Laurent Clerc:

Bethany Polley
June 6, 2005
 

Laurent Clerc

     Laurent Clerc was born into a noble family on December 26, 1785. His father was mayor of the village La Balme. Although Laurent may have been born hearing his family attributed his lost sense of sound to an accident, when at the tender age of one year when he was left home alone and fell into a fire. His family tried for many years to “undo” the damage to his hearing through ways thought practical by physicians of the day. He underwent a painful process that consisted of a doctor injecting fluids into his ears.  In 1797, at the age of twelve, his father, who was ashamed at the prospect of having a deaf son, sent him to live at The Institution for Deaf-Mutes in Paris. (Lane, 1984)

     Upon arriving to Paris, Laurent was entrusted to the care of Jean Massieu, a man that would be a mentor to him for most of his life. Laurent was amazed by the simple majesty of the Institution. To many the Institution may have seemed ordinary but to an uneducated boy from a small village it seemed magnificent.  During the first year living at the institution Laurent learned many signs in Manual French. This form of sign was quite different and much more difficult then French Sign language.

In 1815, Laurent Clerc met an American by the name of Thomas Gallaudet. Thomas was in search of learning how to teach deaf students in America. Laurent became Thomas’ teacher. After working together for three months the time came for Thomas to return home. “Gallaudet was so impressed by Clerc that he invited this ‘master teacher’ to go to America and help him establish a school for the deaf there.” (L.C.N.D.E.C.) Abbe` Sicard was reluctant to lose his teacher, but after Laurent promising to return after three years he reluctantly agreed.

     The trip from London to New York took fifty-two days. Laurent and Gallaudet spent five months touring and fundraising, in seven cities throughout New England, to start the new school. After obtaining $17,000 they bought a building to renovate into a schoolhouse. When it opened the school had only seven pupils. By the end of the year, the number of students had risen to thirty-one.

     A year later Laurent got married to a student named Eliza Boardman. His contract to return to France was soon coming to an end. After promising to stay in France for only a year, Laurent returned to his homeland. After the year was over he remained true to his word and returned to the States.  Upon his return he was given a house next to the school to live in.

     “At the school, Clerc led a busy life. He taught signs to Principal Gallaudet; he taught the pupils; and he taught hearing men who came to the school to study deaf education.”  (Goodstien, 1979) Laurent went on to teach for a total of 50 years. Laurent was the first deaf man to ever appear in front of the American Congress.  Although he never went to college himself he had several honors placed upon him. Laurent Clerc may arguably have been the most influential man in bringing American Sign Language to where it is today.

References

Lane, H. 1984. When the Mind Hears: A History of the Deaf. Random House: New York.

L.C.N.D.E.C. "Laurent Clerc: Apostle to the Deaf People of the New World." <www.clerccenter.gallaudet.edu>

Goodstein, A. & Walworth, M. Interesting Deaf Americans. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University. 1979.
<http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/exercises/exreading/reading7.html>