Texas School for the Deaf

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about this place — and friend, this one's got more than a century and a half of story packed into it, so settle in. Now, the Texas Legislature did a thing in 1856. They established an institution they called the Texas Deaf and Dumb Asylum — which would, over time, become known as the Texas School for the Deaf.

Governor Elisha M. Pease appointed a board of trustees, and that board went out and rented land right here at this very site. So far, so good.

The machinery of government was movin'. But here's where the story gets a little lonesome. By January 1, 1857 — the official first day of school — not a single student had walked through the door.

You can almost picture it. The building ready, the staff waiting, the silence stretching out. And then, slowly, the summer of that year, eleven students arrived.

Eleven. Small enough to count on your hands, but it was a start. One of those early students was Emily Lewis, and she left behind an account of those first years that paints a vivid picture — hard work, self-sufficiency, daily life shaped in no small part by school matron Josephine Snyder.

Emily Lewis is a name worth remembering. She's going to keep showing up in this story. Also arriving in 1857 was a man from New York named Jacob van Nostrand, who came to the job carrying nineteen years of deaf education experience.

He became the school's first superintendent. Nineteen years of knowledge, brought to bear on eleven students and a rented piece of Texas land. That's a foundation being laid.

Van Nostrand led the school for years, but in 1875 and 1876, he returned to New York. Governor Richard Coke stepped in and appointed General Henry McCulloch as superintendent. Now — and the marker doesn't mince words here — McCulloch's leadership caused the faculty and staff to leave.

That includes Emily Lewis, who by that point had risen to the role of principal. The whole team walked out. But the next superintendent who came through was Colonel John Salmon Ford — known to history as Rip Ford — and under his tenure, Emily Lewis came back.

She returned to the staff, and she stayed. Stayed all the way until her retirement in 1914. That's a life given to this institution.

Meanwhile, in 1887, the state created a separate institution that became the Texas Blind, Deaf and Orphan School — established to serve non-white students. Those two schools remained separate until 1965, when integration brought them together. And from 1965 all the way to 2002, the east Austin campus of that school remained part of TSD's facilities.

The twentieth century kept changing things — campus facilities, administration, curriculum. The school even achieved status as an independent school district. Through all of it, newsletters and yearbooks tell the story of a sports program with real life and real heart.

And alumni and staff alike hold a special place in their memory for the long-standing main building with its twin towers — a landmark of a landmark, you might say — and for the leaders who showed up, year after year, to support the students and families who called this place theirs. Eleven students in the summer of 1857. A school that's still standing.

Some beginnings are quieter than others — but they're no less permanent for it.

What the marker says

In 1856, the Texas Legislature established the Texas Deaf and Dumb Asylum, which became the Texas School for the Deaf (TSD). Gov. Elisha M. Pease appointed a board of trustees, which rented land at this site. By January 1, 1857, the first day of school, no students had arrived, but by summer of that year, 11 students were enrolled, including Emily Lewis, whose account of the school's early history portrays a life of hard work and self-sufficiency under school matron Josephine Snyder. New Yorker Jacob van Nostrand, with 19 years of deaf education, became the school's first superintendent in 1857. In 1875-76, he returned to New York, and Gov. Richard Coke appointed Gen. Henry McCulloch as superintendent. McCulloch's leadership caused the faculty and staff, including then-principal Emily Lewis, to leave. During the tenure of the next superintendent, Col. John Salmon "Rip" Ford, Lewis returned to the staff, where she stayed until her retirement in 1914. In 1887, the state created what became the Texas Blind, Deaf and Orphan School, which served non-white students. From integration of the schools in 1965 until 2002, its campus in east Austin remained part of TSD's facilities. The 20th century brought many changes to the campus facilities, administration and curriculum, including status as an independent school district. Newsletters and yearbooks document an active sports program over the school's long history, and alumni and staff fondly recall the long-standing, twin-towered main buildilng, and the significant leaders who provided support and education to the school's students and families. (2006)