American School for the Deaf Founders Memorial - Hartford, CT - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

Located in a busy traffic triangle in Hartford is a 9' by 3' by 2.5' bronze statue on a 3' by 4' x 2' granite base that honors the founders of the American School for the Deaf, the first school for the deaf in the United States which was originally located on Asylum Street in Hartford. The sculpture was created by Frances Laughlin Wadsworth and cast at the Bedi-Rassy Art Foundry. It was dedicated on April 15, 1953.

A 9' high figure of Alice Cogswell, the first student at the American School for the Deaf and daughter of one of the founders, Mason Fitch Cogswell, is standing between the palms of a pair of 4' high, cupped, upraised hands which are touching at the thumbs. She is wearing a frock dress and looking slightly to her left. Her right hand is outstretched and touching the right cupped hand. In her left hand she is clutching an open book to her chest. Her dress bulges slightly at the right knee. Below is an open book and a quill pen.

The front of the base is inscribed:

COMMEMORATING THE FOUNDERS OF THE
AMERICAN SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF
AMERICA'S PIONEER INSTITUTION FOR THE HANDICAPPED
AT HARTFORD APRIL 15, 1817
THOMAS HOPKINS GALLAUDET
MASON FITCH COGSWELL    LAURENT CLERC
DEDICATED BY THE
NEW ENGLAND GALLAUDET ASSOCIATION OF THE DEAD
TO EXPRESS THE GRATITUDE OF THE DEAF OF THE NATION
APRIL 15, 1953

The back of the statue is inscribed:

INCORPORATORS OF THE FIRST SCHOOL FOR THE
DEAF IN AMERICA, HARTFORD, MAY 1816.
{DOUBLE COLUMN LIST OF 63 NAMES}

TITLE: American School for the Deaf Founders Memorial ARTIST(S): Frances Laughlin Wadsworth, sculptor; Bedi-Rassy Art Foundry, founder DATE: Dedicated April 15, 1953 MEDIUM: bronze statue, granite base CONTROL NUMBER: IAS CT000080 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: Gallaudet Square Farmington and Asylum Avenues Hartford, CT 06106 DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: Incorporators names are inscribed in bronze on the back of the statue; not on the back of the granite base.

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