Deaf and Hard of Hearing Professionals in Science - Frederick A.P. Barnard

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Professionals in Science

Frederick A.P. Barnard

by Stephen Denis Hilburn

Introduction

I chose this famous deaf scientist/educator because I love to do the research and I love science. I also want to know what Frederick had accomplished as deaf scientist/educator. At the beginning, I thought that Dr. I. King Jordan was the first deaf president of any college in the world, but I found out that he wasn't because Frederick was the deaf president at Columbia University in New York and the University of Mississippi. If you continue to read more of my report, I guarantee you that you will find a lot of fascinating things about him ! !

AboutFrederick A. P. Barnard
(1809-1889)

Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard was born in Sheffield, Massachusetts on May 5,1809. (Lang and Meath-Lang 26) He became deaf when he was eighteen to nineteen years old. The possible cause of being deaf was "heredity" from his family's genes. It is unsure that if his parents were deaf or hearing or hard-of-hearing, but some people in his family were deaf. (Lang)

Frederick went to Saratoga Academy in New York when he was young. He attended Yale University and he lost his hearing when he was a student at Yale. When he decided to be an american scientist/educator, he really wanted to be in the legal profession. He changed his mind because he became deaf. He wanted to teach because he loved teaching deaf children about science and math. He also taught chemistry to his students at the University of Alabama. (Lang and Meath-Lang 27)

He used his speech and signs to communicate with hearing people. But, if some of hearing people happened to know signs, then they'd talk with him by sign language. It was tough and hard for him to communicate with hearing people who couldn't sign because his speech was unclear. A lot of hearing people respected him really a lot because he had done a lot of good things for them. There are some famous people respected him like Jefferson Davis, a leader for Confederate states in the Civil War. Women also admired him because he said, the opportunites for women and men are equal. Barnard College for women was named after him ! ! ! ! ! (Lang)

Frederick worked in the same school with two of the most famous deaf people in the world, Thomas Hopkins Galladuet and Laurent Clerc. Few years later, he worked at the University of Alabama and he built an astronomical observatory. He also invented the stereoscopic photography that is still here today. He was the deaf president and chairman in many associations like American Association for the Advancement of Science, Microscopical Society and the board of experts of the American Bureau of Mines. He was the chairman for the Appartus of the Exact Sciences at the Paris Expostition and Committe on Machinery. (Lang and Meath-Lang 27-28)

In conclusion, I learned a lot from this man, Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard. It has been easy for me to do this research because I have done a lot of research in the past few years. I learned that he was the deaf president at Columbia College and the University of Alabama and he set up Virginia School for the Deaf. I really admire him because he had guts, and pride to be the deaf president and he helped a lot for deaf people.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Book:
Lang, Harry G. and Bonnie Meath-Lang. Deaf Persons in the Arts and Sciences. United States: Greenwood Publishing Group Inc., 1995.

Interview:
Dr. Harry Lang, February 10, 1998.