Cogswell Family Gravesite

The Father and Daughter that Changed the World

The Cogswell Family and their descendants transformed the deaf community in North America. Dr. Mason Cogswell was a highly respected physician. Shortly after he graduated as valedictorian from Yale ...

The Whipple Home School for Deaf-Mutes

Different Views for Deaf Education

Jonathan Whipple successfully taught lip-reading and speech to his deaf son Enoch and paved the way for oral schools in Connecticut. Inspired by this success, his grandson, Zerah C. Whipple, developed his own method of ...

Austin F. Williams House and Carriage House - ASD

This private home belonged to Austin F. Williams (1805-1885), who was an ardent abolitionist who helped both the Amistad captives and students from the American School for the Deaf. Williams built the carriage house on this property as a ...

Founders Memorial Gallaudet Statue and Square

Monument for Enlightenment

The New England Gallaudet Association for the Deaf unveiled this statue on April 18, 1953. Mrs. Frances Wadsworth, from Granby, designed this sculpture to resemble Alice Cogswell standing in large hands to commemorate the beginnings of deaf ...

The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

Dedication to Education

Daniel Wadsworth supported Dr. Mason Cogswell’s dream for a deaf education from its inception. In 1815, he was amongst a handful of gentlemen Cogswell invited to his home to discuss the idea for a school and became ...

The Current Home of the American School for the Deaf

Proud Home of the Mother School

Please note that this location is an active school and all visitors must check in at the main office.

As the urban landscape of Hartford expanded along Asylum Avenue, the American School for the ...

The Third American School for the Deaf

A Campus Devoted to Deaf Education

Now the location of the Hartford Insurance Company, the American School for the Deaf called his location home for 100 years, from 1821 until 1921. The school purchased the seven acre property from Jared ...

The Second American School for the Deaf

Expanding American Deaf Education

By the end of 1817 Gallaudet and Clerc needed more space for their growing number of students. They purchased the home that stood at this location from attorney Thomas Day. This second location is sometimes still ...

The First American School for the Deaf

Beginning 200 years of Deaf Education

Today the Bushnell Towers stand on the former location of the City Hotel. Rev. Thomas H. Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc rented rooms at this hotel and it was here that the American School for ...

The Cogswell and the Gallaudet Families

Birth of Deaf Education

Although the Cogswell family mansion no longer stands, this site saw the birth of deaf education in North America, the events that would create American Sign Language (ASL). Dr. Mason Cogswell, a renowned Yale graduate and ...