On April 10, 1823, the Kentucky Asylum for the Tuition of the Deaf & Dumb, with subsequent name change to the Kentucky School for the Deaf, became the first state supported school of its kind in the nation and in the western hemisphere. The three schools established in the United States prior to the Kentucky School for the Deaf were private. The Kentucky School was also the first school established west of the Alleghenies.

The impetus for beginning a school for persons who are deaf came from General Elias Barbee whose daughter, Lucy, was deaf. General Barbee, while serving as a state senator in the Kentucky General Assembly in 1822, collaborated with Judge John Rowan, who wrote the legislation authorizing the school in the fall of 1822 and on December 7th that year was signed into law by Governor John Adair.

The school was the recipient of two federal land grants in 1826 and 1836. These tracts of land in Florida and Alabama were eventually sold to acquire additional capital to acquire additional lands and to assist the construction of facilities for the school. Henry Clay and others were instrumental in acquiring the federal grants for the school.

The school also served deaf persons from outside the Commonwealth on a tuition basis. It was thought in those early years that the Kentucky School might be the only school for deaf persons necessary in the west. Pupils from all the southern states except for Florida were served at KSD. Other states as far away as Montana sent students to KSD for study. When other states established their own schools, that practice ceased.

At first, students were limited in attending the Kentucky School for the Deaf to three terms. Wisely the leadership of the school quickly observed the ineffectiveness of only a three year school experience and successfully expanded the terms of attendance. State and federal laws now permit programs for deaf persons preschool through high school at the Kentucky School for the Deaf. Graduates of the Kentucky School usually attend college, technical school, or enter the work force. Many become professionals and some return to their alma mater to carry on the mission of school.

[Extracts from Kentucky School for the Deaf History-Danville-Boyle County, Kentucky, copyright by Danville-Boyle County 1997.]