The education of deaf and blind children in Arizona Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Morrow, Robert Dalton, 1903- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 04/10/2021 00:18:48 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/551096 THE EDUCATION OF DEa F AND BLIND CHILDREN IN ARIZONA by Robert D. Morrow A Thesis submitted to the faculty of the Department of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Graduate College University of Arizona 1 9 4 1 dfr 9 7 ? / /9 V/ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The writer wishes to express his sincere appreciation, and thanks to Dean J. W. Clarson and Dr. 0. K. Garretson of the College of Educa­ tion, University of Arizona; to Miss Cordelia Hagerty, Secretary to Dean Clarson; to Miss Catharine Robbins, Secretary to Dr. Alfred Atkinson, President of the University; and to Miss Betty Hoffman, Secretary to the Superintendent of the Arizona School for the Deaf and the Blind, for their help and cooperation in the preparation of this thesis. The writer acknowledges the courtesy and generous assistance given by the staff of the Tucson papers, Mr. George Chambers, Manager; Mrs. Bernice Cosulich, Feature Writer; Mr. Fred Finney, City Editor of the Arizona Daily Star; Mr. Robert G. Brooks, Reporter; and Mr. B. W. Simons, Tucson Photo Engraving Corporation; and wishes to express grate­ ful appreciation for the use of prints by the Tucson Photo Engraving Corporation and the use 01 olu records and newspapers files. Acknowledgment is also made with sincere thanks to Dr. Merele E. Frampton. Principal of the Nev; York Institute for the Education of the Blind for his cooperation ana the privilege of using the Dufaycolor photographs; and to Mr. A. C. Ellis, Superintendent of the American Printing House for the Blind for his cooperation and the use of illus­ trative prints. The writer wishes to express grateful acknowledgment to the mem­ bers of the Historical Society, for assistance rendered, and to Mrs. 11391i \ Dick Ronstadt and the many others who so graciously furnished in­ formation concerning the.early history of the deaf and the blind in Arizona. The writer is very grateful to Evelyn B . Strom and wishes to express his sincere appreciation of her assistance in editing and compiling this material. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION...................................... 1 II. HISTORY OF THE EDUCATION OF THE D E A F ............. 4 Condition of the Deaf in Ancient Times ......... 4 Early History of the Education of the Deaf in America.................................. 12 Higher Education of the Deaf in the United States 20 III. HISTORY OF THE EDUCATION OF THE BLIND ............. • 24 Condition of• the Blind in Ancient Times..... 24 Successful Blind Persons Before the Establishment of Schools ................ 55 Early History of the Education of the Blind in Europe ............. 56 Education of the Blind in the United S t a t e s .... 40 IV. EDUCATION OF THE DEAF AND THE BLIND IN ARIZONA .... 45 From 1900 to 1 9 1 0 ............................... 45 From 1910 to 1920 .... .......................... 55 From 1920 to 1952 ................. .......... 74 From 1952 to 1 9 4 1 ........... 90 V. PROBLEMS OF THE DEAF .............'..... 120 VI. PROBLEMS OF THE B L I N D ..... ........... 139 VII. CONCLUSION........ 167 BIBLIOGRAPHY..... ........ 171 i FIGURES Humber Page 1. Six Man Football Team ...................... 101 2 . Girls (deaf) Tumbling T e a m ........ 102 5. Girls (deaf) Tumbling Team ........................ 103 4. Deaf and Blind Boys Making Sets for School Plays .. 106 5. Blind Girls Making Costumes for One of their Plays. 107 6. Edna Kennedy and Jackie Coker .. .............. 109 7. Hands Forming the Letter "C" from Alphabet used by the Deaf-Blind ..................... 112 8. Developing Speech through Vibration ............... 115 9. Mrs. Helen Bloomer Finger Spelling Description of School Play to Jackie Coker .................... 113 10. Jackie Coker, Deaf-Blind Student, Reading Lips . through Touch ......................... 114 11. Charles and Charlotte Lamberton Both Congenitally Deaf and Famed as. Dancers ....... 121 12. Class of Deaf Children at the Piano Learn Speech through R h y t h m ..... ............. 126 15. Laura Armstrong and a Group of Beginners in Speech. 127 14. Charles Ramsey, Football Coach, Explaining a New Play to a Group of Deaf Boys .................. ISO 15. Manual Alphabet invented by Abee de L ’Epee of Paris in the Seventeenth Century................. 131 16. Single—Hand Alphabet in use at the Arizona State School for the Deaf and the Blind .............. 131 ii FIGURES (Cont'd.) Number Page 17. Double-Hand Alphabet used in England ................ 132 18. "Pals" A Blind Boy and His Dog ...................... 142 19. An Early Arrival of Baby Chickens Brings Joy to Blind Children in the Kindergarten ............. 142 20. One of the World's Oldest Arts is Still Useful to the Blind ...................................... 143 21. Sculpturing— An Art for the Blind ................... 148 22. The Braille System Used by the Blind for Reading .. 149 25. Braille — Grade One and Contractions for Grade One and a H a l f .......... 150 24. "Seeing Hands” ............... 150A 25. Various Methods of Teaching the B l i n d ............. 151 26. Learning to Read Braille....... ;............... 152 27. Writing Braille with Stylus and Braille Slate ..... 153 28. The Typewriter is Indispensable in His Modern Education ....................................... 154 29. Arithmetic on the Mathematics Slate ............... 155 50. Geography is an Interesting Subject to the Blind .. 156 51. Music is to the Blind what Light is to the Sighted. 157 . ABBREVIATIONS C.W.A. Civilian Works Administration E. R.A. Emergency Relief Administration F. E.R.A. Federal Emergency Relief Administration n .y .a . National Youth Administration P.T.A. Parent-Teachers Association P.W.A.. Public Works Administration Y.M.C.A. Young Men's Christian Association iv CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The condition of the deaf and the blind has fired the imagin­ ation of educators and awakened the sympathies of lay citisens throughout the modern era. Perhaps there are no two groups of peo­ ple who have presented a greater challenge to educators than have those who are handicapped by lack of vision or lack of hearing. These two groups present definite problems for the educator, and special methods have been devised to improve the efficiency and quality of their education. In spite of the fact that much prog­ ress has been made and much information disseminated during the past two centuries, work with the deaf and the blind is still shrouded in mysticism and steeped in superstition. The public often assumes one of two attitudes in regard to the handicapped. Some people question whether or not a handicapped person can take care of himself in any way. In addressing a blind person, they will speak through a third person and frequently they will get into the most complicated mix-ups trying to avoid the use of the term blind; and, in general, they look upon the blind as helpless, pitiable creatures— an inanimate and inarticulate mass of unimpressionable cells. These same people look upon the deaf as "deef and dumb" and attribute to them all kinds of perversities. In contrast to these people are those who give undue credit 2 and praise to everyday accomplishments of the deaf and blind. It is not uncommon to have some sympathetic.soul attribute almost mira­ culous power to the deaf and blind for very mediocre achievements. It is not unusual to have a person ask how a blind person eats and if he can speak, and occasionally marvel because the deaf can read and write. The deaf and the blind do not want people to assume either of these extreme attitudes. They do not want people to treat them as though they were helpless, nor do they want them to look upon them with awe when they carry on everyday activities in a sane and sensible "everyday" way. The deaf and the blind are normal in every way except for their physical handicap of lack of vision or lack of hearing. They are normal individuals who want to carry on all of their activities in a normal way; they want to be accepted for what they are; and definitely want to contribute to the life of the com­ munity in which they live and work. That they are handicapped, can­ not be denied, but it is the hope of all of those who know them and know their capabilities and capacities, that they be not further handicapped through lack of understanding or misconceptions concern­ ing "who" they are and "what" they may be able to do. They do not seek sympathy, nor do they ask quarter from their competitors. How­ ever, they do want an opportunity to work, to play and to be a vital part of the community in which they live.. It is only through the educational opportunities which have been provided for them that the blind are released from a world of darkness, and that the deaf are freed from a world of utter silence. During the past nine years 5 innumerable inquiries have been sent to the Arizona State School for the Deaf arid the Blind in regard to work which is. being carried on there. The purpose of this study is to answer some of these inquiries and to record chronologically the development of the education of the deaf and the blind in Arizona. This record is to be presented against the background of the deaf and the blind during ancient times and with reference to conditions of the deaf and blind prior to their formal education.