Gallaudet University Founded
Gallaudet University — the world's only university designed for Deaf and hard-of-hearing students — was established by an act of Congress signed by President Abraham Lincoln on April 8, 1864. It remains the most important centre of Deaf culture and Deaf Studies in the world, and has produced generations of Deaf leaders, scholars, and activists.
Founding
Gallaudet University's origins trace to the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, established in Washington, D.C. in 1857 by Amos Kendall — a wealthy philanthropist — and led by Edward Miner Gallaudet, son of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, one of the founders of Deaf education in America.
In 1864, Congress passed legislation authorising the institution to confer college degrees — making it the first institution of higher education in the world to offer degrees to Deaf students. President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill into law on April 8, 1864. The institution was renamed Gallaudet College in 1954 (in honour of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet) and became Gallaudet University in 1986.
Edward Miner Gallaudet vs. Alexander Graham Bell
Edward Miner Gallaudet was a strong proponent of sign language in Deaf education — a position he defended vigorously against Alexander Graham Bell, who was deeply committed to oral methods and is widely considered a significant figure in the suppression of sign language. The two men were leading figures on opposing sides of the oralism-manualism debate that dominated late 19th-century Deaf education and culminated in the 1880 Milan Conference.
Gallaudet argued that sign language was essential to Deaf education and communication — a view vindicated by modern linguistics and Deaf rights thinking.
Gallaudet and Deaf Culture
Gallaudet University has been the centre of American Sign Language culture and scholarship. It has housed:
- The National Deaf Education Center
- The Gallaudet Research Institute
- The Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center
- Deaf Studies and ASL programs that have trained generations of teachers and interpreters
Most importantly, Gallaudet has been a community — a place where Deaf people could live, learn, work, and build identity in an environment designed for them rather than in spite of them.
The Deaf President Now Protest
The most dramatic moment in Gallaudet's modern history was the Deaf President Now protest of 1988, when students shut down the campus to demand Gallaudet's first Deaf president — a demand that succeeded within one week (see separate milestone entry).
Legacy
Gallaudet University exists at the intersection of education, language rights, culture, and civil rights. Its graduates and faculty have been central to virtually every major development in Deaf rights in the United States — from fighting oralism to leading the fight for captioning, ASL recognition, and accessibility legislation. The university stands as a permanent institutional expression of the principle that Deaf people have the full capacity for intellectual and professional achievement.