Louis Laurent Marie Clerc (; 26 December 1785 – 18 July 1869) was a French teacher called "The Apostle of 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 ...

in America" and was regarded as the most renowned deaf person in American deaf history. He was taught by Abbé Sicard and deaf educator Jean Massieu, at the Institution Nationale des Sourds-Muets in Paris. With

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet (December 10, 1787 – September 10, 1851) was an American educator. Along with Laurent Clerc and Mason Fitch Cogswell, Mason Cogswell, he co-founded the first permanent institution for the Education of the Deaf, educatio ...

, he co-founded the first school for the deaf in North America, the Asylum for the Education and Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, on April 15, 1817, in the old Bennet's City Hotel,

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

. The school was subsequently renamed the

American School for the Deaf American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

and in 1821 moved to 139 Main Street, West Hartford. The school remains the oldest existing school for the deaf in North America.

Biography

Laurent Clerc was born December 26, 1785, in La Balme-les-Grottes,

Isère Isère ( , ; ; , ) is a landlocked Departments of France, department in the southeastern French Regions of France, region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère (river), Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.

, a village on the northeastern edge of Lyon to Joseph-François Clerc and Marie-Élisabeth Candy in the small village of La Balme, where his father was the mayor. Clerc's home was a typical ''

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

'' household. When he was one year old, Clerc fell from a chair into a fire, suffering a severe burn and obtained a permanent scar on the right side of his cheek. Clerc's family believed his deafness and inability to smell were caused by this accident, but Clerc later wrote that he was not certain of this and might have been born deaf and without the ability to smell. The facial scar later provided the basis for his name sign, performed with the manual alphabet for "U" (thumb out), with the pads of the two fingers stroked twice downward on the right cheek. Clerc attended Institut National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris when he was just 12 years old and soon became a teacher there. While there, he was taught by Abbe Sicard and Jean Massieu who was deaf. In 1815 he traveled with Sicard and Massieu to England to give a lecture and happened upon

who was traveling in search of means for instructing deaf children. Gallaudet was invited to visit the school in Paris. Then in 1816, after a few months with Clerc at the school, Gaulladet invited Clerc to accompany him to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. During the trip across the ocean, Clerc learned English from Gallaudet, and Gallaudet learned sign language from Clerc. After arriving in America they worked together to establish the first permanent school for the deaf in

, which is now known as the

. Clerc married one of the first pupils – Eliza Crocker Boardman. Laurent Clerc died at the age of 83 at his home in Hartford. The 1869 obituary in the New York Times says, Clerc came to Hartford in 1816 and became a teacher in 1817, then served more than 50 years "in the cause of deaf-mute instruction" and "his abilities, zeal, and graces of character made him always respected and loved."

Legacy

Generally, prior to the onset of organized education of the deaf, deaf people were regarded as unintelligent and incapable of education. Laurent Clerc became one of the most recognizable figures in Deaf history of the United States thanks to his significant role in shaping deaf education. As a person who could not hear, nor speak from a young age and, despite this, acquired excellent command of spoken languages at an age far past the prime years for language acquisition he is also an exemplary personification of educability and high intellect. Largely due to Clerc's contribution to the education of the Deaf in America several awards, buildings, funds, and other honors were named after him. Most notably at

Gallaudet University Gallaudet University ( ) is a private federally chartered university in Washington, D.C., for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first school ...

Film

Laurent Clerc is portrayed in the film '' Sign Gene'', the superhero film about deaf mutants who have superhuman powers through the use of

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with #Non-manual elements, no ...

, as the fourth great-grandfather of the leading character Tom Clerc (played by Emilio Insolera). The film was released in September 2017.

Works

*"Autobiography of Laurent Clerc," Chapter III, in
Tribute to Gallaudet – A Discourse in Commemoration of the Life, Character and Services, of the Rev. Thomas H. Gallaudet, LL.D. – Delivered Before the Citizens of Hartford, Jan. 7th, 1852. With an Appendix, Containing History of Deaf-Mute Instruction and Institutions, and other Documents.
By Henry Barnard, 1852. page 102.)
The Diary of Laurent Clerc's Voyage from France to America in 1816
(West Hartford, CT: American School for the Deaf, 1952). 22 pages.
An Address Written by Mr. Clerc and Read By His Request at a Public Examination of the Pupils in the Connecticut Asylum Before the Governour and Both Houses of the Legislature
28 May 1818.
Address at the Inauguration of Gallaudet University, 1864
*"Reminiscences of Laurent Clerc," by L.C.T. Silent World, July 1871, pages 5–6. * "Visits to Some of the Schools for the Deaf and Dumb in France and England," American Annals of the Deaf: ** Volume 1, Number 1, October 1847 pages 62–66. ** Volume 1, Number 2, January 1848, pages 113–120. ** Volume 1, Number 3, April 1848, pages 170–176.

References

External links

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/19991104101551/http://members.aol.com/geoski7/clerc/clerc.html Writings by and about Laurent Clerc (Gallaudet University Library web page)br>Laurent Clerc Info Quest
*
Laurent Clerc AssociationDiary of Laurent Clerc's Voyage From France to America in 1816Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education CenterLaurent Clerc Educational Fund, d/b/a Rocky Mountain Deaf School (RMDS)Laurent Clerc's grave siteLaurent Clerc obituary in the New York Times, July 19, 1869
*Laurent Clerc papers (MS 140). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Librar

*Society Laurent Cler

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clerc, Laurent 1788 births 1869 deaths People from La Balme-les-Grottes Educators of the deaf 19th-century French people Deaf culture in the United States French expatriates in the United States