Laurent Clerc Pioneer Teacher Laurent Clerc was born in LaBalme, France, on Dec. 26 1785. His father was Mayor of the town and the family could boast of a long line of magistrates in the Clerc lineage. At the age of one, the infant fell from a kitchen chair by accident into a nearby fireplace. He was burned on one side of his face and a fever left him totally deaf. He had uncle also named Laurent Clerc, who heard about the school for the deaf in Paris. When he was twelve years old, his uncle brought him to Paris and took him in the Royal Institution for the Deaf. In 1816, his eight year as a teacher, an event happened which changed the course of his life. He met a young idealist from America, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, who had gone to Paris to learn the best method of educating the deaf. Gallaudet could spend three months at the Royal Institution. He realized that Clerc had the expertise and "deaf experience" to help him fulfill his mission of found the first school for the deaf in America. Clerc became the assistant. Clerc and Gallaudet rode on the ship. Gallaudet taught Clerc the English language and Clerc taught Gallaudet sign language. They arrived in New York on Aug.9th. Gallaudet was Clerc's interpreter and Clerc gave many speeches. They spent the next seven months traveling throughout the east, from Boston to Philadephia. They also interviewed parents of deaf children. The first school was established at Hartford. It opened on April 15, 1817. Gallaudet became the principal and Clerc also became the teacher. He married Elizabeth Broadman and had four children. At age 84, Laurent Clerc died on July 18, 1869. History of Laurent Clerc There are a lot of firsts that Laurent Clerc accomplished. He was the first deaf teacher in America, the first deaf person to appear before U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C. to talk about establishing public schools for the deaf, and the first deaf person to get an honorary M.A. degree from Trinity Col...
