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infant, puny and rickety, and was subject to fits up to twenty months old, but otherwise seemed to have normal senses; at two years, however, she had a very See also:

BAD, BCD

bad attack of See also:

SCARLET

scarlet See also:

FEVER (Lat. febris, connected with fervere, to burn)

fever, which destroyed sight and See also:

HEARING (formed from the verb " to hear," O. Eng. hyran, heron, &c., a common Teutonic verb; cf. Ger. Koren, Dutch hooren, &c.; the O. Tent. form is seen in Goth. hausjan; the initial h makes any connexion with " ear," Lat. audire, or Gr. &Kobew very doub

hearing, blunted the sense of See also:

SMELL (connected etymologically with " smoulder " and " smoke ")

smell, and See also:

LEFT

left her See also:

SYSTEM

system a See also:

WRECK

wreck. Though she gradually recovered See also:

HEALTH

health she remained a blind deaf-mute, but was kindly treated and was in particular made a sort of playmate by an See also:

ECCENTRIC (from Gr. F,c, out of, and Kivrpov, centre)

eccentric See also:

BACHELOR (from Med. Lat. baccalarius, with its late and rare variant baccalaris—cf. Ital. baccalare—through O. Fr. bacheler)

bachelor friend of the Bridgmans, Mr See also:

Asa Tenney, who as soon as she could walk used to take her for rambles a-See also:

field. In 1837 Mr See also:

James See also:

Barrett, of See also:

Dartmouth See also:

COLLEGE (Collegium)

College, saw her and mentioned her See also:

case to Dr Mussey, the See also:

head of the medical See also:

DEPARTMENT (Fr. departement, from departir, to separate into parts)

department, who wrote an See also:

account which attracted the See also:

ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention of Dr S. G. See also:

Howe (q.v.), the head of the See also:

Perkins Institution for the Blind at See also:

Boston. He determined to try to get the See also:

child into the Institution and to See also:

ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt to educate her; her parents assented, and in See also:

OCTOBER

October 1837 Laura entered the school. Though the loss of her See also:

eye-balls occasioned some deformity, she was otherwise a comely child and of a sensitive and affectionate nature; she had become See also:

FAMILIAR (through the Fr. familier, from Lat. familiaris, of or belonging to the familia, family)

familiar with the See also:

WORLD

world about her, and was imitative in so far as she could follow the actions of others; but she was limited in her communication with others to the narrower uses of touch—patting her head meant approval, rubbing her See also:

hand disapproval, pushing one way meant to go, See also:

DRAWING

drawing another to come. Her See also:

MOTHER

mother, preoccupied with See also:

house-See also:

WORK

work, had already ceased to be able to See also:

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control her, and her See also:

FATHER

father's authority was due to fear of See also:

SUPERIOR

superior force, not to See also:

REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason. Dr Howe at once set himself to See also:

TEACH [THATCH OR THACH], EDWARD (d. 1718)

teach her the See also:

ALPHABET (see also WRITING)

alphabet by See also:

TOUCH (derived through Fr. toucher from a common Teutonic and Indo-Germanic root, cf. " tug," " tuck," O. H. Ger. zucchen, to twitch or draw)

touch. It is impossible, for reasons of space, to describe his efforts in detail.

He taught words before the individual letters, and his first experiment consisting in pasting upon several See also:

COMMON

common articles such as keys, spoons, knives, &c., little See also:

paper labels with the names of the articles printed in raised letters, which he got her to feel and differentiate; then he gave her the same labels by themselves, which she learnt to See also:

ASSOCIATE (Lat. associates, from ad, to, and sociare to join)

associate with the articles they referred to, until, with the See also:

SPOON (O. Eng. span, a chip or splinter of wood, cf. Du. spoon, Ger. Spahn, in same sense, probably related to Gr. r4 v, wedge)

spoon or See also:

KNIFE (0. E. cuff, a word appearing in different forms in many Teutonic languages, cf. Du. knijf, Ger. Kneif, a shoe-maker's knife, Swed. knif; the ultimate origin is unknown; Skeat finds the origin in the root of " nip," formerly " knip "; Fr. canif is a

knife alone before her she could find the right See also:

LABEL (a French word, now represented by lambeau, possibly a variant; it is of obscure origin and may be connected with a Teutonic word appearing in the English " lap," a flap or fold)

label for each from a mixed heap. The next See also:

STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage was to give her the component letters and teach her to combine them in the words she knew, and gradually in this way she learnt all the alphabet and the ten digits, &c. The whole See also:

PROCESS

process depended, of course, on her having a human intelligence, which only. required stimulation, and her own See also:

INTEREST

interest in learning became keener as she progressed. On the 24th of See also:

JULY

July 1839 she first wrote her own name legibly. Dr Rowe devoted himself with the utmost See also:

PATIENCE

patience and assiduity to her See also:

EDUCATION

education and was rewarded by increasing success. On the loth of See also:

JUNE

June 184o she had her first See also:

ARITHMETIC (Gr. apeOµ7run7, sc. TEXVn, the art of counting, from (ipLBµos, number)

arithmetic See also:

LESSON (through Fr. lecon from Lat. lectio, reading; legere, to read)

lesson, by the aid of a metallic case perforated with square holes, square types tieing used; and in nineteen days she could add a See also:

COLUMN (Lat. columna)

column of figures amounting to See also:

THIRTY

thirty. She was in See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good health and happy, and was treated by Dr Howe as his daughter. Her case already began to interest the public, and others were brought to Dr Howefor treatment. In 1841 Laura began to keep a See also:

journal, in which she recorded her own See also:

day's work and thoughts. In See also:

JANUARY

January 1842 See also:

Charles See also:

DICKENS, CHARLES JOHN HUFFAM (1812-187o)

Dickens visited the Institution, and afterwards wrote enthusiastically in American` Votes of Dr Howe's success with Laura. In 1843 funds were obtained for devoting a See also:

SPECIAL

special teacher to her, and first See also:

MISS

Miss See also:

Swift, then Miss See also:

WIGHT, ISLE OF

Wight, and then Miss Paddock, were appointed; Laura by this See also:

time was learning See also:

GEOGRAPHY (Gr. yil, earth, and ypiickty, to write)

geography and elementary See also:

ASTRONOMY (from Gr. &arpov, a star, and v ,usiv, to classify or arrange)

astronomy. By degrees she n is given religious instruction, but Dr Howe was See also:

INTENT (from Lat. intend ere, to stretch out, extend, particularly in the phrase intendere animum, to turn one's mind to, purpose)

intent upon not inculcating See also:

DOGMA (Gr. Sbypa, from b6aeiv, to seem; literally " that which seems, sc. good or true or useful " to any one)

dogma before she had grasped the essential moral truths of See also:

CHRISTIANITY

Christianity and the See also:

story of the See also:

Bible.

She See also:

GREW, NEHEMIAH (1641-1712)

grew up a See also:

gay, cheerful girl, loving, optimistic, but with a See also:

NERVOUS

nervous system inclining to irritability, and requiring careful education in self-control. In 186o her eldest See also:

SISTER

sister See also:

Mary's See also:

DEATH

death helped to bring on a religious crisis, and through the See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence of some of her See also:

FAMILY

family she was received into the Baptist See also:

church; she became for some years after this more self-conscious and rather pietistic. In 1867 she began See also:

writing compositions which she called poems; the best-known is called " See also:

HOLY

Holy See also:

Home." In 1872, Dr Howe having been enabled to build some See also:

SEPARATE

separate cottages (each under a matron) for the blind girls, Laura was moved from the larger house of the Institution into one of them, and there she continued her quiet See also:

LIFE

life. The death of Dr Howe in 1876 was a See also:

GREAT

great grief to her; but before he died he had made arrangements by which she would be financially provided for in her home at the Institution for the See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest of her life. In 1887 her See also:

JUBILEE (or JUBILE), YEAR OF

jubilee was celebrated there, but in 1889 she was taken See also:

ill, and she died on the 24th of May. She was buried at Hanover. Her name has become familiar everywhere as an example of the education of a blind deaf-mute, leading to even greater results in See also:

HELEN

Helen See also:

Keller. See Laura Bridgman, by Maud Howe and See also:

Florence Howe See also:

Hall (1903), which contains a bibliography; and Life and Education of Laura Dewey Bridgman (1878), by Mary S. Lamson. (H.

End of Article: BRIDGMAN, LAURA DEWEY (1829–1889)

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