Preparing Laurent’s portrait…ASL history
A shared history.
A living language.
Meet Laurent Clerc and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, two pioneers of Deaf education in America.
Meet your guidesPreparing Laurent’s portrait…
Preparing Thomas’s portrait…Educator & cofounder1787–1851
Thomas H. Gallaudet
A hearing educator, Gallaudet learned from Deaf teachers in Europe, invited Clerc to America, and helped open a school. 2
Their shared story
Small beginnings. Lasting change.
Alice’s story opens a door.
Gallaudet meets Alice Cogswell. Her father and local supporters help him seek teaching methods abroad.
Source ↗A teacher becomes a student.
Gallaudet travels to Europe and studies in Paris, learning from Clerc and other Deaf educators.
Source ↗Two educators cross an ocean.
Clerc and Gallaudet sail to America, exchanging signs and English along the way. Together, they gather support for a school.
Source ↗The classroom doors open.
On April 15, the school now known as the American School for the Deaf opens, supported by Clerc, Gallaudet, the Cogswell family, and their community.
Source ↗ASL’s roots
A language belongs
to its community.
ASL grew from French signing traditions and the signs Deaf students brought from communities such as Martha’s Vineyard, New York, and Philadelphia.
Deaf students, families, and teachers shaped the language. Their communities continue to shape it today. [1]
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