The Gallaudet Family has been recognized as paving the way for deaf people and deaf educators more than any other family in history. The name ‘Gallaudet’ has become synonymous with ‘deaf education’. On December 10, 1787, Reverend Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended Yale College, earning his bachelor’s degree (1805) and master’s degree in 1810. In 1814, Gallaudet became a preacher.

Reverend Gallaudet’s interest in the deaf peeked when he met Alice Cogswell, the deaf-mute daughter of an affluent surgeon, Dr. Mason F. Cogswell. Reverend Gallaudet was commissioned to travel to Europe and find the most efficient way to educate and communicate with the deaf. Reverend Gallaudet witnessed various techniques being employed but was most impressed with the French manual method of signs. While at the Institution Nationale des Sourds-Muets in Paris, Gallaudet studied the language through the teacher preparation training program. When it was time to return to the United States, he invited Laurent Clerc, a highly educated graduate and professor at the institute, to aid in establishing schools in the United States. The boat ride back to the United States was 55 days, Gallaudet taught Clerc English, and Clerc taught Gallaudet French sign language.

On April 15, 1817, the goal of education in American for the Deaf finally came to fruition with the first school’s opening, the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. Reverend Gallaudet was married in 1821 to Sophia Fowler, a former pupil; together, they had eight children. Edward Miner Gallaudet, the youngest of 8, also felt the family’s desire to advance the field of deaf education. On June 13, 1857, The Columbia Institution for the Deaf, what is now known as Kendall School, was established. Amos Kendall was the first president and continued until 1864. He appointed Edward Miner Gallaudet (EMG) as the first principal of the school. Amos Kendall obtained federal support for both the Kendall school and the Gallaudet College that was to be established in 1864.

Edward Miner Gallaudet married twice, the first to Jane Fessenden in 1858 and birthed 3 children together, the second was Susan Denison in 1868, and they had 5 children together. Edward Miner Gallaudet was not the only child to acquire interest in the deaf community, the eldest son of Reverend Gallaudet, Dr. Thomas Gallaudet was also involved in the Deaf community, and he founded St. Ann’s Church for the Deaf in New York City.

The Gallaudet Family made advances towards deaf education that were not made before 1817 in the United States. They are honored in the Deaf Community and especially at Gallaudet University, and remain prominent figures in deaf history.