Laurent Clerc: The Legacy of Deaf Education in America

This report examines the life and significant contributions of Laurent Clerc, a French educator who played a pivotal role in the development of deaf education in America. The report traces Clerc's journey from his early education at the Royal Institution for the Deaf in Paris to his collaboration with Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. It highlights his role in establishing the first deaf school in Hartford, Connecticut, and his impact on teaching sign language and deaf education. The report discusses his personal life, including his marriage and family, and concludes with his retirement and death, emphasizing his lasting legacy on deaf education in America. The references provided offer additional resources for further study on this important historical figure.

Running head:LAURENT CLERC
Laurent Clerc
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author’s name

1LAURENT CLERC
Laurent Clerc
First outstanding deaf teacher in America was Laurent Clerc, who was a Frenchman. On
26th December 1785 Laurent Clerc took his fist breath in a village near Lyons, France. When
Clarc was 12 years old, he took admission in Royal Institution for the Deaf (RID) in Paris. There
he excelled in his studies and later in the future he graduated from the same school. The school
asked Clerc to stay back there and work as an assistant teacher. Clerc did not miss the
opportunity and became a devoted teacher; and subsequently he got promoted to teach the higher
classes.
In the year 1815, Clerc met with Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, who was an American.
Gallaudet was invited to RID, Laurent Clerc was the tutor of this school.Gallaudet was very
much interested in learning the sign language and thus, he gave Clerc a proposal to travel with
him to America. It was 18th June 1816 when both Gallaudet and Clerc started their voyage for
America. Since it was a long trip of 52 days, they planned of opening a deaf school. They
established a deaf school in Harford, Connecticut the year after they arrived.
Clerc had a very busy life in the new school as he continued to teach signs to Principal
Gallaudet and to the pupils and to other students who could hear but came to pursue deaf
education. Finally, in the year 1819, Clerc married one of his pupils named Eliza Crocker
Boardman. They had six children. In 1858 he retired from the school and finally on July 18, 1869
he died.

2LAURENT CLERC
References
Berthier, F., & Henry, F. G. (2009). Forging deaf education in nineteenth-century France:
Biographical sketches of Bébian, Sicard, Massieu, and Clerc.Gallaudet University Press.
Smith, V. (2020). Laurent Clerc. Retrieved 16 February 2020, from
https://www.gallaudet.edu/tutorial-and-instructional-programs/english-center/reading-
english-as-second-language/practice-exercises/laurent-clerc