Gallaudet University


 

-Amos Kendall donated two acres from his estate, located in Washington, D.C., in 1856 to serve as a school and residential living for twelve deaf and six blind students. The school was originally named the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and Blind. Edward Miner Gallaudet (Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet’s son) became the first superintendent of the school.

-Congress allowed the Institution to issue college degrees in 1864, during the administration of President Abraham Lincoln.

-The first graduating class in 1869 consisted of three men.

-In 1954, the name of the Institution changed to Gallaudet College, in honor of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet.

-The Model Secondary School for the Deaf was established in 1969 on the campus and Kendall Demonstration Elementary School was established one year later, in 1970.

-In October 1986, Gallaudet College (now open for 122 years) was granted university status. It was now Gallaudet University.

-The Deaf President Now movement occurred in March of 1988 and came to an end when Dr. I. King Jordan was appointed as the University’s President. He was the first deaf President appointed.

 

References

Gallaudet History. (2008). Retrieved June 30, 2009, from

http://www.gallaudet.edu/GUHistory.xml

History of Deaf Culture