Edward Miner Gallaudet

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company was preparing to create a new route that actually went through the college

Family Life

A year after moving to Washington, Edward married a Jane Fessenden:

• Together they had two daughters:
• Katherine and Grace
• Unfortunately they lost their son in infancy

Unfortunately, eight years later Jane became terribly ill and died

Accomplishments

Fun Fact *

However, two years later Edward remarried a Miss Susan Denison:

• Together they had five children
• Three boys
• Two girls

Among having helped form the college he also saved it from having a railroad built through it

One of Edward's greatest accomplishments was his lobbying efforts that helped enable his school to grant degrees

• April 8, 1864 President Lincoln signed the charter making Columbia Institute of the Deaf, Dumb and Blind the first Deaf college
• Ulysses S. Grant signed the first diplomas in June of 1869
• Edward became President of the college
• Later the college was names Gallaudet College, then Gallaudet University in honor of Edward's father

Edward labored with officials in Congress to introduce a new route!

Childhood

Big Changes

Born February 5, 1837 the youngest son of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Sophia Fowler Gallaudet in Hartford, Connecticut

1857: Former Postmaster general of the US, Amos Kendall, began a search for an Administrator for Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf, Dumb and Blind located in Washington, D.C.

Thomas Gallaudet:

Founder of the American School for the Deaf

Sophia Fowler Gallaudet:

One of the first students and one of Gallaudet's pupils at ASD

Redefining the System

After a interviewing many prestigious people with varying resumes, 20-year-old Edward Miner Gallaudet was chosen

• For being so young this left many people in shock, so in addition to Edward coming to D.C. his mother was asked to work beside him as a matron

In the summer of 1857, Edward left for Washington, D.C. to become a superintendent of Columbia Institute

Redefining the Curriculum of the new collegiate program to match that of other hearing universities

• He did this know that ALL Deaf individuals were equally capable of academic and professional success
• Interpreters were present in all nonsigning classes
• Offered preparatory programs

Growing Up

Having a Deaf parent, Edward grew up very Involved in Deaf community

Hearing "but"

Homeschooled until he turned 11, and graduated High School at 15 years old

*At age 14 he began working as clerk at the Phoenix Bank

Impacting on a Wider Scale *

1854: Edward attended Trinity College and began teaching at ASD

• In just two years he received his B.S. and assumed full duties as an instructor at ASD

1880: International Convention of Instructors of the Deaf at Milan

• Proceeded to be noted in many London "Times" and several American journals

Later Life *

1886: British Government Correspondent

• Edward was invited to the British government to visit London
• Here he gave his testimony on the blind, Deaf, and dumb to the Royal Commission

Titles - Honors - Organizations

• President of Columbia Institute/Gallaudet University: 46 years
• Head of Administration: 53 years
• President of the Board of Directors: 47 years
• Received the French Cross of Chevalier of the Legion of Honor by the Board of Directors at ASD
• Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Convention of American Institutes of the Deaf: 30 years
• One of the founders of the Cosmos Club
• Active member of the American Social Science Association
• Chairman of the department of Education
• Member of the Philosophical and Anthropological Societies in Washington
• Member of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution

1910: Edward Retired and moved back to Hartford, Connecticut

• Here he joined the Board of Directors at ASD

September 26, 1917: Edward died at age 80

Edward Miner Gallaudet

Remembrance*

Today Edward Gallaudet is seen as a leader and an ally to Deaf individuals

He paved new roads for Deaf employment and communication that has helped shape the identity of Deaf individuals throughout the Decades

REFERENCES*

Presented by Morgan DePerno and Briana Bauwers

Carroll, C. (2009). Gallaudet, Edward Miner. Encyclopedia of American Disability History. Retrieved October 3, 2013, from http://proxy.augie.edu:2295/History/MainPrintPage.asp?iPin=EADH0285&DataType=AmericanHistory&WinType=Free

Edward Miner Gallaudet. (2013, August 10). Wikipedia. Retrieved October 3, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Miner_Gallaudet

History of Gallaudet University - Gallaudet University. (n.d.). History of Gallaudet University - Gallaudet University. Retrieved from http://www.gallaudet.edu/history.html

Merrill, E. C. (1981). A Man with a Will and a Way. The Deaf American, 12-13.

"Political comic” of how the Deaf felt about the Milan conference in 1880 that resurged Oralism.