Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University is a private federally chartered university in Washington, D.C., for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first school for the advanced education of the deaf and hard of hearing in the world and remains the only higher education institution in which all programs and services are specifically designed to accommodate deaf and hard of hearing students. Hearing students are admitted to the graduate school and a small number are also admitted as undergraduates each year. The university was named after Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a notable figure in the advancement of deaf education.
Gallaudet University is officially bilingual, with American Sign Language and written English used for instruction and by the college community. Although there are no specific ASL proficiency requirements for undergraduate admission, many graduate programs require varying degrees of knowledge of the language as a prerequisite. It is classified among "Research Colleges and Universities".
To ensure that the university's leadership team can understand the student population needs, the staff is predominantly deaf. In 2025, the President, the chief of staff and the chief academic, bilingual, communications and undergraduate admissions, financial, legal, and operating officers, the dean of student affairs and the Clerc Center chief academic officer are deaf. In line with the same goal of student representativeness, the majority of executive-level appointees are women.
History
Early history (1856–1900)
In 1856, philanthropist and former United States postmaster general Amos Kendall became aware of several deaf and blind children in Washington, D.C., who were not receiving proper care. Kendall had the courts declare the children to be his wards and donated of his land to establish housing and a school for them. The school was established in 1857 with considerable efforts being made by several concerned citizens, including Edward Miner Gallaudet, of Washington, D.C. Two houses were used at the school's inception, one purchased and one rented.In 1857, the 34th Congress passed H.R. 806, which chartered the grammar school as the "Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind" and funded tuition costs for indigent deaf, dumb, or blind children belonging to the District of Columbia. Edward Miner Gallaudet was the first superintendent of the new school.
On November 1, 1858, the First Annual Report was submitted to the Secretary of the Interior.
During the school's second full year of operation, 14 deaf students and 7 blind students were in attendance. Superintendent Gallaudet, anticipating the future growth of the school, requested money for more buildings, lamenting the fact that the money was not issued in the year prior, due to federal budget problems. The Second Annual Report was submitted November 5, 1859.
During the third academic year, Kendall beseeched the federal government for funds to relocate the school to more spacious grounds. Gallaudet praised Kendall for donating money needed to construct a new brick building; both existing school buildings were already at capacity. There were 24 deaf students, necessitating a second teacher of the deaf. The teacher of the 6 blind students resigned due to health concerns.
By the start of the 1860–1861 academic year, the Civil War had been in progress for over six months. Gallaudet reported that the students were safe and free from fear. There were 35 deaf students and 6 blind students in attendance during the academic year. An art teacher was hired for the first time.
During 1861–1862, new monies provided for industrial education were used to rent a nearby shop in order to teach cabinet-making to the male students. Plans were underway to construct a new building using $9,000 that Congress appropriated to the school. There were 35 deaf students and 6 blind students. During vacation in August a regiment of Union troops used the brick building for a hospital, and some of the students who stayed over the summer helped with tending to the sick soldiers. One soldier died. For the first time, Gallaudet proposed expanding the school to create a college for deaf students.
Even with new construction completed for the 1862–1863 school year, the school was still at capacity and more money was needed to purchase of adjoining land and then build still more buildings. Gallaudet asked for money to pipe in water from the Anacostia River, as the existing cistern and well were inadequate for the school's burgeoning needs.
College-level courses were offered for the first time during the 1863–64 academic year. In early 1864, the 38th Congress authorized the institution to grant and confirm college degrees and an enabling act was signed by President Lincoln on April 8. Today, April 8 is celebrated at Gallaudet as Charter Day in commemoration of the official beginning of Gallaudet University. The collegiate department became known as the "National College for the Deaf and Dumb" from 1864 to 1865 and then would be known as the "National Deaf-Mute College" until 1894. In recognition of his hard work in helping the institution grow during its formative years, Gallaudet was also promoted from superintendent to president. An elaborate inauguration ceremony of Gallaudet as president was held in June with Laurent Clerc in attendance. of land was purchased with money supplied by the government. He continued to push for funds for expansion and new buildings.
The enrollment numbers increased rapidly during the 1864–1865 academic year. That same year, in early 1865, the 38th Congress removed the provision that the institution was to educate the blind, and renamed it the "Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb". Gallaudet asked the government for money to accomplish several projects, including the construction of an ice house and a gas house, sewer lines, and more. Major construction from earlier projects continued on campus. Following Gallaudet's proposal a year earlier to discontinue services for the small number of blind students the institution had at the time, explaining that the blind students would be better served at a specialized facility, the blind students were henceforth transferred to the school for the blind in Baltimore, Maryland.
During the 1865–1866 academic year, Gallaudet responded to criticism from supporters of the oral method in Massachusetts, saying that oral instruction is usually of little value to congenitally deaf children. Gallaudet proposed that a representative of the school be sent to Europe to study the methods employed there, in order to determine which types of instructional methods might be added to those methods already being used successfully at the Columbia Institution and other American schools. Combined enrollment of all levels of instruction, including the collegiate level, exceeded 100 for the first time during this year. There were 25 students enrolled in the college, including students from 14 states. Edward Allen Fay joined the faculty as a professor of history, having learned to sign as a child.
In the 1866–1867 academic year, the building for the primary school was extended and sickness was thereby reduced. A mathematics professor was hired for the first time. More money was needed to accommodate additional students expected to swell the ranks of the school.
Gallaudet gave a lengthy account of his travels to Europe in 1867 and was very critical of the extent to which speech is taught to deaf children in European schools for the deaf. Nevertheless, he recommended that a limited amount of speech training be afforded to deaf students in America to those who show they can benefit. The locations he visited included: Dublin, Ireland; Geneva, Switzerland; Vienna, Austria; Paris, France; Prague, Bohemia; ; Berlin, Prussia ; London, England; Edinburgh, Scotland; Saint Petersburg, Russia; Stockholm, Sweden; Copenhagen, Denmark; and many other cities in Europe.
The biggest educational conference in the then-history of deaf education was held during the month of May 1868 in Washington, D.C., largely made up of principals of schools for the deaf. Fourteen of the twenty-two schools for the deaf were represented. The chief topic of discussion was the recommendations put forth by Edward Gallaudet regarding adding articulation lessons to schools' curricula.
In 1868–1869, the first students completed a full course of college studies, all three men graduating with bachelor's degrees in June.
The founder of the school, Amos Kendall, died in November 1869. Gallaudet delivered a eulogy at the board meeting in January 1870. The main central building, now called Chapel Hall, was partially completed, with rooms in the basement and on the first floor first being used. Plans were being made to purchase Amos Kendall's estate, which adjoined the grounds of the school. Gallaudet cautioned Congress that Kendall's heirs had plans to subdivide the property if it was not sold to the Columbia Institution, and hence the land would never again become available for purchase as a whole.
In the 1871–1872 academic year, the diplomas of the graduates that summer were signed by President U.S. Grant, beginning a tradition of all Gallaudet graduates having their diplomas signed by the then-serving US president.
In 1881, Laura Sheridan, a hearing woman, inquired about the school accepting women. She was told that deaf women could not enter the institution at the time. In 1887 Gallaudet agreed to allow women to matriculate for the 1887-1888 and 1888–1889 academic years with the understanding that it would be considered an experiment. Temporary living arrangements were made for the 11 students who initially entered. Five female students remained when the school announced in 1889 that the college would be permanently coeducational, with two graduating. One of the students was Agatha Tiegel in the class of 1893, who later married the well-known deaf architect Olof Hanson.
In 1894, the collegiate division was officially renamed "Gallaudet College" from the "National Deaf-Mute College" in honor of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, President Gallaudet's father.