Laurent Clerc - West Hartford, CT
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 41° 46.246 W 072° 44.809
18T E 687277 N 4626778
The Laurent Clerc, pioneer teacher of the deaf, monument is located on the campus of the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford.
Waymark Code: WMD8HG
Location: Connecticut, United States
Date Posted: 12/05/2011
Views: 1
A 2' high bust of Laurent Clerc, pioneer teacher of the deaf, rests on a 6' high 5' square base. The bust was created by Carl H. Conrads. The sculpture was cast in 1874 and originally located on the grounds of the American School for the Deaf on Asylum Avenue in Hartford. It was moved to its current location around 1920, when the school moved to West Hartford.
Laurent Clerc is wearing a ruffled shirt and bow tie. The bust is placed on a two tiered circular bronze base and mounted on top of a polished granite pedestal. The pedestal is decorated with an bronze oak leaf wreath with palm leaves. Below in a horizontal bas relief panel, a right hand spells out Clerc's name, C-L-E-R-C, in American Sign Language. Three faces of the pedestal carry inscriptions.
On the front (east) side:
LAURENT CLERC
THE APOSTLE
TO THE DEAF MUTES OF
THE NEW WORLD
On the north side:
LAURENT CLERC A.M.
BORN IN LA BALME, FRANCE
DECEMBER 26, 1785
LANDED AT NEW YORK, AUGUST 5, 1818
DIED AT HARTFORD, JULY 18, 1869
On the south side:
ERECTED BY THE DEAF MUTES
OF AMERICA TO THE MEMORY
OF THEIR BENEFACTOR
THE PUPIL OF SICARD
THE ASSOCIATE OF GALLAUDET
WHO LEFT HIS NATIVE LAND
TO ELEVATE THEM
BY HIS TEACHING
AND ENCOURAGE THEM
BY HIS EXAMPLE