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Worksheet The “Golden Age” of the Deaf-World

Please write short answers in the spaces provided. Use the corresponding handout.

1. By 1869, how many students had graduated from the Connecticut Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb?

2. By 1869, how many residential schools were there for the Deaf in the U.S.?

3. By 1869, what percentage of teachers for the residential schools were themselves Deaf?

4. Who signed the charter authorizing the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf to give college degrees to its students?

5. As a result of this charter, what college was founded in 1864? (What’s the name of the college?)

6. Who founded the National Deaf-Mute College?

7. In what year was the college renamed Gallaudet College?

8. Who spoke at the first “opening day” at this college for the Deaf?

9. Why did the so-called “golden age” come to an end?

10. What year did the so-called “golden age” come to an end?

The “Golden Age” of the Deaf-World (about 1817-1880)

In April 1817, the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons [later renamed American School for the Deaf] opened its doors to seven Deaf pupils…. It would be the first school for the Deaf in America. In America, [this] mother school sent its teachers and Deaf graduates throughout the country to teach in various Deaf schools and to found new ones. As early as 1834, a single signed dialect was recognized in the schools for Deaf students in the U.S. By the time of Laurent Clerc’s death in 1869, over 1500 pupils had graduated from the Connecticut Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, and there were some 30 residential schools in the United States with 3,246 pupils and 187 teachers (42% of them were Deaf). Through these developments, toward the middle of the nineteenth century, was ushered in a golden era in the education of the Deaf. That is not to say that everything was perfect in the residential schools. However, instructed in their signed language, Deaf children throughout Europe and America completed elementary education in growing numbers. “High classes” were then launched by the Hartford, New York, and Paris schools, among others. Deaf students gifted in the liberal arts pursued their schooling for another four years, many going on to become themselves teachers of the Deaf. It was during the dark days of the Civil War that President Abraham Lincoln signed a charter authorizing the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf, in Washington D.C., to grant college degrees to Deaf persons. This charter resulted in the founding of National Deaf-Mute College. Edward Miner Gallaudet, the son of Thomas Gallaudet, founded the National Deaf-Mute College in 1864, as a result of the charter signed by Abraham Lincoln. The college was renamed Gallaudet College in 1884. Laurent Clerc spoke at the college’s first presentation day in 1864. What a great accomplishment this must have been for the man who, with Thomas Gallaudet, took the steps to begin Deaf education in America! The so-called “golden age” of the Deaf-World effectively came to an end with the decision made at the Milan Conference in 1880. The decision, made by a majority vote, was that “the method of articulation [speaking] should have preference over that of signs” and that “the pure oral method ought to be preferred.” With this decision, residential schools were pressured to stop the use of sign language as the primary means of instruction.

From A Journey into the Deaf-World, 56-59 and Deaf Heritage, 11