Sophia Fowler Gallaudet
Sophia Fowler was not the only deaf child in her family when she was born on March 20, 1798. She joined her older sister Parnel and left this home in Guildford to study at the American School for the Deaf when it first opened. Although Sophia was already 19 and Parnel was 29, this was their first opportunity to learn to read, write, and socialize with other deaf individuals.
While Sophia studied at ASD over the next six years she became close with teacher Reverend Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. After she graduated from the school, he proposed, and they were married in 1821. Over the years they would have eight children, all hearing, who would continue their parent’s mission to promote deaf education.
Both Sophia Fowler and her youngest son, Edward Miner, worked to found the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and Blind, in Washington, DC. She met with members of the U.S. Congress and other affluent members of the Washington community to gain supporters for the school. Later, the college changed its name to Gallaudet University in memory of Reverend Gallaudet. Edward Miner became the first principal in 1857 at 20 years old. Meanwhile, Sophia acted as the first matron of the college and taught domestic skills throughout the 1860s. After her death in 1877, Gallaudet University named their women’s dormitory Fowler Hall in her honor.Credits and Sources:
Photos courtesy of:
Google Maps; Gallaudet University Archives; Gallaudet University Archives; Wiki – 1880s Gallaudet Biography; Gallaudet University Archives; ASD; ASD; ASD; ASD, ****.
