The Ontario School for the Deaf

and

Samuel Thomas Greene 1843-1890

There are two plaques at this location.
Both can be seen on this page.

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted December, 2010

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted July, 2007

Plaque Location

The County of Hastings
The City of Belleville
In front of the main building of the School for the Deaf
on the northwest corner of Dundas Street West (Road 2) and Palmer Road
entrance off Dundas Street

Coordinates: N 44 08.938 W 77 24.168

Plaque Text

In 1869, at the urging of John B. McGann, a pioneer educator of the hearing impaired, the Ontario government sanctioned the establishment of the first provincial school for deaf children. A residential institution combining elementary school instruction with vocational training, the Ontario Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb was officially opened in October 1870. Increasing enrolment during the following decades led to steady expansion and improvement of facilities. When curricula were revised and advanced academic instruction introduced during the tenure of Dr. Charles B. Coughlin (1906-28), the school gained wide recognition for its contributions to special education. Renamed the Ontario School for the Deaf in 1913, it became the Sir James Whitney School in 1974 in honour of Ontario's sixth prime minister.

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted December, 2010

Plaque Text

Samuel Greene was the first deaf teacher to teach deaf children in the Ontario school system. An American by birth, he was educated at the National Deaf-Mute College, now Gallaudet University, in Washington, D. C. After graduating in 1870, he came to teach at the new provincial school for the deaf in Belleville (later Sir James Whitney School). Believing that the education of deaf children should be based on solid language skills, Greene devised a progressive and highly successful method of teaching that used sign language and written English. Co-founder and first president of the Ontario Association of the Deaf, he was renowned for his eloquent public addresses and poetry recitations in sign language.

Related Ontario plaque
The Ontario School for the Blind

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Here are the visitors' comments for this page.

Posted February 6, 2011
Over 100 years - it's time to make SJW - Samuel Green University now!

Posted January 22, 2010
Samuel Greene was a remarkable man! I'm glad Canada benefited from his efforts.

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