One of the founding members was a former post master general........................just what is this connection with USPS??????

History[edit]

Summary timeline[edit]

Columbia Institution for the Deaf, circa 1893, shortly before the collegiate department became named after T.H. Gallaudet

Chapel Hall

In 1856, philanthropist and former United States Postmaster General Amos Kendall became aware of several deaf and blind children in Washington, D.C. who were not receiving proper care. Kendall had the courts declare the children to be his wards and donated 2 acres (8,100 m²) of his land to establish housing and a school for them.^[6] Edward Miner Gallaudet was the first superintendent of the new school. Later, John Carlin suggested placing a monument of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet withAlice Cogswell.^[7]

In 1857, the 34th Congress passed H.R. 806, which chartered the grammar school as the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind and funded tuition costs for indigent deaf, dumb (mute), or blind children belonging to the District of Columbia.^[8] Seven years later, in 1864, the 38th Congressauthorized the institution to grant and confirm college degrees.^[9] The collegiate department became known as the National Deaf-Mute College. The following year, in 1865, the 38th Congress removed the instruction that the institution was to educate the blind, and renamed it the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb.

In 1954, Congress amended the charter of the institution, changing the corporate name to Gallaudet College, which had been the official name of the collegiate department since 1894.^[10]

George Ernst Detmold was an instrumental figure in the development of Gallaudet, principally in the drama department. A Shakespeare scholar with a tone for the deaf, he fostered the development of the drama department at Gallaudet. In addition, as the Dean of Students, he was instrumental in gaining national recognition and accreditation.^{[citation needed]}

In 1986, Congress again amended the charter of the Institution, renaming it Gallaudet University.^[11]