William Willard (November 1, 1809 – February 15, 1881) founded

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

's school for the

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

, which later became the

Indiana School for the Deaf Indiana School for the Deaf (ISD) is a fully accredited school for the deaf and hard of hearing, located in Indianapolis, Indiana. It won the best deaf school in America in 2011 and 2014. History When the first school for the Deaf was establi ...

. He was one of the most important deaf persons in the deaf community.

Biography

Willard was born on November 1, 1809, in

Brattleboro, Vermont Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The most populous municipality abutting Vermont's eastern border with New Hampshire, which is the Connecticut River, Brattleboro is located about ...

. He grew up in

Rockingham, Vermont Rockingham is a Town in Windham County, on the southeastern Vermont border in the United States, along the Connecticut River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,832. Rockingham includes the incorporated villages of Bellows Falls and Sa ...

, and attended

American School for the Deaf The American School for the Deaf (ASD), originally ''The American Asylum, At Hartford, For The Education And Instruction Of The Deaf'', is the oldest permanent school for the deaf in the United States, and the first school for children with dis ...

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

. During his schooling, he was a student of the famous

Laurent Clerc Louis Laurent Marie Clerc (; 26 December 1785 – 18 July 1869) was a French teacher called "The Apostle of the Deaf in America" and was regarded as the most renowned deaf person in American Deaf History. He was taught by Abbé Sicard and dea ...

, who was and is considered the "Father of Deaf Education" in America. After he graduated, he taught at a school for the deaf in Columbus, Ohio, which was called

Ohio School for the Deaf Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. There, he met Eliza Young, who was also deaf and a teacher, and married her. Eventually, the both of them traveled to

, and William proposed the establishment of a school for the Deaf. He and Eliza traveled throughout the state of

on horseback, recruiting potential deaf students in order to form a school. On October 1, 1843, was the first day of school, and William's school had twelve students. William and his wife, Eliza, both were teachers. Eventually, Indiana passed a law that established the school as a state institution, and after William became Principal of the school, Indiana passed a law that officially declared

as the sixth state school for the Deaf to provide free education to all deaf and

hard of hearing Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spoken la ...

students.

References

People from Indianapolis Educators of the deaf People from Brattleboro, Vermont 1809 births 1881 deaths 19th-century American educators Founders of schools in the United States 19th-century philanthropists {{US-edu-bio-stub