Sarah H. Porter was born in Sutton, New Hampshire, on July 21, 1856. She took a teacher training course at the Salem Normal School in Salem, Massachusetts, and she taught for four years in a public school and became fascinated with deaf education. Later, she taught at the Clarke School in Northampton, Massachusetts. She wrote a book called The Life and Times of Anne Royall, which was a classic of early Washington life. She also wrote an article, “Society and the Orally Restored Deaf-Mute,” which drew Dr. E.M. Gallaudet’s attention. In 1885, he invited her to become a Kendall Schoolteacher. Ms. Porter taught as a teacher until the Normal Department was established in 1891, she became an instructor of the normal department. While teaching, she completed her college education at George Washington University and received a Master of Arts in 1901. Ms. Porter was an advocate of the combined system and wrote an article on the subject, “The Suppressing Signs by Force.” In 1911, she gave up teaching children and devoted her time entirely to lectures and training of the normal. In September of 1922, Ms. Porter was given a year’s leave of absence. She went to her summer home near Keene in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. She was able to gather some materials about the psychology of the deaf but could not complete her writings. She died a sudden death with tuberculosis on October 1, 1922.