf in Paris. He met an American, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. "Gallaudet had numerous opportunities to observe the brilliant work of Clerc, whom he called "a master teacher." Clerc accepted Gallaudet's offer to open the first School for the Deaf in the America. Clerc and Gallaudet arrived in the America and raised the needed funds to open a School for the Deaf. "In April 15, 1817, their mission was accomplished successfully and the first America School for the Deaf called First "Home" of Connecticut Asylum was established at Hartford, Connecticut. Clerc went on to become the most important influence on the education of the Deaf in the first half of the nineteenth century. His career as a teacher in America covered 41 years."