Person Information

Biography

Laura Bridgman was the first blind/deaf person to be successfully educated, as Massachusetts legislature established the New England Asylum for the Blind in 1829, which was the first school for the blind in the United States. Laura was born "normal" but at the age of two she was struck with scarlet fever and was left blind, deaf, and nearly devoid of her sense of taste and smell. A year after she lost her senses, she forgot how to speak, which she had just been starting to learn how to do when she got sick. The director of the New England Asylum, Samuel Gridley Howe, saw Laura as an experiment of whether or not a blind/deaf child could be taught, and convinced her parents to bring her to the asylum at the age of 7. While there, Laura became a national sensation as an example of perseverance of character despite the hardships she faced in life. She was advertised as being pure, innocent, and determined, as Howe used her condition for publicity purposes. She became a tourist attraction and Howe continued to advertise her personal behaviors and displayed her personal life for the world to see, something that Laura was unaware of and based on her personality, would most likely not have been okay with.

Letter References

Citations

Biography and Citation Information:
Biography: 
Laura Bridgman was the first blind/deaf person to be successfully educated, as Massachusetts legislature established the New England Asylum for the Blind in 1829, which was the first school for the blind in the United States. Laura was born "normal" but at the age of two she was struck with scarlet fever and was left blind, deaf, and nearly devoid of her sense of taste and smell. A year after she lost her senses, she forgot how to speak, which she had just been starting to learn how to do when she got sick. The director of the New England Asylum, Samuel Gridley Howe, saw Laura as an experiment of whether or not a blind/deaf child could be taught, and convinced her parents to bring her to the asylum at the age of 7. While there, Laura became a national sensation as an example of perseverance of character despite the hardships she faced in life. She was advertised as being pure, innocent, and determined, as Howe used her condition for publicity purposes. She became a tourist attraction and Howe continued to advertise her personal behaviors and displayed her personal life for the world to see, something that Laura was unaware of and based on her personality, would most likely not have been okay with.
Citation Type: 
Website
Citation URL: 
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/history/2014/05/laura_bridgman_the_first_deaf_blind_person_to_be_successfully_educated_before.html
Title of Webpage: 
Slate
Website Viewing Date: 
Thursday, March 23, 2017 - 16:15
Website's Last Modified Date: 
Thursday, March 23, 2017 - 16:15
Citation Notes: 
Excerpt from a book: Mahoney, Rosemary. "For the Benefit of Those Who See: Dispatches from the World of the Blind." Copyright 2004.
Citation for Birth Info:
Citation Type: 
Website
Citation URL: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Bridgman
Title of Webpage: 
Wikipedia
Website Viewing Date: 
Thursday, March 23, 2017 - 16:15
Website Last Modified Date: 
Thursday, March 23, 2017 - 16:15
Citation for Death Info:
Citation Type: 
Website
Citation URL: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Bridgman
Title of Webpage: 
Wikipedia
Website Viewing Date: 
Thursday, March 23, 2017 - 16:15
Website Last Modified Date: 
Thursday, March 23, 2017 - 16:15