[244] The number in the beginning at the Kentucky and Texas schools was 3, at the New York and Illinois 4, at the Indiana and Tennessee 6, at the Hartford 7, and at the Ohio and Missouri 1.

[245] On the difficulty in getting the pupils in, see Report of Iowa School, 1865, p. 12; 1868, p. 8; Arkansas School, 1872, p. 15; Indiana School, 1877, p. 15; Kentucky School, 1846, p. 1; West Virginia School, 1879, p. 10; Illinois School, 1854, p. 11; Wisconsin School, 1859, p. 15; Annals, iv., 1852, p. 241.

[246] See Report of Michigan School, 1874, p. 43.

[247] In many of the schools there was, and still is, a formal requirement of good character.

[248] In some of the states the pupils were long known as "beneficiaries". The power of appointment was not infrequently vested in the governor of the state.

[249] In Tennessee a charge was at first made for board, with the result that no pupil appeared; and after a month or two this was removed. Report of Tennessee School, 1845, p. 14; Annals, ix., 1857, p. 118. See also Proceedings of Convention of American Instructors, iii., 1853, p. 169. As to the desirability of free transportation, see Report of Ohio School, 1843, p. 11.

[250] At the American School a charge of $200 was laid for each pupil at first. This was reduced after a time to $150, then to $115, then to $100, and finally removed altogether.

[251] In Massachusetts the law for a number of years allowed no applications under fourteen, while in Georgia the age limits for pupils sent to Connecticut were from ten to forty. At the first Convention of American Instructors, it was agreed that it was not expedient to receive pupils under ten, while twelve was considered more suitable. Proceedings, i., 1850, p. 223. On the ages of admission and attendance, see Annals, v., 1852, p. 141; xviii., 1873, p. 176; Report of American School, 1833, p. 23; Iowa School, 1865, p. 11; Indiana School, 1871, p. 19; Missouri School, 1856, p. 14; Proceedings of Conference of Principals, i., 1868, p. 43; Documents of Senate of New York, 1838, no. 25 (Report of Secretary of State on Relation to Deaf and Dumb).

[252] How well America has performed its duty towards the deaf has been generally recognized in other countries. In the Encyclopedia Britannica (eleventh edition) the deaf of America are referred to as the best educated deaf in the world. A German opinion is that "America has given special attention to the care and education of deaf-mutes". American Journal of Sociology, vii., 1902, p. 532. See also G. Ferreri, "American Institutions for the Education of the Deaf", 1908; Education of Deaf Children, Evidence of E. M. Gallaudet and A. G. Bell, Presented to Royal Commission of the United Kingdom on Condition of the Blind, the Deaf and Dumb, etc., 1892; E. M. Gallaudet, Report on Deaf-Mute Institutions in the American Commission at the Vienna International Exhibit, 1873, Report of United States Commissioners, 1876, ii.; J. C. Gordon, "Notes and Observations upon the Education of Deaf Children", 1892; E. E. Allen, "Education of Defectives" in "Education in the United States", 1900; E. G. Dexter, "History of Education in the United States", 1906, p. 470; G. G. Smith, "Social Pathology", 1911, p. 245; Cyclopedia of Education, 1911, p. 257; Education, xviii., 1898, p. 417; W. H. Addison, Report of a Visit to Some of the American Schools for the Deaf (the Mosely Commission), 1907; Association Review, ii., 1900, pp. 70, 159, 273; xi., 1909, p. 495; Annals, xliv., 1899, pp. 177, 342, 439; xlv., 1900, pp. 16, 126, 205, 297.



CHAPTER X

ORGANIZATION OF THE INSTITUTIONS AND GENERAL PROVISIONS

ARRANGEMENTS IN THE DIFFERENT STATES

Provision for the education of the deaf is made by the different states as a general rule in local institutions. In only four states are deaf children sent at public expense to a school outside for their instruction: Delaware, New Hampshire, Nevada, and Wyoming. In these, owing to their comparatively small populations, it has been considered more economical and satisfactory to contract with the school in an adjoining state.

In each of the other states there is at least one institution, or sixty-five in all. In Connecticut and the District of Columbia[253] there are two, in Massachusetts three, in Pennsylvania four, and in New York eight. In some of these the schools are distributed over the state the better to reach all the pupils. In the Southern states there are usually separate departments in the regular institutions for children of the colored race,[254] but in some there are special arrangements. In Virginia there is one school for the white deaf and blind, and another for the colored. In North Carolina there is a school for the white deaf, and another for the blind with a department for the colored deaf and blind. In Alabama, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Texas each there is a school for the white deaf and another for the colored deaf and blind.[255]

In nearly all the states these schools are strictly public institutions, owned by the state and supported wholly by taxation, and are under the direct control and supervision of the legislature. In a few of the Eastern states the institutions are in private hands and operated under their immediate direction, and in some cases supported in part by endowment funds, but at the same time receiving appropriations from the state, and subject to its authority and general oversight. They are thus "semi-public" or "quasi-public" institutions, and will need a brief separate treatment, as will also the "dual schools," where the deaf and blind are educated together.

SEMI-PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS

The semi-public institutions are seventeen in number, and are found in six states: Connecticut, Maryland,[256] Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania,[257] and Vermont. Institutions in these states have remained private corporations from the time they were established, some of them being, as we have seen, the first schools that were created for the deaf. A certain number were especially favored by private munificence at their beginning, and continued to be supported by private funds till the state came to their aid and undertook to assist by regular appropriations. Other schools have been similarly organized, but have always depended largely on the appropriations from the state. All of them are in the hands of societies,[258] organized and chartered as corporations under the laws of the state. In some cases membership is open to those interested on the payment of the regular dues or fees.[259]

These institutions, while corporate bodies, are under the authority and supervision of the state. Their relation to the state and the conditions under which they exist may be understood from their position in New York. Here the institutions were chartered by the state as benevolent societies, the buildings and grounds being presented, or the money for them collected, by the trustees, and the property reverting to the state if alienated to another use.[260] These schools are all subsidized from the state treasury in per capita allowances for the pupils received;[261] and to some, especially the newer ones, there are general appropriations from time to time for buildings and the like. The regular grants, however, are often not sufficient for the cost of maintenance, which means that the institutions are instructing the children of the state, and maintaining them, at a cost to which the state contributes only a part. Such balances are covered from the endowment funds and private donations, but it would seem that the state gets a good bargain from the transaction.[262]

On the other hand, it is to be remembered in connection with these schools that in the matter of the education of certain of the children of the state this duty is turned over to a private society. An anomalous situation, it would seem, is thus created, the state abdicating one of its most important functions as now conceived. The question, however, is not of great practical moment, and the matter may be likened to the general policy of the state when it contracts out for any of its work to be done. If economy and efficiency are secured, it is felt that there can be little ground for objection. A more important question arises in the matter of the granting of public money to a private institution. The matter of such state subsidies has already received considerable discussion,[263] and may receive even more attention in the future. Notwithstanding, these private institutions for the deaf were largely organized before the present attitude in the matter: they have in some cases really anticipated the duty of the state, and in a general consideration of the subject would probably be the last to be condemned.

"DUAL SCHOOLS"

"Dual schools," that is, schools in which there are departments both for the deaf and the blind, are found in ten states: California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Montana, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.[264] In a number of other states the deaf and the blind were for a certain period educated together, either the two classes being provided for jointly from the first or a department for the blind being later created; but in time in these the two classes have been separated, and distinct schools for the blind set up.[265]

As a general thing, this arrangement of having the deaf and the blind together in one school has been regarded as unfortunate, and educators of both classes have protested against it. The question has thus been stated: The deaf and the blind "have nothing in common in the matter of education, and the bringing of the two classes together is a prolific source of friction and compromise."[266] The blind, it seems, are the worst sufferers, as they are in a minority, are often considered only a department or class in an institution designed primarily for the deaf, and consequently receive less attention than they should.[267] However, this arrangement has not been adopted as a deliberate policy on the part of the state: rather, it was begun when the school was young, pupils of both classes few, and one plant was thought adequate; and was allowed to continue as a makeshift till separate schools could be created. As the states have grown in population and resources, most have seen the wisdom of severing the blind from the deaf; and even in the states where the dual school is retained it is probably only a question of time till provision will be made for the separate education of the two classes, and eventually there will be independent schools for each in all the states.

PROVISION FOR THE DEAF-BLIND

In 1824 at the school for the deaf at Hartford, Connecticut, the first deaf-blind pupil in America began to receive instruction. To-day the names of certain illustrious deaf-blind persons are known over the civilized world.[268] Such children are provided for at present more often in schools for the deaf than in schools for the blind, only one or two schools for the latter class instructing them. The deaf-blind, however, do not form a large class, and only in a small number of schools are they to be found.[269] In certain cases where the school is only for the deaf, special permission with a special appropriation has to be obtained, but there has been little difficulty met here from the legislatures. To certain of the deaf-blind individual benefactions have been made, as legacies, donations and subscriptions, sometimes given to the institutions to hold in trust; and in some cases these funds are for life.

PROVISION FOR THE FEEBLE-MINDED DEAF

In many of the schools for the deaf a problem has arisen in connection with a number of feeble-minded children more or less defective in speech or hearing who have sought to gain admittance. Educators of the deaf have been called upon to give considerable attention to this class, and it has been a serious question what to do with them.[270] Many of those who have applied at the institutions have been denied. Some have been allowed to enter, and their presence in the schools has constituted a difficult problem.[271] It is felt by those concerned in the education of the deaf that they are out of place here, and that they should be removed to a regular institution for the feeble-minded, or should otherwise be specially provided for.[272]

GOVERNMENT OF THE DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONS

The government of schools for the deaf is practically the same in the different states. They are, for the most part, in the hands of boards of trustees, boards of directors, boards of managers, or boards of visitors, as they are variously termed. The semi-public institutions, as we have seen, were started as private concerns under private boards of directors. These boards still exist, and control the affairs of the institutions, having full powers but subject to such regulation as the state may direct. Such boards are usually self-perpetuating bodies, though in some cases the governor has been allowed to name a part. In the American School the governors and secretaries of state of the New England states are ex-officio directors. In the case of some schools, as the Pennsylvania Institution, where membership is open to any one on the payment of the dues, the governing board is elected by the members of the society or corporation.[273] In all these boards the members serve without compensation. Their size varies considerably, but they are usually large, having in some cases over twenty members.[274]

Where the school is strictly a state institution, the board is usually appointed by the governor, sometimes with the approval of the state senate.[275] In a few cases the boards are elected by the legislature, as in Georgia and Tennessee. In Montana appointment is made by the state board of education. In several of the states the governor or some other public officer, most often the superintendent of public instruction, is a member ex-officio.[276] These boards also as a rule serve without compensation, and are paid only for expenses actually incurred.[277] Their size is smaller than that of the corporate boards, usually consisting of from three to seven members, though in a few cases they may go beyond the latter figure. They are appointed to serve two, three, four or five years, and in a few cases even longer. In states where the members are elected by the legislature, the term is usually indefinite; and in one or two states, as in Alabama, the board is self-perpetuating.[278]

In eight states the institutions are under special boards of their own, without supervision or regulation from other bodies: Alabama, District of Columbia, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah. In eighteen states the schools are under special boards of trustees, while the state board of charities—or whatever the official title—may visit, inspect, supervise, advise, or may otherwise be connected with them: California, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. It may be noted that such central boards—including the state boards of control—are found in thirty-nine states, and in all but five have some connection with the schools.[279] In eleven states the schools are directly under the state boards of control, central boards or bodies with similar powers, no special or local board intervening: Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin.[280]

In some of the states, on the other hand, the schools are related to the state department of education. In four states they are under boards of trustees, with supervision only by this department: Colorado, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. In Idaho and New Jersey the schools are directly under the department,[281] though in the former there is also connection with another state board. In Montana the board of trustees is appointed by the department. In Indiana and Oklahoma the schools have boards of trustees and are under the department of education, but with inspection also by the department of charities. In New York and North Carolina there is supervision both by the department of education and of charities. In several states the board of trustees includes the state superintendent of public instruction as a member ex-officio, as in Alabama, Louisiana, Minnesota, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. In Kansas the school is under the state board of administration for educational institutions, including the university, normal school and agricultural college, and in Florida the school is under the board of control of state educational institutions, while in Arizona the school is a department of the state university.[282]

PROCEDURE IN STATES WITHOUT INSTITUTIONS

In states where pupils are sent to schools outside the state, appointments and commitments are usually made in the East by the respective governors, and in the West by the boards of education or of charities. In Delaware the governor appoints pupils to outside schools, the state supreme court having first recommended. In New Hampshire the governor recommends, while the children are placed by the board of control.[283] In Wyoming the education of deaf children is directed by the board of charities and reforms, and in Nevada by the state department of education.[284]

FOOTNOTES:

[253] The two institutions here are the Kendall School and Gallaudet College, though both really form what is known as the Columbia Institution.

[254] In Louisiana full action has not been taken as yet for the creation of a special school for the colored deaf, though this may be expected soon. See Message of Governor, 1908, p. 78. In regard to the value of the schools for the colored, the opinion of the heads of the schools in the Southern states has been ascertained by the Board of Charities of Louisiana. The wisdom of the policy was agreed in by all, and the schools were reported as doing well, as were their graduates. By one superintendent it was stated that "ignorance is costly to the state in more ways than one". Report, 1907, p. 43.

[255] In the District of Columbia and West Virginia colored children are sent to Maryland for education.

[256] The Maryland School approaches more nearly a state institution, though it is under a self-perpetuating body of trustees.

[257] Two schools in Pennsylvania are entirely state institutions, the Home for the Training in Speech and the Pennsylvania Oral School.

[258] In a few institutions there are aid or auxiliary societies composed of ladies, usually about fifteen in number, as in the New York Institution, the New York Institution for Improved Instruction, and the Pennsylvania Institution.

[259] These fees and dues, as we have seen, are of varying size. Annual membership dues are often $5, and sometimes as high as $25. Life membership fees range from $25 to $100, with corresponding fees for patrons, vice-presidents and others. The highest fee is that of life donor in the New York Institution for Improved Instruction, being $1,000.

[260] Dr. I. L. Peet, Proceedings of National Conference of Charities and Corrections, 1883, p. 415.

[261] The annual appropriations are from $265 to $360 for each pupil, but not often over $300 or $325.

[262] In the case of the Pennsylvania Institution we are advised that the per capita appropriation is $32 less than the actual cost. See also Report, 1900, p. 9; 1901, p. 10; 1908, p. 10. In the case of the Clarke School, the trustees declare that the state has never paid the school for each pupil the average annual cost of instruction and maintenance, and the legislature is repeatedly asked to increase its appropriations. See Report, 1904, p. 8; 1911, p. 9; 1912, p. 8. Of the American School we are told that the state appropriation "has never been enough to meet the actual cost". Report, 1909, p. 9. In the case of the New York Institution we are advised that the cost per pupil from 1903 to 1913 has ranged from $338 to $415, while the state appropriation has never exceeded $325; and that from 1893 to 1913 $357,579 has been expended for educational purposes, and $500,000 for buildings and equipment, from the school's own funds.

[263] On this subject, see American Journal of Sociology, vii., 1901, p. 359; Report of Superintendent of Charities of District of Columbia, 1891, p. 11; Proceedings of National Conference of Charities and Corrections, 1911, p. 27.

[264] As we have noted, Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia have similar arrangements for their colored deaf and blind.

[265] In New Mexico, however, where there are schools for both classes, the governor has advised their consolidation, as one institution "could administer to the needs of both". Message, 1907, p. 21.

[266] Report of Colorado School, 1908, p. 20. See also Report of Board of Charities of West Virginia, 1910, p. 209.

[267] The educators of the blind have particularly arraigned this plan. At one of the first conventions of the American Instructors of the Blind, the following propositions were enunciated: 1. Deaf-mutes and the blind differ from each other more widely than either class differs from those having all the senses; 2. the methods of instruction peculiar to each are entirely unlike and incompatible; 3. the deaf engross the main attention; 4. the development of the blind department is retarded. Proceedings, 1871, p. 87. Educators of the deaf have likewise stated their objections. At an early conference of principals, a resolution was adopted that the arrangement was bad, the methods being entirely different. Proceedings, ii., 1872, pp. 146, 151. See also Report of Michigan School, 1855 (first report), p. 1; 1880, p. 62; Louisiana School, 1870, p. 30. In times past, however, advantages of this arrangement have been pointed out. See Report of California Institution, 1869, p. 15; 1873, p. 19.

[268] See individual accounts in William Wade's monograph on the Deaf-Blind, 1901; see also National Magazine, xi., 1857, p. 27; Review of Reviews, xxv., 1902, p. 435; Ohio Bulletin of Charities and Corrections, xiii., 1907, p. 47; Proceedings of American Instructors of the Deaf, xvi., 1901, p. 175ff.; Annals, l., 1905, p. 125.

[269] The chief schools where they have been of recent years or are now being instructed are the New York Institution, the Pennsylvania Institution, the Western Pennsylvania Institution, and the schools in Ohio, Mississippi, Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. The number in any one school at one time seldom exceeds two or three, most often there being but one.

[270] A considerable proportion of such children are rather dumb than deaf, having some oral, as well as mental, defect.

[271] On this question, see especially Report of Illinois School, 1860, p. 15; Michigan School, 1887, p. 25; Maryland School, 1885, p. 13; 1897, p. 13; Mississippi School, 1909, p. 24; Minnesota Companion, of Minnesota School, Nov. 22, 1911; Report of Board of Charities of New York, 1912, i., p. 144. Of the Alabama School, it is said that it "has turned away a number of these feeble-minded children during the past two years". Report, 1904, p. 21. In Ohio there are stated to be a hundred such children. Report of Ohio School, 1909, p. 17. In another state there are said to be 150 feeble-minded deaf. Annals, liv., 1909, p. 444.

[272] In 1910 the census reported 294 deaf persons in institutions for the feeble-minded, or 1.4 per cent of all their inmates. Insane and Feeble-minded in Institutions, 1914, p. 92. It has also been estimated that five per cent of the deaf are feeble-minded. Proceedings of Conference of Charities and Corrections, 1906, p. 254ff. On the subject of the feeble-minded deaf in institutions, Mr. Cyrus E. White, of the Kansas School, sent letters to the heads of 55 schools, receiving replies from 45. No state, it was found, had made special provision for the feeble-minded deaf. It was the general agreement that they should be in institutions for the feeble-minded, one superintendent declaring that "feeble-mindedness is a better classification than deafness". Another superintendent suggested the establishment of such an institution in a central state, to which the different states could send suitable cases. See Annals, lv., 1910, p. 133. A committee of the Pennsylvania Society for the Advancement of the Deaf has found that all of the three feeble-minded institutions in this state are crowded, and that there is no hope for the feeble-minded deaf in them. Proceedings, xxiv., 1910, p. 9. In one institution for the feeble-minded there are said to be twenty deaf feeble-minded. Annals, liv., 1909, p. 444. In the institution for the feeble-minded in Iowa a special class of such inmates was organized in 1912. Ibid., lviii., 1913, p. 107. It is to be remembered in this connection that in many states there are no institutions for the feeble-minded. Educators of the deaf have often been instrumental in securing the creation of such institutions. See Proceedings of Convention of American Instructors, iv., 1857, p. 227. In a few states, as Illinois, Minnesota and Washington, departments for the feeble-minded have been created in schools for the deaf, the feeble-minded being removed later. In Montana a department is still maintained.

[273] The Columbia Institution is considered a corporation, its governing board being composed of nine members, one of whom is a senator appointed by the President of the Senate, and two members of the House appointed by the Speaker, while the President of the United States is patron.

[274] In the New York Institution and the New York Institution for Improved Instruction the number is 21, and in the Maryland School, the Pennsylvania Institution and the Western Pennsylvania Institution, 27.

[275] Such is the case in Alabama, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Utah. Confirmation by the Senate is also usual with boards of control.

[276] On rare occasions a deaf man himself is made a member of the board.

[277] In a few states compensation is allowed, as in Indiana, Montana, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia.

[278] On the arrangements in the several states, see especially Annals, xlviii., 1903, p. 348; lviii., 1913, p. 327. See also Proceedings of American Instructors, iv., 1857, p. 199; vii., 1870, p. 144; ix., 1878, pp. 195, 217; Report of Royal Commission on the Blind, Deaf and Dumb, etc., 1889, iii., p. 456ff.

[279] In certain of these states, however, as Idaho, Indiana, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, and West Virginia, the boards of charities or central boards have only more or less financial concern, the statutes usually referring to some such connection with the several state institutions, though not always mentioning them by name. In one or two states, as Rhode Island, there is connection with a board of purchases and supplies. In Minnesota there is also a board of visitors for state institutions, exerting rather a moral supervision.

[280] The duties of such boards may be indicated from the following extract in a letter to the writer from the Secretary of the Wisconsin Board: The board "appoints the chief officers, purchases all the supplies for the institutions, formulates the provisions under which the institutions are managed, and has almost unlimited power with reference to the institutions". The boards thus have practically complete control of the public institutions of the state, and in some cases state universities have come within their direction. The boards have come especially into favor in states of the West and Middle West. In their favor it is claimed that they secure economy, accuracy, better discipline and more equitable appropriations, introduce business methods, relieve the heads of schools from financial problems, visit other states, and keep in touch with the people. See University of Nebraska Studies, Oct., 1905. The evolution of state control is also here traced. See also Bulletin of Ohio Board of Charities, Dec., 1908, xiv., 6.

[281] In Iowa the school for the blind is under the board of education.

[282] In nearly all the states the schools were placed at first in the hands of special boards of trustees, with connection with no other bodies, and it was only later that any change was brought about. In some states there have been various experiments in the organization of governing boards and in the number of members they were to contain. Several schools at their beginning have been put under the direction of a state educational institution, as the university in Utah, and the normal school in Oklahoma. In a few states the schools have been placed under certain state officers, as in New Mexico and Oregon. In Washington the first board of trustees of the school consisted of a physician, a lawyer and a practical educator.

[283] We have already noted that the colored deaf of the District of Columbia and West Virginia are sent to an outside school.

[284] In regard to the organization of the several boards that have to do with the education of the deaf, it may be stated that in some states, as in Ohio and Indiana, the law restricts the number that may be of any one political party. In connection with the government of schools for the deaf, the saddest feature has too often been the political influences which have been allowed to become factors in the conducting of some of them. In certain instances the playing of "politics" has been of serious moment, and with incalculable harm to the work of the schools. In some cases the administration of schools has been considered legitimate spoils to the party in power, and appointments have been made as a matter of reward, and removals as a matter of punishment. The evil effect of such procedure it is hard to overestimate, and indeed in an enlightened land it is even difficult of credence. Public opinion should severely condemn all attempts at political interference in the work of the education of the deaf, and those seeking to promote it should be dealt with befittingly. Happily, however, such conduct seems now on the decline in the schools, and it may earnestly be hoped that the end is not far in the future.



CHAPTER XI

THE DAY SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF

INCEPTION AND GROWTH OF THE DAY SCHOOL

A small number of the institutions for the deaf had begun as day schools, the pupils living away from the school outside school hours, and had continued so for a longer or shorter period. The schools were then in an experimental stage, and this plan came first to hand. In the course of time it was found that this feature was not practicable, as the pupils were often far scattered, and the boarding arrangement was accordingly adopted.[285] This was the policy finally chosen in all the states having schools. Later, however, when the states had grown in population, and in some of the cities there were found not a few deaf children, the demand was renewed for day schools.[286] The result has been the beginning and development of a system of day schools in a number of states; and they have come to occupy part of the field formerly covered by the state institutions alone.

Of the day schools now existing, the Horace Mann School, of Boston, which was established in 1869, is accredited with being the initial one.[287] Two others were opened before 1890, while from 1891 to 1900 there were 22 started, and since 1901, 40, making 65 in all now.[288] These schools are found in fourteen states, but the movement has reached its greatest growth in the Middle West, especially in Wisconsin and Michigan. In some of the states special laws have been enacted, providing for the establishment of day schools.[289]

DESIGN AND SCOPE OF DAY SCHOOLS

The day school for the deaf is still sometimes regarded as an experiment, while its advocates insist that its success has been demonstrated. Among school authorities in cities especially, pleas for the establishment of day schools are often listened to with favor, and there is frequently a tendency to give them at least a trial. General bodies interested in education or the public welfare are likewise inclined to countenance day schools, largely for the reason that they are opposed to the institution idea, and would place as many children as possible in the regular schools. An illustration of this view is found in the Report on Children of the National Conference of Charities and Corrections in 1906.[290]

Institutional care of healthy, normal children is objectionable.... Institutional care for educational purposes is necessary for a portion of the deaf and blind children ... but it is recognized that in large cities public schools can be provided for many deaf and blind children.

By some it is believed that in time the day school will supplant the large institution, so far at least as large cities are concerned, and that the deaf, and the blind as well, will not be differentiated from the pupils in the regular schools. Separate apartments and special teachers will be provided for them, but in all public school systems these classes will be actual factors.

On the other hand, it is maintained that there is an abundant field for both day school and institution. The former should only supplement the work of the latter, especially in reaching children that cannot otherwise be brought into school. The reason why the day school is called into being is thus given by an educational authority of one city:[291]

Institutions that care for these children throughout the entire year, that feed, clothe and educate them, that render skilful and prompt medical attention, and afford uplifting social advantages—all under one roof—have a worthy place under our social and educational systems; but these institutions cannot care for all the unfortunate children in need of education.

It is also suggested that it might be arranged that day schools should keep pupils during their early years, as from five to nine years of age, after which time they could enter the institution, and be placed in graded classes and in a suitable trade school.[292] Hence it is pointed out that the day school and institution should not be antagonistic, that their interests are common at bottom, and that they should work hand in hand, without friction or misunderstanding.

The day school plan has not as yet been followed in a large number of states; yet as these schools are being looked upon with more and more favor by city boards of education, and as in the centers of population there is said to be a need for them, it is not improbable that they may be extended much farther in the future. It is doubtful, however, if very soon they will spread beyond the large cities; and states without great cities may be without such schools for many years at least.[293]

EXTENT AND ORGANIZATION OF DAY SCHOOLS

The day schools, numbering 65 in all, as we have seen, are found in the states of California, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin. In Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, and Oregon each there is but one school, in New Jersey and Washington each 2, in New York 3, in California 4, in Ohio and Illinois each 5, in Michigan 14, and in Wisconsin 24. Where only one day school is found in a state, it is located usually in the largest city (Atlanta, New Orleans, Boston, St. Paul, St. Louis, and Portland), while the two schools of New Jersey are in Newark and Jersey City, the two of Washington in Seattle and Tacoma, and the three of New York in New York City. Of the five schools in Illinois, four are in Chicago.

In six of these states, namely, California, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, and Wisconsin, there are special state laws under which the schools are established and operated.[294] By such laws it is generally provided that where there are a certain number of deaf children, usually three,[295] a school may, on application of the local school trustees or district board, be organized by the state department of education.[296] The minimum age for such children is often three. A stated sum is frequently allowed for each pupil, as $150.[297] In the remaining eight states the schools are organized and directed by local school authorities, without assistance from legislative statute.

These schools are supported by local funds or by state and local funds together. The latter is the more common procedure, and in the case of schools operating under a state law, it is the usual, but not the necessary, practice. The schools in six states, namely, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, and New York, are thus maintained only by local funds of the city or county, the remainder receiving aid in whole or in part from the state.[298] The school in Minnesota and one in California are aided by private contributions. In nearly all cases carfare is provided to and from school when necessary.

In the day schools special buildings are not usually provided, separate classes being created in the regular school buildings; but in some of the larger cities there are special buildings, known as distinct schools, in which the class-rooms are for the different grades of deaf pupils.

The number of pupils in the day schools in 1912-1913 was 1,942. The smallest schools have but three pupils, while the largest one, in Chicago, has 307, the number usually depending on the size of the city. The method employed in the day schools is exclusively the oral with but two exceptions.[299] In all but a few certain industries are also taught, or more or less of manual training is given.

ARGUMENTS FOR THE DAY SCHOOL

The great argument for the day school is that it is not well that children be "institutionalized." The institution life is said not to be the normal life, and its habits and associations are not in accord with the principles now being largely held in America. It is coming to be more and more realized that the home should always be the center of interest and attachment in the well established community, and that the character and influence of the family should be maintained unimpaired. In connection with orphan and other child-caring agencies, a greater emphasis than ever before is being put on the question of how to reduce the life to one of normality, and the "placing-out" of dependent children in homes where they can grow up as normal children is now a popular faith. The great watchword to-day in intelligent and constructive philanthropy is the "ideal of the normal," and it is on this ground that the institution is declared to be removed from the standard of the highest interests of society. Even though a child should profit in the institution, and even though he should be sent out into the world strong and self-reliant, yet while in the institution, he is out of line, and is just so far displaced from the ideal of the normal; and even though the institution is cleanlier, more sanitary and otherwise better equipped than the quarters from which the child comes, still the institution cannot be justified, for no solution can be acceptable if in the end it results in the breaking up of the home.[300]

More specific charges are also brought against the institution. Here life for the inmates is made too easy, and little can be known by them of the actual struggles of the world. The life is machine-like, and all is routine clockwork. By the discipline, which is necessary, much of the spontaneity of growing children is destroyed, and the surroundings are pervaded with the spirit of uniformity, "solidarity" and "dead levelism." On the other hand, the children fail to learn many important lessons in domestic economy which would be before them every day in the home; and they lose the attitude towards life, morally and socially, which is given by the home.[301]

The arguments for the day school may be stated more concretely yet. The special day school may be co-ordinated with, or made a part of, the state's educational system, standing on a level with its other schools. Deaf children here come to feel their place in the normal world, while people in general become more ready to regard them in a proper manner. These children at the same time are not made strangers to their own family circles and communities; and certain ones, by a school nearer home and consequently more acceptable to their parents, may be reached who would otherwise possibly never enter an institution.

In the way of cost the balance is distinctly on the side of the day school. With no costly special plant necessary, and with no charges to be incurred for food supplies, attendants and the like, it appears to decided advantage in the matter of economy in comparison with an institution; and its normal expenditures approach nearer those of the regular schools. At present the difference between the cost per pupil in the day schools and in the institutions is the difference between $120 and $277.[302]

ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE DAY SCHOOL

The argument against the day school rests upon the fact that the deaf form, educationally, a special class, very small in most communities, who have to be reached by unusual methods. To them the large institution offers advantages not likely to be had outside. For this reason the case against the institution, however cogent and logical it may be in general, cannot well apply.

In the institution the children may be under intelligent supervision and direction their entire time, and they may be able to get, outside school hours, a part of the education which the hearing child so naturally acquires, for in an institution learning continues outside the classroom as well as within. The "picking up" of knowledge and bits of information, which the hearing child begins to make use of from the time he first hears human words, and the importance and value of which the general public cannot be expected to appreciate, is lost in the greatest measure to the deaf in the home. Here ready means of communication are lacking, and the necessary care and attention cannot be expected to be given in the household. Even though deaf children can and do mingle with their hearing acquaintances, they cannot get so much happiness or zest out of their sports and intercourse as they can with their own deaf comrades; and while, no matter what their surroundings are, the difficulties of most of them in mastering language will never be overcome, still in associations with similar deaf children there will be far more stimuli to react on their consciousness, and the tendency will be for them to become more and more in their mental actions like the normal. In the home there can be no great assurance of study and supervision; and the growing deaf child, not being able to appreciate the forces that surround him as the hearing child does, may the more easily fall under unwholesome influences. In the institution there can be suitable discipline, regular attendance, enlightened general oversight, and co-ordination of all that is concerned in the child's proper development. Furthermore, although there may be a growing feeling against the institution life, there is, on the other hand, an increasing social questioning as to the advisability of a child's remaining in a particular home if his welfare is not properly safeguarded.

In many day schools there are comparatively few pupils, and in most of these we cannot expect to find the carefully graded classes, with a place for every pupil according to his needs, bright or dull, quick to learn or slow. A pupil in a day school, if not neglected to some extent, may be required to do work for which he is quite unfitted, being either beyond it or incapable of it. The backward child will here be the worst sufferer, for if there are but few classes, he can get little of the special attention he needs; and his progress cannot be the same as when in a class of like pupils and under an appropriate and patient teacher.

Again, the attention that is given in an institution with a considerable number of pupils to the learning of a trade—accounting in strong measure for success in after life—means much more to a deaf child than it could to any other. In an institution there will usually be found larger equipment, fuller apparatus and more varied lines than in any but a very large day school; and in its trade department habits of industry will be formed, talents developed, a knowledge of mechanism and the use of tools implanted, an ardor enkindled for the mastership of a trade, and an appreciation of the part to be played in the great world of industrial activity, besides the incentive of being in a great workshop with other workers—all in far greater measure and more effectively than would be possible anywhere else, save in a great trade school, in which there could not be expected to be taken the special care and provision necessitated by the want of hearing of the pupils.

Finally, it may be said that we have no evidence, as respects institutions for the deaf, to show that they have in any way undermined the character or mission of the home, or that their results have been other than desirable in a well-ordered state. Hence we are told, in a word, that no matter how strong and valid are the theoretical objections to an institution, yet so far as the practical issues are concerned, in the preparation of the deaf for the world, and in what really counts for their development and progress, the institution, for many at least, occupies a position of demonstrated usefulness, recognition of which cannot rightly be withheld.[303]

EVENING DAY SCHOOLS FOR ADULTS

Thus far in this chapter we have discussed day schools in relation to children, that is, pupils in the usual sense. But there is another form of day schools to which attention is to be directed. This is in the creation of evening day schools for the use of adults only, the field open to which is as yet apparently but little realized.

Occasion for such schools arises chiefly in communities, especially large cities, where a considerable number of adult deaf persons are within reach, and where a real need may often be found. The matter is to be regarded in effect as the extension of the means of education by the state to include as large a part of the population as possible—a movement which is being so notably evidenced in the opening of evening schools of not a few kinds in cities to-day. With the deaf the demand is of a peculiar nature. Their avenues for receiving instruction are materially restricted, and for some, especially the congenitally deaf, the acquisition of correct language always remains a difficult problem, while to others the advantages of the regular schools may have been limited. A large number of the deaf will not require such special opportunities, but for a portion of them the assistance may be of quite substantial character.[304]

FOOTNOTES:

[285] The New York Institution, the Pennsylvania Institution and the Western Pennsylvania Institution notably started out as day schools, the first remaining so for eleven years. In some of the institutions also there have been at times day school pupils in attendance.

[286] Day schools have, moreover, been fostered and supported to a great extent by advocates of what is known as the oral method, in opposition to the manual, or sign method, which had been largely the method hitherto employed in the institutions. The day school may even be said to have entered the field in part as a protest against this method.

[287] A day school was started in Pittsburg two months previously; but it was soon made into the Western Pennsylvania Institution. Annals, xv., 1870, p. 165.

[288] A number of day schools which were started have been discontinued, but there were never so many as at present.

[289] Wisconsin was the first state to have a day school law, which was enacted in 1885. Bills were offered in 1881 and 1883, but were defeated. The movement in this state has been in large part due to the activities of the Wisconsin Phonological Institute to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf, an organization formed in 1879. The question has even been considered in this state of abolishing the state school as a boarding institution. See Public Opinion, xxv., 1898, no. 16; Association Review, iii., 1901, p. 193.

[290] Proceedings, p. 88.

[291] Mr. C. W. Edson, Associate Superintendent of Schools of New York, Charities and the Commons, xix., 1908, p. 1357. See also Report of Illinois Institution, 1874, p. 65.

[292] See Report of Washington State School, 1910, p. 6. A like solution was offered before the National Educational Association in 1903. Certain children might be "trained in special schools and live at home if possible up to the age of adolescence, when they may acquire trades at special institutions maintained by the state". Proceedings, p. 1004.

[293] It is to be remembered that in Michigan and Wisconsin schools have, under the operation of the state law, been organized in comparatively small towns.

[294] Efforts have been made in several other states to secure laws. In Ohio in 1902 the state law was declared unconstitutional, as being class legislation in granting special aid to the cities of Cleveland and Cincinnati. See Report of Ohio School, 1903, p. 14.

[295] In California the number is five, and in New Jersey ten.

[296] In Ohio the state commissioner of education may appoint and remove teachers, and inspect schools. In Wisconsin the state superintendent appoints inspectors, and the county judge may compel the establishment of schools.

[297] In Wisconsin $100 additional is allowed for the board of children who move to a town to attend a school.

[298] In Massachusetts a direct appropriation of $150 per capita is made by the state.

[299] The methods employed in the instruction of the deaf are treated of in Chapter XIX.

[300] The importance of this is accentuated in the present apprehensions concerning the dissolving and loosening of the ties of the home, indicated in more ways than one in present programs of social work.

[301] See A. G. Warner, "American Charities", rev. ed., 1908, p. 283; R. R. Reeder, "How Two Hundred Children Live and Learn", 1910, pp. 57, 88; "Philanthropy and Social Progress", 1893, p. 172ff.

[302] It is claimed that in Wisconsin with the centralization plan of a state institution one-third of the deaf children failed to be reached, and that by the day school there is a saving to the state of $20,000 a year. Proceedings of National Educational Association, 1907, p. 986. See also ibid., 1897, p. 96; 1901, p. 870; 1910, p. 1039; Report of United States Commissioner of Education, 1881, p. ccxi.; P. A. Emery, "Plea for Early Mute Education," 1884; Improvement of the Wisconsin System of Education of Deaf Children, 1894; Public School Classes for Deaf Children: Open Letter from Chicago Association of Parents of Deaf Children, 1897; Michigan Day Schools for the Deaf, 1908; Report of Superintendent of Public Instruction of Michigan, 1909, p. 61; Report of Department of Public Instruction of Wisconsin, 1910, p. 60; Report of Board of Education of Chicago, 1912, p. 155; A. J. Winnie, "History and Handbook of Day Schools for the Deaf", Wisconsin, 1912; Annals, xx., 1875, p. 34; Association Review, ii., 1900, p. 248; viii., 1906, p. 136; xi., 1909, p. 30; Volta Review, xiii., 1911, p. 292; Independent, lxxiv., 1913, p. 1140.

[303] See Annals, xxvii., 1882, p. 182; xxix., 1884, pp. 165, 312; xxx., 1885, p. 121; l., 1905, p. 70; lvi., 1911, p. 91; Volta Review, xv., 1913, p. 180; Proceedings of Convention of American Instructors, vii., 1870, p. 114; xiv., 1895, pp. 130, 350; Conference of Principals, vi., 1888, p. 202; viii., 1904, p. 70; Minnesota Conference of Charities and Corrections, 1898, p. 88; Report of Iowa School, 1885, p. 16; Pennsylvania Institution, 1903, p. 38; California School, 1904, p. 20.

[304] One or two evening schools have been started in the past, to be discontinued after a few years, both under private and under public auspices. In the consideration, however, of any general scheme for evening schools it should be arranged that the work of the regular schools for the deaf is not infringed upon, and that pupils in these schools should not have before them the temptation of leaving prematurely, with the expectation of making up later. Probably the safest plan would be the securing of a satisfactory compulsory attendance law before evening schools are attempted upon a broad scale.



CHAPTER XII

DENOMINATIONAL AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS

DENOMINATIONAL SCHOOLS

In addition to the state institutions and the day schools, there have been established in America certain schools for the deaf which are strictly under private management, and, as a rule, not subject to the immediate control and direction of the state. These are of two kinds: 1. denominational schools, maintained by some religious body; and 2. schools conducted as purely private and secular affairs. Such schools now number twenty-one, ten denominational and eleven private, all in 1912-1913 having 638 pupils. Most are of comparatively recent date, the first having been established in 1873, and nine since 1901.[305]

The denominational schools are found in California, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, there being two in Pennsylvania. They are for the most part boarding institutions, in a few cases being departments of larger institutions. Their controlling purpose is to surround their pupils with religious influences, and to provide them with religious instruction. All but one are under Roman Catholic auspices, as a usual thing in the hands of the Sisters. The single Protestant school is in the care of the Lutheran Church, and is controlled by the synod, with the direct management vested in a board of trustees. These schools are supported by denominational funds, by voluntary contributions, and in a small measure by tuition fees. In some of the schools, as in Maryland and Pennsylvania, there is state aid to a small extent. The fees paid by pupils are never high, and not many in the schools pay the full amount, though inability to pay is never allowed to keep any away who wish to attend.[306]

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

The eleven non-denominational schools may be themselves divided into two classes: those which are really homes for very young deaf children, sometimes under the control of a society organized for the purpose; and those which are purely private enterprises, owned and directed by one or more individuals. Of the former there are four homes or kindergartens—the Sarah Fuller Home of Boston, the McCowen Homes of Chicago, the Home School near Baltimore, and the Home School of San Francisco.[307] Their main object is to give their pupils an early start in the use of speech as well as to provide a home, and children as young as three, or even younger, may be admitted. The management of these schools is usually in the hands of trustees. Support is derived largely from the fees of pupils, though some schools are often the recipients of private donations, especially when children are taken without charge; and one or two have aid from public allowances.[308]

The private schools of the second class are almost entirely dependent on tuition fees, though one or two likewise receive some state aid. With two exceptions,[309] they are found in large cities, New York having two, and Philadelphia, Baltimore and Cincinnati one each. These schools are both boarding and day schools.

The method employed in the private schools is nearly always the oral, and this is the method also of some of the denominational schools. In some of the schools of both classes manual training and instruction in trades are given to an extent.

FOOTNOTES:

[305] There have been a number of private schools at various times, perhaps a score or more, which have been discontinued—besides those which were the nuclei of the state institutions. There are, moreover, several private schools for the hard of hearing, where instruction and practice are offered in lip-reading, and attended for the most part by adults.

[306] Thus in the Michigan Evangelical Lutheran Institute, where the minimum fee is $10 a month, we are advised that only two or three pay the full amount. In St. John's Institute of Wisconsin, where $12 a month is asked, we are advised that the officials are "contented with whatever part of this sum the parents or guardians can pay". Voluntary contributions likewise do not always prove large. Of the Immaculate Conception Institution of St. Louis, we are advised that private contributions are "too meagre to support one child". The industry of the Sisters often adds much for the maintenance of the Catholic schools.

[307] Another such home is in Philadelphia, but is now a state institution.

[308] To the Sarah Fuller Home the state of Massachusetts allows $250 per capita for some of the children.

[309] At Lead, South Dakota, and Macon, Georgia.



CHAPTER XIII

THE NATIONAL COLLEGE

After our review of the various schools that have been created for the deaf in the United States, we come to what may be regarded as the culminative feature in the provision for their instruction—an institution for their higher education. In this particular the work in America stands unique among the nations of the world. This institution is Gallaudet College—named after the founder of the first school—which is maintained at Washington by the national government, and is open to all the deaf of the country. We have seen how the national government has rendered very distinct aid in the work of the education of the deaf; but in establishing the college it has gone far beyond this, and by this act may be said to have placed the capstone upon the structure of their education.

This college has resulted from a school which was established in the District of Columbia in 1857, known as the Kendall School. Not long after Congress was asked to create an institution for the higher education of the deaf as well, and to include all the country. No little interest was aroused in the matter, and zealous advocates appeared to present the claims of the new undertaking. The chief objection was the lack of precedent, while with some members of Congress the idea seemed strange of conferring college degrees upon the deaf. Opposition, however, did not prove strong, and the measure was finally enacted in 1864 by a practically unanimous vote.[310]

Thus was the college established, and Congress continues regularly to provide for it, together with the Kendall School, both being known as the Columbia Institution for the Deaf. In the college there are now provided one hundred full scholarships for students from the several states of the Union.[311]

It is not surprising that this action on the part of Congress should have been held without a precedent. In no other instance has the national government attempted to make provision for the education of any class or part of the inhabitants of the different states, beyond certain so-called wards of the nation, as the Indians, for example. Though the national government has very perceptibly encouraged learning in many ways,[312] yet direct provision for the education of the youth of the several commonwealths has universally been regarded as their sole prerogative. In thus establishing a college for certain residents of the various states, the federal government has done something that stands out by itself. Though the reason lies in the fact that no other means for the higher education of the deaf seemed at hand, it would appear that thereby the government has signally favored the deaf, as it indeed has; and in taking under its immediate direction this higher education of the deaf, the national government has won the gratitude of them all.

FOOTNOTES:

[310] See E. M. Gallaudet, "Address in behalf of Columbia Institution," 1858; Inauguration of the College for the Deaf and Dumb, 1864; Report of Columbia Institution, 1866; 1868, p. 104; 1889; 1000, p. 16; 1892; Proceedings of Alumni Association of Gallaudet College, 1889-1899, p. 55; History of Charities in District of Columbia, 1898, part 3; Annals, xiv., 1869, p. 183; xix., 1874, p. 134; lvi., 1911, p. 184; Journal of Social Science, vi., 1874, p. 160; Scribner's Magazine, iii., 1872, p. 727; Harper's Magazine, lxix., 1884, p. 181; Review of Reviews, xvi., 1897, p. 57. The college was considerably aided in its first few years by private contributions. The first president was Edward Miner Gallaudet, son of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, who served more than fifty years.

[311] The number was at first small, and has gradually been increased to 100. It has also been suggested that the states assist in providing scholarships. Report of Columbia Institution, 1876, p. 20.

[312] This is done, for instance, in the several bureaus established for investigation and the dissemination of knowledge, and in the grants of land for the benefit of agricultural colleges or state universities.



CHAPTER XIV

PROVISION FOR EDUCATION BY STATES

Having now considered the plan and organization of the several kinds of schools for the deaf in America, namely, the institutions, the day schools, the private schools and the national college, we proceed in this chapter to examine the work in the several states individually, and to note to what extent and in what manner the education of the deaf has been provided for in each.

Alabama. A private school was started near Montgomery in 1854, but was discontinued after one or two years. The state school was established at Talladega in 1858.[313] In 1891[314] a school was created for the colored deaf and blind. The schools are governed by a board of thirteen members, including the governor and the superintendent of public instruction.[315]

Arizona. Before the opening of a local school the deaf were sent to other states for instruction.[316] The state school was created in 1912,[317] and is a part of the state university. On the admission of Arizona as a state, 100,000 acres of the public land were granted for the benefit of the school for the deaf and the blind.

Arkansas. A private school was opened at Clarksville in 1850, which was moved to Little Rock in 1861.[318] After a suspension, it was started anew in 1867, and in 1868 was taken over by the state.[319] The school is now in the hands of the state board of charitable institutions.[320]

California. The state institution for the deaf and the blind was established at Berkeley in 1860,[321] after a society had been formed for the purpose. The school is controlled by a board of five directors, while the state board of charities supervises.[322] There are four day schools in the state:[323] at Oakland, opened in 1898, and supported by state and county; at Los Angeles in 1899, supported by city and private subscriptions; at San Francisco in 1901, supported by the city; and at Sacramento in 1904, supported by state and city. There is a private school in Oakland, the St. Joseph's Home, opened in 1895, and one in San Francisco, the Holden Home Oral School, opened in 1913.

Colorado. The state school was opened at Colorado Springs in 1874,[324] and is for the deaf and the blind. It is supported by a one-fifth mill tax on the assessed property valuation of the state. The school is in the hands of a board of five trustees, and is connected with the state board of education.[325]

Connecticut. The American School was established at Hartford in 1817.[326] At the time the state made an appropriation of $5,000, and in 1828 began to allow a certain sum for each state pupil, a policy still continued. The school has remained a private corporation, and its board is made up of eight vice-presidents and eight elected directors, together with the governors and secretaries of state of the New England states. In 1819 Congress gave the school 23,000 acres of the public land, from which almost $300,000 has been realized. Gifts from private sources have nearly equalled this, about half coming since 1850.[327] A second school is at Mystic, known as the Mystic Oral School, this having been started in 1870 at Ledyard, where it remained four years.[328] It is under a board of ten corporators. Both these schools receive per capita allowances from the state, and are visited by the state board of charities.[329]

Delaware. Deaf children are sent to schools in neighboring states, the first provision having been made in 1835. The supreme court judges act as trustees ex-officio, and recommend pupils to the governor to be placed.[330]

District of Columbia. The Kendall School, as it is known, was opened in 1857,[331] and was designed primarily for the children of the District and of persons in the army and navy service. In 1864[332] Congress decided to establish a collegiate department for the deaf of all the country, which was first known as the National Deaf-Mute College, but is now Gallaudet College. The Columbia Institution, embracing both the college and the Kendall School, is supported by Congress, and is in the form of a corporation, of which the President of the United States is patron, and of the nine members of which one is a Senator and two are members of the House.[333]

Florida. The state school for the deaf and blind was opened at St. Augustine in 1885.[334] It is now in the hands of the state board of control of educational institutions, which also directs the state university.[335]

Georgia. The state began sending some of its deaf children to the Hartford school in 1834.[336] A private school was started at Cedar Springs in 1842, which continued two years. The state school was established at Cave Spring in 1846.[337] It is under a board of seven trustees.[338] There is a day school in Atlanta, supported by the city, and a private one at Macon, both opened in 1912.

Idaho. Before the opening of a state school, deaf children were sent to outside institutions.[339] The school for the deaf and the blind was opened at Boise in 1906, but in 1910 was removed to Gooding. It is under the state board of education, and subject to other state inspection.[340]

Illinois. The state school was opened at Jacksonville in 1846, although steps had been taken several years before for its establishment.[341] The school is directed by the state board of administration, while the board of charities has moral and auditing supervision.[342] There are in the state five day schools, four of which are in Chicago, the first having been established in 1896, and the last in 1913. The other day school is at Rock Island, opened in 1901. All these schools are operated under the state law, and supported by city funds.[343] In Chicago there are also two private schools: the Ephpheta, opened in 1884, and maintained by St. Joseph's Home for the Friendless,[344] and the McCowen Homes for Deaf Children, opened in 1883.[345]

Indiana. Prior to the opening of the state school, some children were sent to Kentucky and Ohio for education. In 1841 a private school was started in Parke County, which lasted one year.[346] In 1843 another private school was begun in Indianapolis, which was adopted by the state in 1844.[347] The school is now governed by a board of four trustees, and is under the state board of education, with certain connection also with the board of charities.[348]

Iowa. Before the opening of the state school some pupils were sent to the school in Illinois. In 1853 a private school was started at Iowa City, which in 1855 was taken over by the state,[349] in 1866 being removed to Council Bluffs.[350] The school is under the state board of control.[351]

Kansas. A private school was started in 1861 at Baldwin City. After being removed to Topeka in 1864 and back again to Baldwin City in 1865, it was taken over by the state in 1866,[352] and permanently located at Olathe. The state board of administration for educational institutions has the direction of the school.[353]

Kentucky. The state school was established at Danville in 1823.[354] In 1826 it received from Congress a township of land in Florida.[355] The school is in the hands of a board of twelve commissioners, and is related to the state department of education.[356]

Louisiana. In 1837 the state began to send some of its children to schools in other states, many being sent to Kentucky.[357] The state school was established at Baton Rouge in 1852.[358] It is governed by a board of trustees, including the governor and the superintendent of public instruction, and is visited by the state board of charities.[359] In New Orleans there is a day school, opened in 1911, and supported by the city.[360] At Chinchuba there is a private school, the Chinchuba Deaf-Mute Institute, under the Sisters of Notre Dame, opened in 1890.

Maine. In 1825 the state began to send its children to the American School, and later to the schools in Massachusetts as well.[361] In 1876 a private school was started in Portland with aid from the city, and the following year from the state also.[362] In 1897 the state assumed charge, the school being placed under a board of five trustees.[363] Inspection is made by the state board of charities.

Maryland. In 1827 provision was made for pupils in the Pennsylvania Institution, and in 1860 in the District of Columbia.[364] In 1868[365] the Maryland school was established at Frederick. It is under a private society, composed of twenty-seven visitors, but is supported and controlled by the state. In 1872 a department for the colored was opened in connection with the institution for the blind, now located at Overlea.[366] Both of these schools are inspected by the state board of charities.[367] There are two private schools in Baltimore, the St. Francis Xavier under the Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart, opened in 1897, and a department in the Knapp School, opened in 1877; and at Kensington a Home School, opened in 1908. These schools are aided by the state.[368]

Massachusetts. In 1819, just after the American School had been established, Massachusetts began sending its deaf children to it, which policy was continued till the state had schools of its own.[369] The first of these was the Clarke School at Northampton, which was established in 1867.[370] This had been started at Chelmesford the year before, but removed to Northampton when a citizen whose name it bears offered it $50,000—subsequently adding to this till his total gifts reached $300,000.[371] In 1868 the legislature provided that state pupils might be sent to it. The school is under a board of twelve corporators. The New England Industrial School was opened at Beverly in 1879,[372] for the purpose of teaching language and industrial training. It is under a board of thirteen incorporators. The Boston School at Randolph was established in 1899, and is under the Sisters of St. Joseph.[373] In Boston there is a day school, known as the Horace Mann School, opened in 1869, and directed by the city.[374] The Sarah Fuller Home is at West Medford, and was opened in 1888.[375] All these schools receive state appropriations, and are supervised by the state department of education.[376]

Michigan. Action was taken in 1848 towards the establishment of an institution, but it was not till 1854 that the school was opened, Flint being chosen as the site.[377] In 1850 the state granted the school fifteen sections of its salt spring lands, later increasing the number to twenty-five, which amounted in all to 16,000 acres.[378] The school is under a board of three trustees, and is visited by the state board of charities and corrections.[379] There are fourteen day schools in the state, operating under the state law:[380] Bay City, opened in 1901; Calumet, 1902; Detroit, 1894; Grand Rapids, 1898; Houghton, 1908; Iron Mountain, 1906; Ironwood, 1903; Jackson, 1912; Kalamazoo, 1904; Manistee, 1904; Marquette, 1907; Saginaw, 1901; Sault Ste. Marie, 1906; and Traverse City, 1904. There is a private school at North Detroit, the Evangelical Lutheran Deaf-Mute Institute, opened in 1873.[381]

Minnesota. The state school was opened at Faribault in 1863, though it had been planned in 1858.[382] The school is governed by a board of seven directors, including the governor and the superintendent of public instruction, while the state board of control has the financial administration.[383] There is a day school in St. Paul, opened in 1913, and supported by the city and with private aid.[384]

Mississippi. The state school was opened at Jackson in 1854.[385] It is in the hands of a board of six trustees, including the governor.[386]

Missouri. A school under Catholic auspices was established in St. Louis in 1837, to which the state sent some of its children, while others were sent to schools in other states.[387] The state school was opened at Fulton in 1851.[388] It is governed by a board of five managers, and is visited by the state board of charities.[389] There is a day school in St. Louis, founded in 1878, and managed as part of the public school system. In the same city is a private school, under the Sisters of St. Joseph, opened in 1885 and offspring of the school of 1837. It is known as the Immaculate Conception Institute, and is part of a convent and orphans' home.[390]

Montana. Before the establishment of a school, deaf children were sent to schools in other states.[391] The state institution for the deaf and blind was opened at Boulder in 1893,[392] 50,000 acres of the public land having been given by Congress for its benefit. It is under a board of nine trustees, appointed by the state board of education, with a local executive board of three, there being other state inspection also.[393]

Nebraska. Before the establishment of a school, deaf children were sent to Iowa.[394] In 1869 the state school was opened at Omaha.[395] It is governed by the state board of control of state institutions.[396]

Nevada. Deaf children have been sent since 1869 to California or Utah for education, the superintendent of public instruction contracting for them.[397]

New Hampshire. In 1821 the state began sending its deaf children to the school at Hartford.[398] They are now sent to the schools in the several New England states, as the governor and council may direct, on the recommendation of the board of control.[399]

New Jersey. In 1821 the state began to provide for the education of its deaf children in the schools in Pennsylvania and New York.[400] In 1883 the state school was established at Trenton.[401] It is related to the state department of education.[402] There are two day schools in the state, at Newark and Jersey City, both opened in 1910, and operating under the state law.[403]

New Mexico. A private school was opened at Santa Fe in 1885, which in 1887 was taken over by the territory.[404] It was given 50,000 acres of the public land, and on the admission of New Mexico as a state, this was increased to 100,000. The school is directed by a board of six trustees.[405]

New York. There are in this state eight institutions, three day schools, and two private schools. The institutions are all private corporations receiving state aid. The first of these was the New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, which was opened in 1818 in New York City.[406] In 1819 the state began to make appropriations. The school is governed by a board of twenty-one trustees.[407] The next school was Le Couteulx St. Mary's Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf-Mutes, organized in Buffalo in 1853 by a benevolent society, and opened in 1862. In 1872 it came within the state law as to public aid.[408] It is controlled by a board of seven managers. In New York City in 1867 the New York Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf-Mutes was established, which had resulted from a private class. It is in the hands of an association formed for the purpose, the management being vested in a board of twenty-one trustees.[409] In 1869 St. Joseph's Institution was opened in New York City, a branch being created in Brooklyn in 1874.[410] It is under the control of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart of Mary, and directed by a board of seven managers. The Central New York Institution was opened at Rome in 1875, and is governed by a board of fifteen trustees.[411] The Western New York Institution was established at Rochester in 1876, and has twenty-one trustees.[412] The Northern New York Institution was established at Malone in 1884, and is under a board of fifteen trustees.[413] The Albany Home School for the Oral Instruction of the Deaf was opened in 1889 as a private affair, and came under the state law in 1892.[414] It has a board of eight trustees. The New York law admitting children into these several institutions is peculiar, pupils under twelve years of age being sent as charges of the counties, and those over that age as state pupils, who are appointed by the state commissioner of education. The schools are visited both by the departments of education and of charities.[415] The three day schools are in New York City, one in Manhattan, opened in 1908, one in Brooklyn, opened in 1910, and one in Queens, opened in 1911, the last two being annexes of the first. The two private schools are also in this city: the Wright Oral, opened in 1894, and the Reno Margulies, opened in 1901.[416]

North Carolina. A school was planned in this state in 1828, but it did not come into being till 1845, when the state institution was established at Raleigh,[417] which was for both the deaf and the blind. In 1894 a school was opened at Morganton for the white deaf,[418] the colored remaining in a department of the former school. Both schools are controlled by boards of directors—eleven for the Raleigh and seven for the Morganton—and are inspected by the departments of education and of charities.[419]

North Dakota. Prior to the opening of a state school, children were sent to schools in other states. In 1890 the state institution was created at Devil's Lake.[420] It is in charge of the state board of control.[421] On the admission of North Dakota as a state, 40,000 acres of the public land were set aside for the benefit of the school. It is further supported by a tax of six per cent of one mill on the assessed property valuation of the state.[422]

Ohio. A movement was on foot for the establishment of a school at Cincinnati in 1821, but did not succeed. A private school was opened in 1827 at Tallmadge, which lasted two years. The state school was established at Columbus in 1829.[423] It is now in the hands of the state board of administration.[424] Five day schools are in operation in the state: Cincinnati, opened in 1886; Cleveland, 1892; Dayton, 1899; Ashtabula, 1903; and Toledo, 1911.[425] There are two private schools in Cincinnati: one, the Notre Dame, under the Sisters of Notre Dame, opened in 1890, and the other in 1906.[426]

Oklahoma. Before creating an institution of its own, Oklahoma provided for the education of its deaf children in a private school at Guthrie, which had been opened in 1898.[427] In 1908 the state school was established at Sulphur,[428] and in 1909 a second school was opened at Taft, known as the Industrial Institute for the Deaf, the Blind and Orphans of the Colored Race.[429] The former school is directed by a board of four trustees, and the latter by a board of five regents, the state superintendent of public instruction being a member of each. The schools are related to the state department of education, and are inspected by that of charities.[430]

Oregon. A private school was started at Salem in 1870, which in 1874 was taken over by the state.[431] It is now administered by the state board of control.[432] There is a day school in Portland, opened in 1908, and supported by the city.

Pennsylvania. There are four institutions and two private schools in this state. Two of the institutions are private corporations receiving state aid, and two are state-owned schools. The first to be established was the Pennsylvania Institution, which was opened in 1820 in Philadelphia.[433] Friends of this school have been generous from the start, and it has probably received several hundred thousand dollars in gifts. The governing board is composed of twenty-seven members.[434] The Western Pennsylvania Institution near Pittsburg was established in 1876, and was the result of a church mission which had begun in 1868 and developed into a day school. It is directed also by a board of twenty-seven members.[435] The Pennsylvania Oral School was founded at Scranton in 1883. It was a private institution till 1913, when it was made a state school. It is governed by a board of eighteen trustees, six of whom are appointed by the governor.[436] The Home for the Training in Speech of Deaf Children before they are of school age was started in Philadelphia in 1892 as a private school, and then adopted by the state.[437] It is under a board of five trustees. All these schools receive appropriations from the state, and are visited by the state board of charities.[438] The private schools are the Forrest Hall in Philadelphia, opened in 1901, the De Paul Institute of Pittsburg, opened in 1908, and the Archbishop Ryan Memorial Institute in Philadelphia, opened in 1912. To these a certain amount of state aid is granted.[439]

Rhode Island. In 1842 the state began to send its deaf children to the school at Hartford, a policy continued till a local school was created.[440] In 1877 a class for the deaf was started in Providence, for the benefit of which the state made appropriations, and which was soon taken over as a state school.[441] It is now under a board of eleven trustees, including the governor and lieutenant-governor, and is related to the state board of education.[442]

South Carolina. A school was proposed in this state in 1821,[443] but it was some years later that one was established. In 1834 the state began sending deaf children to the Hartford school.[444] In 1849 a private school was opened at Cedar Springs as a department in a hearing school, and in 1857 this was adopted by the state.[445] The school is for the deaf and blind, and is under a board of five commissioners, one of whom is the state superintendent of education.[446]

South Dakota. In 1880 a private school was started at Sioux Falls which the territory of Dakota soon took over,[447] before this some of the deaf having been sent to the schools in Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota. In 1889 when South Dakota was admitted as a state, the school was retained at the same location; and Congress granted it 40,000 acres of the public land. The school is under the direction of the state board of control.[448] A private school was established at Lead in 1911, known as the Black Hills School.

Tennessee. The state school was established at Knoxville in 1845.[449] It is under a board of fourteen trustees, including the superintendent of public instruction, and is visited by the state board of charities.[450]

Texas. The state school was established at Austin in 1857,[451] receiving 100,000 acres of the public land which had been set apart by the state for its several eleemosynary institutions. In 1887 a school for the colored deaf and blind was opened in the same city.[452] The schools are each under a board of five trustees.[453]

Utah. In 1884 a class for the deaf was begun at the state university at Ogden, and in 1888 a department was created. In 1892 the state school was established.[454] It is for both the deaf and the blind, and is under a board of six trustees, including the attorney-general.[455] On the admission of Utah as a state, 200,000 acres of the public land were bestowed upon the school.

Vermont. In 1825 the state began to send pupils to the American School,[456] and later to the schools in Massachusetts as well.[457] In 1912 a school for the deaf and blind was established at Brattleboro, known as the Austine Institute. It is a private institution, with a board of six trustees, but receiving state aid and under state supervision.[458]

Virginia. A private school was started in 1812 in Goochland County, thence moved to Cobbs, and finally to Manchester, coming to an end in 1819. The state school for the deaf and the blind was established at Staunton in 1839, though planned several years before.[459] In 1909 a school for the colored deaf and blind was created at Newport News.[460] The first school is under a board of seven trustees, including the superintendent of public instruction, and the second under a board of five. Both are visited by the state board of charities.[461]

Washington. Before the creation of a state school some of the deaf children were sent to Oregon for instruction.[462] In 1885 a private school was started at Tacoma, which lasted one year. The state school was established at Vancouver in 1886.[463] It is governed by the state board of control.[464] At Seattle and Tacoma there are day schools supported by the respective cities, the former opened in 1906 and the latter in 1908.

West Virginia. The state school for the deaf and the blind was opened at Romney in 1870,[465] before which time children had been sent to the schools in Virginia and Ohio.[466] The school is under a board of nine regents, while the state board of control has charge of financial affairs.[467]

Wisconsin. Prior to the establishment of a school of its own, Wisconsin sent some of its deaf children to the Illinois School. The state institution, which had been planned in 1843, was opened in 1852 at Delavan, resulting from a private school started two years previously.[468] It is under the direction of the state board of control.[469] There are 24 day schools in the state, operating under the state law:[470] Antigo, opened in 1906; Appleton, 1896; Ashland, 1898; Black River Falls, 1897; Bloomington, 1906; Eau Claire, 1895; Fond du Lac, 1895; Green Bay, 1897; Kenosha, 1913; La Crosse, 1899; Madison, 1908; Marinette, 1895; Marshfield, 1912; Milwaukee, 1898; Mineral Point, 1912; New London, 1906; Oshkosh, 1895; Platteville, 1906; Racine, 1900; Rice Lake, 1907; Sheboygan, 1894; Stevens Point, 1905; West Superior, 1897; and Wausau, 1890. A private school, the St. John's Institute, was established at St. Francis in 1876, and is conducted by the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis.

Wyoming. Deaf children have been sent since 1886 to the schools in California, Utah, Colorado and Montana, the state board of charities and reform having them in charge.[471]

The American Possessions. Outside of the United States proper very little has been done for the education of the deaf. In the Philippine Islands a school has been established, this being opened at Manila in 1907.[472] A school under Roman Catholic auspices was started in Porto Rico in 1911; and it is possible that one under the direction of the state will be created in time, a school for the blind having already been opened. In Alaska there is no school, though the deaf have been looked after to some extent by missionaries.[473] No provision has been made in the Panama Canal Zone or the Hawaiian Islands.[474]

FOOTNOTES:

[313] Laws, 1843-4, p. 43; 1859-60, p. 344.

[314] Laws, ch. 209.

[315] Laws, 1870, p. 95; 1871, p. 89; 1879, p. 34; 1887, p. 70; 1889, p. 29; 1893, p. 943; 1901, p. 25; 1904, p. 45; 1907, p. 11; Code, 1907, Sec. 1933ff. The school has received a gift of $5,000 for shops.