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Louis Laurent Marie Clerc   “other institutions may therefore, be established until at last, not a deaf and dumb adult in United States may remain uneducated.”

Louis Laurent Marie Clerc Born on December 26, 1785 in La Balme-les-Grottes, France Son of Marie Elizabeth Candy and Joseph Francis Clerc. Born into an important family. Clerc’s father, Joseph Francis was the royal civil attorney, justice of the peace and from 1780 to 1814 served as the mayor of the village in La Balme-les-Grottes.

Louis Laurent Marie Clerc Clerc fell from his high chair into a fireplace. His right cheek was severely burned. This resulted in the damage of his abilities to hear and smell. It was not clear if the damage was from the accident or if he was born with these disabilities. Clerc’s name-sign comes from the scar that remained on his face. Clerc’s name-sign is the middle and index fingers brushed downward across the right cheek.

Louis Laurent Marie Clerc In 1797,Clerc’s uncle-godfather whom he was named after enrolled Clerc in The Royal Institution for the Deaf and Dumb in Paris, France. Clerc was twelve years old. The Royal Institution for the Deaf and Dumb in Paris, France, was the first public school for deaf in the world started by Abbe De L’Eppe.

Louis Laurent Marie Clerc Clerc’s first teacher, who became his lifelong friend was Jean Massieu. Clerc was an excellent student and graduated from The Royal Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. While Clerc was attending The Royal Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, Abbe Sicard was in prison expecting to be put to death for sympathizing with King Louis XVI. Massieu encouraged Clerc along with the other students to petition the courts to release Abbe Sicard. Sicard was released from prison.

Louis Laurent Marie Clerc An assistant teacher, Abbe Margaron tried teaching Clerc to pronounce words. Clerc had difficulty pronouncing certain syllables. Clerc’s difficulties infuriated Abbe Margaron and he gave Clerc a violent blow under the chin. This caused Clerc to bite his tongue so badly that he said that he would never learn to speak again.

Louis Laurent Marie Clerc In 1805, Clerc was chosen to become a “tutor on trial” at The Royal Institution for the Deaf and Dumb in Paris, France. In 1806, The Royal Institution for the Deaf and Dumb asked Clerc to stay on as a full time teacher. He was a dedicated teacher and was promoted to teach the highest class. His salary was about $200.00.

Louis Laurent Marie Clerc In March 1815, Sicard traveled to England and brought Massieu and Clerc with him. In London, Sicard, Massieu and Clerc demonstrated their teaching methods. In 1816, Clerc had become Sicard’s chief assistant and was teaching the highest classes in the institution. .

Louis Laurent Marie Clerc On July 10, 1815, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet attended their seminar. Gallaudet was introduced by a member of Parliament to Sicard. Sicard introduced Gallaudet to Clerc. Clerc and the others asked Gallaudet to attend daily classes at their institution and he accepted the invitation. Gallaudet was given private signing lessons by Clerc. Gallaudet was impressed with Clerc and asked him to go to America with him and help him establish a school for the deaf. Sicard did not want Clerc to leave, but after much discussion decided to allow him to to go to America with Gallaudet.

Louis Laurent Marie Clerc Sicard did not really want Clerc to leave, so he went and convinced Clerc’s mother to persuade him not to leave. Clerc was greatly motivated to go due to his empathy for Alice Cogswell and the deaf Americans who were receiving no education. Despite his mother’s objections, Clerc decided to go. Gallaudet had to sign a contract with Sicard saying that Clerc would only be in America for three years. dissuade him

Louis Laurent Marie Clerc Gallaudet and Clerc left for America on June 15, 1816 on the Mary Augusta ship. The voyage lasted 52 days. During the voyage, Clerc taught Gallaudet “the method of the signs for abstract ideas” and Gallaudet tutored Clerc in the English language. Clerc already had some English writing skills. Clerc and Gallaudet arrived in Hartford, Connecticut on August 22, 1816. On August 22, 1816, Clerc met Alice Cogswell and communicated with her through sign associations. He thought she was an intelligent girl who wanted the knowledge, but was without a language. This really made Clerc want to carry out the mission he had come to accomplish in America.

Louis Laurent Marie Clerc Clerc, Gallaudet and Dr. Cogswell delivered many speeches and demonstrated their teachings to get public, legislative, and financial support. October 1816 to April 1817, Clerc, Gallaudet and Dr. Cogswell went to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey and other places and was able to raise 12,000 dollars from the public for the school. The Connecticut General Assembly voted an additional 5,000 dollars for the school.

Louis Laurent Marie Clerc On April 15, 1817, the first school for the deaf began with rented rooms and seven students including Alice Cogswell being the first to enroll. It was called The Connecticut Asylum at Hartford for the Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons. Clerc was the head teacher and Gallaudet was the principal.

Louis Laurent Marie Clerc In January 1818, Clerc went to Washington D.C. to get support from Congress. He sat next to the Speaker of the House of Representatives which was Henry Clay. Clerc was the first deaf person to address Congress. Clerc was well-received for his work by the President, who had attended one of Sicard’s demonstrations in London with Clerc.

Louis Laurent Marie Clerc On May 3, 1819, Clerc married Elizabeth Crocker Boardman, one of his earliest pupils. Clerc and his wife, Elizabeth had six children. He took his son Francis to France in 1835 and his son Charles to France in 1846. This was the last time his visited France.

Louis Laurent Marie Clerc This is a custom designed coin-silver pitcher that was presented to Clerc by people who were Deaf in Connecticut in 1850. The engraving on the pitcher says. “as a token of grateful respect by the Deaf mutes of New England. Lover of his kind who left France in the year of 1816 to promote the education & welfare of strangers who like himself were denied the gift of speech.”

Louis Laurent Marie Clerc Many of Clerc’s students went on to be well-rounded productive citizens and educated deaf leaders. Clerc students and trained teachers founded other schools or taught in them using Clerc’s teaching methods. The first school that modeled after The Asylum at Hartford for Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons was in New York. The second in Philadelphia. The other schools were Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, Virginia, and Quebec in Canada.

Louis Laurent Marie Clerc Clerc completed 50 years of teaching and 41 of those were in America. He retired in 1858 at the age of 73. Although he was retired, he continued to an advocate for deaf education. In June 1864, at age 79, Clerc was the guest of honor at the inauguration of The National Deaf-Mute College, now Gallaudet University.

Louis Laurent Marie Clerc Clerc did not attend college but did received honorary degrees for his pioneering work in deaf education. Clerc received an honorary degree from Trinity College, Hartford, CT.

Louis Laurent Marie Clerc Clerc passed away on July 18, 1869. He was 84 years old. Clerc and his wife, Elizabeth are buried at Spring Grove Cemetery in Hartford, Connecticut. On April 17, 1998, Clerc’s and his wife’s tombstones were restored due to them being vandalized.

References http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/ exercises/exreading/reading7.html http://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/Literacy/ MSSDLRC/clerc/index.html http://members.aol.com/geoski7clerc/main html. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaurentClerc Moores, Ronald, F., Educating the Deaf: Psychology, Principles, and Practices (5th edition). Boston. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.