Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-12
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

, by Able De L'Epee in the middle OF
the eighteenth century, supported at
| first by his own private income. Then
| later the school was nationalized I'M
der Able Sicard and supported by the
| government. In Scotland family
! named Braidwood started such
| school. and later one of the Braid
woods came to Virginia to teach tho
deaf. but his school was not a success.
| Thomas Boiling of Chesterfield
County-an ancestor of Mrs. Wood
row Wilson--had Il deaf son. John.
whom he sent to the Scotland school
of the BraidwOods in I'LL, and he was
the first American deaf mute to re-
ceive skilled training. Col. Boiling
aided Braidwood in financing his
school near Richmond.
In 1893 William Thornton. the archi-
| tect who drew the plans of the Ma
| tional Capitol, wrote the first paper
published in America advocating the
teaching of the deaf mutes. not that
they might talk vocally, but to- make
better use of faculties of expression
apart from vocal.
In 1915 Thomas Gallaudet,
preacher rs years of age, went to
| Scotland to study methods of teach
/ ing the deaf, in the Braidwood School
| in Edinburgh, but was repulsed
through jealousy of the founders,
partly on behalf of their dissolute and
| incompetent relative already in Amer
lea. Then he went to Paris, where
Able Sicard willingly aided him in
acquiring the desired knowledge, and
eventually he returned to America.
accompanied by Laurent Clerc, deaf
mute, who had been trained as a
| teacher. These men opened at Hart
| ford, Conn, the first American public
school for the deaf, in April, 1917,
and, a year later. they received con-
gressional aid in the form of a grant
of land in Virginia-23.O 900 acres
| which was later sold for $500, 900,
forming the first instance of Govern
ment endowment for the deaf.
| There are three distinct methods of
| communication by the deaf. The first
| is ordinary speech and lip reading.
The second is spelling out words by
| the signs of fingers. The third, and
most useful, is sign language, which
| is quite different from finger spelling.
| In the sign language. or pantomime
| reduced to an exact science, il is amaz-
| ing how expressive may be the signs.
| For example, the abstract idea OF
| truth is expressed by the tip OF the
forefinger placed on the speakers lips.
then carried straight forward; a lie
is the same, except that instead OF the
! fingers travelling forward, 1t swerveS
! to one side.
To speak of horse. put two fingers
of each hand straight up above the
forehead like ears and flap them for
ward; a mule-the whole palms 10 rep
resent ears, Tapping forward; II the
fingers flap backward. that's a rabbit.
of course. For a bear, the speaker
hugs himself.
Indians, too, use sign language, and
express a day by laying the head
against the palm, Indicating one sleep.
The deaf mute is clearer he does not
count his days by his sleeps. He uses
one forearm as the horizon, the elbow
of his other arm as the pivot and the
fist of that arm as the sun. which
rises on one side of the horizon" and
sets on the other. A year-one closed
fist is the earth, the other the sun
and the earth describes circle around
the sun.
Oh, boy. Did you not call to your
chum to go swimming with you by
means Of two upright weighing
fingers? That is sign language from
the deaf-mute teaching. The two
fingers held up-the bare legs or the
diver as he descends in a great dive.
Today every State gives free school
ling to it's deaf mutes. All such state
schools board the pupils. Then when
1.-THE pupils finish such grammar school,
ing. il ambitious, they may come 10
jGallaudet College In Washington.
where nearly 200 such pupils take COL
lege training, enabling them, IL still
ambitious, to go to State universities
and acquire higher specialized edu-
cation, with university degrees. III
spite of their handicaps.
In Gallaudet College training quail.
fles the graduates for teaching deaf
pupils or to practice chemistry or
to become librarians. Graduates OF
Gallaudet have won degrees Of bach
elor Of science in the universities OF
Utah and McGill, bachelor Of art at
Denver, master Of art at George
Washington, doctor Of dental surgery
at Pennsylvania and Michigan and
have done special work in Johns Hop.
: kins University.
When IL Is recalled that until less
than three centuries ago there was
no concept in the world that a deaf
mute had soul or brains or other
, attributes of a human, the progress
that has been made today becomes the
eighth wonder of the world. In no
, country except ours is higher educa-
ton given to the deaf like that afford
ed through the federally sustained
and endowed Gallaudet College Of
! washington.
; (copyrirht. 1925. by Paul v. coliinsJ