The correct known fact about the first existing American school for the deaf was the Cobbs Plantation School in the present Fredericksburg area of Virginia, not the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, CT. The short-lived school for the deaf (Cobbs Plantation School) only existed from 1812 to 1815 in the Chesterfield County (Virginia Piedmont area) where the young George Washington raised in the very same area.
The following information could be found in countless reputable sources -
"The Virginia Landmarks Register" by Calder Loth, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, University of Virginia Press, 1999, p. 194
"A Place of Their Own: Creating the Deaf Community in America" by Dr. John Vickery Van Cleve and Dr. Barry A. Crouch of Gallaudet University, Gallaudet University Press, 1987, p.21-28 - "The Bollings and Deaf Education"
Many people still get confused with the general misassumption about the American School for the Deaf of Hartford, Connecticut being the first American school for the deaf. It was technically known as the first "permanent" school for the deaf.The real difference between the first "existing" and first "permanent" school for the deaf. The American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut still serve as the residential education center for deaf youngsters.
You, the Associated Press editors owe the factual correction to your own readership.
Respectfully yours,
Robert L. Mason
RLMDEAF blog
rlmdeaf@hotmail.com
