The Deaf Part 23

[439] There have been day schools at Pittsburg, 1869-1876; Erie, 1874-1884; Allegheny, 1875-1876; and Philadelphia, 1880-1881. There was a private school in Philadelphia from 1885 to 1889.

[440] Rev. Stat., 1857, p. 158.

[441] Laws, 1878, p. 200.

[442] Laws, 1891, ch. 922; 1896, chs. 324, 332; 1893, ch. 1175; 1901, ch. 809; Gen. Laws, 1909, chs. 100, 101. The governor makes the appointments. There is a state board of purchases and supplies in connection with the school.

[443] Act, Dec. 20.

[444] Laws, 1834, p. 513. At first $2,500 was appropriated. See also Laws, 1848, p. 524.

[445] Laws, 1852, p. 187; 1871, p. 609.

[446] Laws, 1878, p. 707; 1895, ch. 521; 1902, ch. 546; 1910, ch. 468; Code, 1912, ch. 27. A department for the colored was created in 1883.

[447] Laws of Dakota, 1881, pp. 16, 65; 1883, ch. 26; 1887, ch. 41; Comp. Laws, 1887, -- 261ff. Ten acres of land and a thousand dollars or more were given to the school.

[448] Laws, 1907, ch. 137; Comp. Laws, 1910, p. 150ff.

[449] Act, Jan. 29, 1844; Laws, 1845-6, ch. 157; 1849-50, ch. 127; Code, 1858, p. 338; Laws, 1860, chs. 19, 69; 1866-7, ch. 42. The law creating the school was appended to one providing for the blind alone. At the beginning $6,400 and two acres of land were given to it.

[450] Laws, 1877, ch. 49; Ann. Code, 1896, ---- 2660-2670. A department for the colored was created in 1881. Laws, ch. 109.

[451] Laws, 1856, p. 66; 1875, p. 66; 1883, p. 109.

[452] Laws, p. 150.

[453] Laws, 1902, ch. 10; 1905, p. 47; Rev. Stat., 1911, p. 68.

[454] Laws, 1888, pp. 33, 44; 1890, pp. 44, 68; Comp. Stat., 1888, p.

662. For two years the school was conducted as a day school. It received some county a.s.sistance at first, and there were some private donations.

[455] Laws, 1892, p. 10; 1894, ch. 26; 1896, p. 100; 1897, p. 36; 1898, ch. 20; 1903, p. 51; 1907, pp. 14, 59; 1911, ch. 98; Comp. Laws, 1907, p. 789ff.

[456] In 1817 a census of the deaf was taken. Laws, no. 25.

[457] Laws, 1823, no. 40; 1825, no. 21; 1833, no. 21; 1839, p. 121; Rev.

Stat., 1840, p. 121; Laws, 1841, no. 22; 1842, no. 16; 1858, no. 3; 1872, nos. 16, 19; 1892, no. 27; 1898, chs. 29, 30; 1899, no. 27; 1906, chs. 55, 56; Pub. Stat., 1906, ch. 60.

[458] Laws, 1908, p. 490; 1910, p. 84. The governor is commissioner for the deaf, and designates and commits them. This school resulted from a fund of $50,000, which was bequeathed for a "hospital for the temporary treatment of strangers and local invalids peculiarly situated", but which the court allowed to be used for the school.

[459] Laws, 1838, ch. 19; 1839, p. 205; 1845, p. 385; 1846, p. 17; 1849, p. 385; 1856, p. 81. In 1825 a committee was sent to Kentucky to examine the school. In 1835 a private a.s.sociation was formed to organize a school.

[460] Laws, ch. 164.

[461] Laws, 1875, ch. 177; 1879, ch. 244; 1896, ch. 702; 1898, p. 276; 1903, ch. 266; 1904, p. 75; Code, 1904, ch. 74. The Staunton school received some private donations at first, and 5 acres of land, besides a later legacy of $3,000 for poor deaf children; and the Newport News school has received a few gifts, including some land.

[462] Laws, 1881, p. 211.

[463] Laws, 1886, p. 136. At the beginning 100 acres of land were donated. The school seems not to have profited by the gift from Congress of 200,000 acres for charitable and reformatory inst.i.tutions.

[464] Laws, 1890, p. 497; 1897, p. 443; 1903, p. 266; 1905, ch. 139; 1907, p. 238; 1909, p. 258; 1912, ch. 10; Code and Stat., 1910, -- 4387ff. There was a department for the feeble-minded till 1906, and for the blind till 1912, all being known as the "school for defective youth".

[465] Laws, 1870, ch. 116; 1871, ch. 71. A building and 15 acres of land were given by the city.

[466] Laws, 1868, ch. 71.

[467] Laws, 1887, ch. 52; 1895, chs. 25, 39; 1897, ch. 25; 1905, ch. 66; Code, 1906, -- 1774ff. Colored pupils are sent to Maryland for education.

[468] Laws, 1852, ch. 481; 1857, ch. 34; 1858, ch. 102; Rev. Stat., 1858, ch. 186. Eleven acres of land were given to the school.

[469] Laws, 1866, ch. 105; 1869, ch. 8: 1880, ch. 116; 1881, ch. 298; 1883, ch. 268; 1891, ch. 331; 1893, ch. 290; 1907, ch. 128; Rev. Stat., 1898, ch. 38.

[470] Laws, 1885, ch. 315; 1897, ch. 321; 1901, ch. 422; 1903, ch. 86; 1907, ch. 128; Rev. Stat., 1898, -- 578. It is provided that on the application of a local board of education, the state Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the consent of the Board of Control, may authorize the establishment of schools. Inspectors are also appointed by him, and the creation of schools may be compelled by the county judge.

For each pupil the amount first allowed was $100, then $125, and now $150. For the board of pupils who do not live near the school, $100 additional is allowed. The first day school in the state was a private one at Milwaukee, founded in 1878 and lasting till 1885, when the law was enacted. It was under the auspices of the Wisconsin Phonological Inst.i.tute, $15,000 being contributed for it by a ladies' society, and a city allowance being made to it in 1883. There have been other day schools in the state: Manitowac, 1893-1901; Oconto, 1898-1899; Neilsville, 1898-1905; Sparta, 1899-1909; Tomah, 1899-1900; Rhinelander, 1902-1904; and Waupaca, 1905-1906. There was another school in Oshkosh from 1888 to 1889.

[471] Laws, 1886, ch. 77; 1891, ch. 15; 1893, ch. 32; 1895, ch. 25; 1907, ch. 10; Comp. Stat., 1910, ch. 48. It has been provided that when there are as many as 12 applicants, a state school will be organized. A building was erected and designed for the school in 1897, but was set aside for military purposes. By the act of admission to the Union, 30,000 acres of land were granted for the school. The income from this fund in 1910 was $2,849.

[472] See _Annals_, lii., 1907, p. 208; liii., 1908, p. 173; liv., 1909, p. 193; _a.s.sociation Review_, ix., 1907, p. 572. The school opened with 22 pupils.

[473] See report of Dr. Sheldon Jackson, Proceedings of Conference of Charities and Corrections, 1895, p. 322. In the Report of the Department of the Interior for 1908, pp. 274, 278, we have the following: "Congress in its appropriations for the education of the natives has also provided for their support. Acting under this authority, an effort is being made to reach the sick and indigent". It is possible that the needs of the deaf will be discovered in this way.

[474] In the Report of the Minister of Public Instruction to the Hawaiian legislature, April 14, 1854, p. 17, it is stated: "Provision for the deaf, dumb and blind: No provision for such sufferers among us, and from the returns of the census there are on the islands 106 deaf and dumb, and 329 blind". No mention of "such sufferers" has been found in a later report. For much of the information concerning the American possessions presented here, the writer is indebted to the Chief Bibliographer of the Library of Congress.

CHAPTER XV

CONSt.i.tUTIONAL PROVISIONS FOR SCHOOLS

EXTENT OF CONSt.i.tUTIONAL PROVISIONS

Not only has provision for the education of the deaf been consummated in all the states, but in some of them this provision has been b.u.t.tressed, as it were, by a permanent guarantee in the organic law. This regard, while not necessary practically for the continuance of the schools, is none the less commendable,--and indeed is one that should be declared in every state. Such provision concerning the education of the deaf, more direct in some than in others, is found in the const.i.tutions of twenty-seven, or a little over half of the states. These are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.[475]

New York in 1846 was the first state to make reference thus to a school for the deaf. Michigan, however, in 1850 was the first state to provide directly for their education, followed in 1851 by Indiana and Ohio. Of the forty-two states adopting const.i.tutions since 1846, twenty-seven have made reference to schools, while fifteen have failed to do so. Of the twenty states adopting const.i.tutions since 1889, sixteen have made such provision.[476] It is to be noted, however, that many of the states with special reference to the education of the deaf have comparatively recent const.i.tutions, while in others where no such provision is found, the present const.i.tutions often date far back in our national history, and were adopted before attention had been called to the needs of the deaf and similar cla.s.ses. Hence, in general, it is not to be concluded from the mere presence or absence of a reference in the const.i.tution that certain states are more solicitous than others for the education of their deaf children.

LANGUAGE AND FORMS OF PROVISIONS

The language of these const.i.tutional provisions for schools for the deaf varies to some extent.[477] In all of the const.i.tutions, with the exception of that in Minnesota, schools for the deaf are coupled with those for the blind, and unless the provision is under the caption of "education," inst.i.tutions for the insane are likewise provided for in the same clause. In several instances there is more than one reference to the school for the deaf.[478]

The most usual statement is that inst.i.tutions for the deaf and dumb, the blind, and the insane shall be established and maintained, or fostered and supported, by the state, as in Arizona,[479] Colorado,[480]

Florida,[481] Idaho,[482] Kansas,[483] Michigan,[484] Montana,[485]

Nevada,[486] Ohio,[487] South Carolina,[488] Utah,[489] and Washington.[490] In the South Carolina const.i.tution the school is also declared to be exempted from taxation; and in the Utah const.i.tution a further provision establishes the location, and guarantees against diversion the lands granted by the United States.[491] In the const.i.tutions of Arkansas,[492] Indiana,[493] Mississippi,[494] and Oklahoma,[495] the statement or its equivalent is that it is the duty of the legislature to provide by law for the support of inst.i.tutions for the education of the deaf and dumb, and blind, and for the insane.

In other states less direct or authoritative references are found. In West Virginia[496] the legislature "may make suitable provision for the blind, mute and insane whenever it may be practicable," while in North Carolina[497] the matter seems also optional. In the Minnesota const.i.tution[498] there is an amendment by which the public debt is increased for the purpose of establishing certain public inst.i.tutions, including the school for the deaf. In the South Dakota const.i.tution[499]