Charles Hillar
First African-American Student at ASD
Charles Hillar was the first student of African descent to attend the American School for the Deaf. He and two other children, who enrolled at the New York School for the Deaf in 1818, are the first African American students to be enrolled in a public school. His attendance at ASD helped pave the way for other students and preceded Prudence Crandall’s admission of African American students by more than five years.
Sadly, not much is known about his life before and after he left ASD. He was born on January 3, 1810 on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts. Unlike Martha’s Vineyard, which had a large population of deaf people, Nantucket only had a handful of deaf residents.
Hiller had a complex and tragic family life. According to local genealogical records both Hiller’s mother and his older sister were born out of wedlock and their fathers are not known. Hiller’s father died before he left for ASD and although his mother remarried he did not live with her. Instead, he lived at the poorhouse and the town selectmen paid for his tuition.
We know about Hillar’s ethnic background because his school registration on November 5, 1825 stated, “He had a mixture of African blood.” After graduating ASD in 1829, the only record of him is his registration in the New England Gallaudet Association of the Deaf in 1856. His mother was widowed and married four times and lived out the rest of her life on Nantucket. Hopefully, future scholarship will reveal more about Hiller and his adult life.Credits and Sources:
Photo courtesy of:
ASD.
