Silver Coffee Urn

“Presented Mrs. Sophia F. Gallaudet As a testimonial of affectionately, Remembrance from the scholars of the Columbia Institution For the Deaf & Dumb, Washington, D.C. June 27th, 1866”

This silver coffee urn was presented by the school to Sophia Fowler Gallaudet upon her retirement as first matron in 1866.

This urn was gifted to the school in 1983 by Mrs. Horace (Eilen)Barry with a note to Executive Director Winfield Mc Chord:

“I am so glad you are enjoying the coffee urn. It is now in its rightful place, and it is lovely to have it so appreciated and used”.

Thomas Gallaudet’s Eyeglasses and Case

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Gallaudet Pew in Trinity College Chapel

If you visit Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., there is a place where you can find ASD co-founder Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet in the Chapel. Completed in 1932, the Chapel was designed in the English Perpendicular Gothic style by Philip Frohman, who also designed the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.

Inside the Chapel you will see many beautiful hand-carved pew ends. Near the front altar, there is one entitled, “League for the Hard of Hearing Pew End – 1939.” The arm piece shows Rev. Thomas. H. Gallaudet sitting and making the sign for God.

Gallaudet and the deaf French teacher Laurent Clerc introduced what is now American sign Language to America. Two of Gallaudet’s sons, Edward Miner and Thomas (who graduated from Trinity in 1842) expanded and continued their father’ work.

The main panel of the pew end shows Crist curing a deaf man, while the Angel Gabriel stands above, ready to blow his horn.

The Chapel, at Trinity College, 300 Summit St., Hartford, Conn., is normally open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed on weekends.

Portrait Bust of Lydia Howard Huntley Sigourney – 1842

Lydia Sigourney was Alice Cogswell and her sisters’ teacher before ASD was founded in 1817. 

Plaster bust from life was made in 1842 by the American portrait sculptor, Chauncey Bradley Ives, an American sculptor. .

	Lydia Sigourney

School Seal – 1936

Designed by Alma Chadwick Jayne (Teacher)

Carved by Joe Giordano (Deaf Teacher)

Stained Glass Window of Rev. Thomas Gallaudet and students at Yale University

At Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, there is a beautiful stained-glass window of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet with 3 students at the American School for the Deaf. It is on the fourth floor of the Sterling Memorial Library. It’s a great honor for T.H.G., who graduated from Yale University in 1805. He founded the American School for the Deaf in 1817. For more information about Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, read his biography. 

“Rev. Thomas Gallaudet Teaching the Deaf and Dumb,” stained glass window by G. Owen Bonawit, Slavic Reading Room, Sterling Memorial Library, Yale University, c. 1930.

Time Capsule at Gallaudet Building

The Laying of the cornerstone of the Gallaudet Building took place on July 22, 1920. However, before the cornerstone was sealed, ASD’s President at the time – Henry Perkins – Placed a time capsule inside the foundation. As he did, he addressed the audience:

“A feature of this occasion is, in conformity with an old custom, the sealing up of a box containing old papers dating from the time of the founding  of the school, a city directory of today, the current newspapers, school reports, and coins of the present year. This, in a way links us to the past and with the future, an symbolizes the continuity of our body of work”.

This time capsule was unearthed during the demolition of the Gallaudet building on March 5, 2015 by Executive Director Jeffrey Bravin.

Sophia Fowler Gallaudet’s Wedding Dress

Sophia Fowler (Student #15) stayed at the school for four years.  Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet fell in love with her and asked her to marry him.  On August 29, 1821, after she had completed her studies in the spring of 1821, they got married at Center Church in Hartford, CT. 

HOLD Pitcher of the American Asylum

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HOLD ___Coin-Silver Pitcher

HOLD Pitcher and Salver of Laurent Clerc

HOLD 1822- The Platter of the American Asylum

Photo of a china platter in the Historical theme depicting the American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb drawn by John Warner Barber (1798-1885). He was an engraver and historian, whose books of state and local history featured his vivid illustrations of wood and steel engravings. This platter is in dark blue color and measures 14.5″ x 11″ with a repetitive rose and leaf medallion border and front view of the new Asylum. This illustration was done by Mr. Barber on November 27th, 1822, the year the Asylum was built. The famed potters, John and William Ridgway, in the Staffordshire district of England, added various patterns to the platter; that is, the feathery-leafed tree framing the building on the right side along with a floral bush in the center foreground. The Ridgway’s, not only made platters, but also, complete dinner services for daily use. Pieces in this pattern that have survived are indeed rare.