One curiosity of mine revolving around ASL is its origin. Who developed the ASL system? Was there an institution to teach the standardized system? Does it relate to British Sign Language? As it turns out, deaf education was not introduced until 1814, and thus, there is very little information about ASL before this time. However, what was known was that prior to this time, the deaf American population was only limited to a few thousand. No standard sign language system existed at this time, but individual communities developed their own signing systems to communicate.
The biggest example of such happenings is at Martha’s Vineyard, an Island in the Dukes Country, Massachusetts. Today, the island is known for being the filming location for “Jaws” as well as a destination hotspot for the upper-class. However, until the later 19th century, the island was a deaf utopia, especially within Chilmark, a small secluded town on the western end of Martha’s Vineyard. Many early Vineyard settlers carried a gene for deafness, and ultimately one in four children on the island were born deaf. Eventually, the residents developed their own signing system called Martha's Vineyard Sign Language (MVSL) or Chilmark Sign Language. It is said that MVSL played a role in the development of ASL. This is just one example of an individual community developing its own sign system.
It was Dr. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a mistier from Hartford Connecticut, who brought rise to a single standardized American signing system, also known as ASL. He originally took interest in the deaf community after meeting his neighbor’s deaf daughter, Alice Cogswell. To Gallaudet’s surprise, Alice was smart, despite not being able to hear. Gallaudet sought of ways to teach Alice to communicate and although he was unsuccessful in finding American deaf teaching techniques, he traveled to Europe where he studied under deaf instructors such as Abbe Sicard, Jean Massieu, and Laurent Clerc, all of whom were instructors at the National Institute for Deaf-Mutes, to learn the best deaf teaching techniques.
As Gallaudet planned to return to America, he asked Cler to accompany him. Together, the two men established the first public free deaf school in America called the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut in 1817. Although Thomas Gallaudet passed away in 1851, deaf culture continued to gain popularity and recognition. Edward Miner Gallaudet, Thomas’s youngest son went on to continue his father’s legacy by serving at the superintendent of the Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind in Washington, D.C. in 1857 and by 1864, Edward had convinced Congress to pass legislation allowing the Columbia institute to issue college degrees. Also during this time, the Columbia Institute’s college division (the National Deaf-Mute College) opened which was the first college for the deaf. By 1893, the college was renamed to Gallaudet College and in 1986, it was renamed again to Gallaudet University. This was the first deaf university in the world! In 1965, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf was also established, becoming the second higher education institute for deaf individuals.
Comments
I have always been curious to know where sign language originates from. It wasn't until very recently that I realized that sign language is not universal but rather varies depending on the nation and the language of that nation. Thank you for this insightful post about the origin of the ASL. I loved seeing the intersection of language and public policy to pass legislation to allow people study ASL. I hope you continue to enjoy studying ASL.