Lydia Huntley Sigourney
Poet and Teacher
Lydia Huntley Sigourney was born in Norwich on September 1, 1791. She began her young adult life as a teacher and opened a school for ladies in Norwich and later in Hartford at the home of Daniel Wadsworth. It was here that she taught Dr. Mason Cogswell’s daughters, including his deaf daughter, Alice. The Cogswells and other prominent Hartford supporters sent Reverend Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet to Europe to learn more about teaching the deaf.
In the meantime, Sigourney did not allow Alice to be left behind while Gallaudet studied abroad. She taught Alice how to read and write and encouraged her to continue her education. Sigourney composed poetry and included Alice’s thirst for knowledge in an 1843 poem entitled,Teacher’s Excuse – Written in School:
And then my silent* darling come
And who unmoved can view,
The glance of that imploring eye,
“Oh, teach me something too.”
*A little deaf and dumb girl.
Sigourney married Charles Sigourney in 1819 and although she retired from teaching, she kept writing poetry. When her family needed financial help she turned to writing professionally. She went on to edit Godey’s Ladies Book, produced over 50 books, and became known as the “Sweet Singer of Hartford.” She continued to support deaf education and promoted the American School for the Deaf by writing articles about Julia Brace and the school. After a successful literary career, this became her final resting place after she passed away on June 10, 1865.Credits and Sources:
Photos courtesy of:
Watkinson Library at Trinity College; Keenan.
