In this Book
- Mrs. Sigourney of Hartford: Poems and Prose on the Early American Deaf Community
- Book
- 2013
- Published by: Gallaudet University Press
summary
Lydia Huntley was born in 1791 in Norwich, CT, the only child of a poor Revolutionary war veteran. But her father’s employer, a wealthy widow, gave young Lydia the run of her library and later sent her for visits to Hartford, CT. After teaching at her own school for several years in Norwich, Lydia returned to Hartford to head a class of 15 girls from the best families. Among her students was Alice Cogswell, a deaf girl soon to be famous as a student of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc. Lydia’s inspiration came from a deep commitment to the education of girls and also for African American, Indian, and deaf children. She left teaching to marry Charles Sigourney, then turned to writing to support her family, publishing 56 books, 2,000 magazine articles, and popular poetry. Lydia Sigourney never abandoned her passion for deaf education, remaining a supporter of Gallaudet’s school for the deaf until her death. Yet, her contributions to deaf education and her writing have been forgotten until now. The best of Lydia Sigourney’s work on the nascent Deaf community is presented in this new volume. Her writing intertwines her mastery of the sentimentalism form popular in her day with her sharp insights on the best ways to educate deaf children. In the process, Mrs. Sigourney of Hartford reestablishes her rightful place in history.
Table of Contents
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- Acknowledgments
- pp. ix-11
- Introduction
- pp. 1-36
- About the Texts
- pp. 49-50
- Part 1. Alice
- p. 51
- “For Alice” (1815)
- pp. 51-53
- “To Alice” (1826)
- pp. 53-56
- Part 2. Deaf Hartford
- pp. 76-78
- “To Fanny” (n.d.)
- pp. 82-99
- “Marriage of the Deaf and Dumb” (1834)
- pp. 108-110
- “The Mute Boy” (1835)
- pp. 110-113
- “La Petite Sourde-Muette” (1848)
- pp. 113-116
- “The Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Girl” (1828)
- pp. 120-127
- Part 4. Gallaudet
- pp. 142-143
- “A Little Girl to her Friend” (1834)
- pp. 143-145
- “Hymn” (1851)
- pp. 145-148
- Works Cited
- pp. 153-160
- Index of First Lines
- pp. 161-190
Additional Information
ISBN
9781563685583
Related ISBN(s)
9781563685576
MARC Record
OCLC
867739804
Pages
128
Launched on MUSE
2013-08-13
Language
English
Open Access
No