In this Book

  • Mrs. Sigourney of Hartford: Poems and Prose on the Early American Deaf Community
  • Book
  • Edith Edna Sayers and Diana Moore
  • 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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  1. Cover
  2. p. 1
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  1. Title Page, Copyright, Dedication
  2. pp. 2-7
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. vii-viii
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  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. ix-11
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  1. Introduction
  2. pp. 1-36
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  1. Timeline
  2. pp. 37-48
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  1. About the Texts
  2. pp. 49-50
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  1. Part 1. Alice
  2. p. 51
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  1. “For Alice” (1815)
  2. pp. 51-53
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  1. “To Alice” (1826)
  2. pp. 53-56
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  1. Excerpt on Alice from Letters of Life (1866), including “Les Sourds Muets se trouvent-ils malheureux?” (1827)
  2. pp. 56-59
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  1. Untitled poem beginning “You ask ‘how music melts away’” (1828)
  2. pp. 60-61
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  1. “Funeral of Dr. Mason F. Coggswell” (1835)
  2. pp. 61-63
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  1. Excerpt on Alice from Letters to My Pupils (1851), including “Excuse for not Fulfilling an Engagement” (1815) and “Alice” (1831)
  2. pp. 64-75
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  1. Part 2. Deaf Hartford
  2. pp. 76-78
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  1. Excerpt on the American Asylum from Scenes in My Native Land (1845)
  2. pp. 78-82
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  1. “To Fanny” (n.d.)
  2. pp. 82-99
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  1. “Opinions of the Uneducated Deaf and Dumb” (1827)
  2. pp. 82-88
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  1. “Prayers of the Deaf and Dumb” (1828)
  2. pp. 89-92
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  1. Memoir of Phebe P. Hammond, a Pupil at the American Asylum at Hartford (1833), including an untitled poem about Phebe Hammond in heaven
  2. pp. 92-107
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  1. “Marriage of the Deaf and Dumb” (1834)
  2. pp. 108-110
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  1. “The Mute Boy” (1835)
  2. pp. 110-113
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  1. “La Petite Sourde-Muette” (1848)
  2. pp. 113-116
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  1. Excerpts from Sayings of the Little Ones (1855)
  2. pp. 116-139
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  1. Part 3. The Deaf-Blind Girls:Julia Brace and Laura Bridgman
  2. pp. 140-120
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  1. “The Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Girl” (1828)
  2. pp. 120-127
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  1. “On Seeing the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Girl of the American Asylum, Hartford, at a Festival” (1827)
  2. pp. 128-134
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  1. “On Seeing the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Girl, Sitting for Her Portrait” (1834)
  2. pp. 134-136
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  1. “Meeting of the Blind with the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind” (1834)
  2. pp. 136-139
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  1. “Laura Bridgman, the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Girl, at the Institution for the Blind in Boston” (1838)
  2. pp. 139-141
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  1. Part 4. Gallaudet
  2. pp. 142-143
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  1. Excerpt on school rewards from Letters of Life (1866)
  2. pp. 142-143
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  1. “A Little Girl to her Friend” (1834)
  2. pp. 143-145
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  1. “Hymn” (1851)
  2. pp. 145-148
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  1. Notes
  2. pp. 149-152
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  1. Works Cited
  2. pp. 153-160
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  1. Index of First Lines
  2. pp. 161-190
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