Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-06-23
TRIBUTE TO A PHILANTHRoPIsT.

This month there is to be held in the
city of Washington novel convention.
All deaf mutes of the land are to be rep
resented in it by chosen delegates. 1t
will be convention of silence, yet one of
profound expression. The event is to be
signalized by the unwilling of a fine mar
BILE statue of Rev. Thomas H Gallaudet,
LID, who was the founder of deaf mute
education in America. 1t is eminentIy
fitting that these afflicted people should
lift up fine work of art in honor of the
man whose humane instincts and noble
impulses led him to do what he did for
them. Gallaudet will for all time rank
among the great philanthropists. His
sincerity, his enthusiasm, his genius have
won for him imperishable honors, and no
deaf mute in the land can be found, who is
reasonably intelligent, who does not bend his
head reverently upon mention of the name
of this benefactor of the race The statue
cost the deaf mutes of America $4,000.
The art work has been executed by the
sculptor French, of Concord, and next
Wednesday it will be unveiled amidst the
silence of great convention of the speech.
less men and women of the land. The de-
sign represents DIR. Gallaudet seated in an
easy attitude, with little girl by his side,
about whom he has cast his left arm
gently, while with his right hand he
teaches her the manual sign alphabet
The child is the figure of Alice Cogswell,
his first deaf mute pupil, who was II years
of age at the time, the doctor being 80
Alice was the daughter of Dr. Mason F.
Cogswell of Hartford, Conn. GaIlaudet
had graduated from Andover and intended
to enter the ministry at once, but his atten-
ton was drawn to the bright child of his
friend, the doctor, and he undertook to
instruct her. This was in 1914, and was
the first attempt made in America to teach
deaf mute to read and to write. He sue
ceeded so well with Alice that he resolved
to devote his life to relieving this distressed
class of human beings, by opening to them
the books of knowledge to that time sealed
against them. The people of Hartford
raised the necessary funds and Gallaudet
went to Europe to study the progress that
had been made there in the instruction of
these unfortunates. In France he be.
came the pupil of the devoted Able ST.
card, who was the pupil of the still
greater instructor, Able L'Epee, and they
studied out the sign language that is
iii use to this day, and this DIR. Gallaudet
speedily acquired. He returned to Amer
lea in 1916 and at once opened the first
school for deaf mutes on this continent.
The State of Connecticut aided him lib
orally and Congress made grant of land
to assist him that finally yielded 100000.
He conducted the school fourteen wears
and in that time brought out of ignor-
ance and silence to knowledge and fair
enjoyment of life's pleasures no less than
1000 children. Many of these became
teachers, and through them tens of thou
sands of deaf mutes have been redeemed
from the awfulness of silent ignorance and
undeveloped capacity. There are now
sixty such schools as Gallaudet's in Amer.
lea, and all acknowledge that they sprang
from his In no land on the globe has the
education of deaf mutes progressed as it
has here or reached so high plane, and
the credit is certainly due to the methods
adopted by Gallaudet. One of his sons
succeeded the father in the original insti-
tuition and thereafter founded the first
church for deaf mutes, of which he Is still
the rector, in New York city. Another
son of the great philanthropist founded
the first institution for the higher educa-
ton of the deaf mute, and is now Presi-
dent of the Columbia Institute for the
Deaf and Dumb in the city of Washing
ton, an institution that came into exist
ence through the benefcence of the late
Amos Kendall. He is also now President
of the National Deaf Mute College
founded by Congress in 1864 1t is in
front of this college OF Kendall Green that
the statute of the elder Gallaudet, who
died in 1851, is to be unveiled.