Mary Smith Garrett and Emma Garrett
- Born: June 20, 1839, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
- Died: July 18, 1925, North Conway, New Hampshire
- Born: 1846?, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
- Died: July 18, 1893, Chicago, Illinois
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Who were Mary Smith Garrett and Emma Garrett?
Mary Smith Garrett (1839–1925) and Emma Garrett (1846?–1893) were American educators who championed teaching speech and lipreading to deaf children.
Emma, a graduate of Alexander Graham Bell’s program for teachers of the deaf, taught speech at the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. In 1884, she became principal of the Pennsylvania Oral School for Deaf-Mutes in Scranton. Mary opened a private school in Philadelphia in 1885 to teach speech to deaf children.
In 1892, the sisters established the Pennsylvania Home for the Training in Speech of Deaf Children Before They Are of School Age, also known as the Bala Home. Emma served as superintendent, and Mary as secretary. Following Emma's death in 1893, Mary took over as superintendent and continued to advocate for oral methods in deaf education.
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What did Mary Smith Garrett and Emma Garrett do for a living?
Mary Smith Garrett (1839–1925) and Emma Garrett (1846?–1893) were American educators who advocated teaching speech to deaf children.
Emma graduated from Alexander Graham Bell’s course for teachers of the deaf in 1878. Afterward, she taught speech at the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. In 1884, she became principal of the Pennsylvania Oral School for Deaf-Mutes in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Mary also taught at the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. In 1885, she opened a private school in Philadelphia to teach speech to deaf children. In 1889, she joined Emma in Scranton as a teacher.
In 1892, the sisters opened the Pennsylvania Home for the Training in Speech of Deaf Children Before They Are of School Age, also known as the Bala Home. Emma was superintendent, and Mary was secretary.
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Why are Mary Smith Garrett and Emma Garrett important in American education history?
Mary Smith Garrett and Emma Garrett were American educators who championed teaching speech to deaf children. Emma, a graduate of Alexander Graham Bell’s program, taught speech at the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and established its Oral Branch in 1881. In 1884, she became principal of the Pennsylvania Oral School for Deaf-Mutes in Scranton.
Mary opened a private school in Philadelphia in 1885 to teach speech to deaf children. Together, they founded the Pennsylvania Home for the Training in Speech of Deaf Children Before They Are of School Age, also known as the Bala Home, in 1892.
After Emma's death, Mary continued advocating for oral methods, leading to Pennsylvania laws mandating their use in state institutions for the deaf. She also contributed to child welfare reforms.
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What types of students or communities did the Garrett sisters help?
Mary Smith Garrett and Emma Garrett were American educators who championed teaching speech to deaf children. Emma graduated from Alexander Graham Bell’s course for teachers of the deaf and later taught at the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb.
In 1884, Emma became principal of the Pennsylvania Oral School for Deaf-Mutes in Scranton. Later, Mary opened a private school in Philadelphia for teaching speech to deaf children.
The Garrett sisters believed that deaf children could master speech more easily if exposed to it early. In 1892, they opened the Pennsylvania Home for the Training in Speech of Deaf Children Before They Are of School Age, also known as the Bala Home, admitting students as young as two years old.
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How did Mary Smith Garrett and Emma Garrett change or improve teaching methods?
Mary Smith Garrett and Emma Garrett were American educators who championed teaching speech to deaf children, advocating against sign language instruction. Emma, a graduate of Alexander Graham Bell’s program, taught speech at the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, later leading its Oral Branch and summer vocal instruction courses.
In 1885, Mary opened a private school in Philadelphia for teaching speech to deaf children. The sisters believed that early exposure to speech training was crucial, leading them to establish the Pennsylvania Home for the Training in Speech of Deaf Children Before They Are of School Age, also known as the Bala Home. Their work included lectures, pamphlets, and lobbying for laws that mandated exclusive use of oral methods in state institutions for the deaf.
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What lasting impact did the work of Mary Smith Garrett and Emma Garrett have on education in the United States?
Mary Smith Garrett and Emma Garrett significantly impacted deaf education in the United States by championing oral methods. Emma, a graduate of Alexander Graham Bell’s program, taught speech at the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and established its Oral Branch in 1881.
In 1884, Emma became principal of the Pennsylvania Oral School for Deaf-Mutes in Scranton, while Mary opened a private school in Philadelphia in 1885 to teach speech to deaf children. Together, they founded the Pennsylvania Home for the Training in Speech of Deaf Children Before They Are of School Age, also known as the Bala Home, in 1892, which focused on early oral education for deaf children. Mary continued to advocate for oral education through lectures and legislation, leading to Pennsylvania laws mandating oral methods in state institutions for the deaf.
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Mary Smith Garrett and Emma Garrett were American educators who, in the contemporary debate over whether to teach sign language or speech and lipreading to deaf children, were prominent advocates of teaching speech.
Emma graduated from Alexander Graham Bell’s course for teachers of the deaf at the Boston University School of Oratory in 1878 and became a teacher of speech at the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb in Mount Airy. She was given charge of the newly established Oral Branch of the institution in 1881 and in that same year began teaching summer courses in vocal instruction for other teachers. Mary also became a teacher at the institution. In 1884, at the invitation of civic leaders in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Emma moved to that city to become principal of a day school that shortly afterward was named the Pennsylvania Oral School for Deaf-Mutes. In 1885 Mary left Mount Airy to open a private school in Philadelphia for the teaching of speech to deaf children.
Emma’s school, which became a state institution in 1885, grew rapidly through her energetic fund-raising activities. In 1889 Mary joined Emma in Scranton as a teacher. Their observations of children of various ages soon convinced them that deaf children could master speech far more easily if they were exposed to and trained in it from a very early age. By pamphlet and personal appeal Emma secured an appropriation from the Pennsylvania legislature and a gift of land from a Philadelphia philanthropist, and in February 1892 the sisters opened the Pennsylvania Home for the Training in Speech of Deaf Children Before They Are of School Age, more simply known as the Bala Home for its nearness to that Philadelphia suburb. With Emma as superintendent and Mary as secretary, the school opened with 15 students. Students were admitted at as young as two years of age and underwent a six-year residential course of study. The state took over support of the school in 1893. In that year the Garrett sisters took their students to Chicago to demonstrate their methods at the World’s Columbian Exposition. While there Emma suffered a mental breakdown and took her own life. Mary succeeded to the post of superintendent of the Bala Home and retained the position for the rest of her life.
Through lectures, pamphlets, and journal articles Mary continued to promote teaching speech to deaf children at an early age, and by persuasive lobbying she obtained passage of laws in 1899 and 1901 requiring the exclusive use of oral methods in all state institutions for the deaf. During 1899–1901 she joined Hannah Kent Schoff in campaigning for a juvenile court and probation system in Pennsylvania. She was a member from 1902 of the National Congress of Mothers (later the National Congress of Parents and Teachers) and chairman of its department of legislation (later of child welfare) from 1906 to 1920, during which time she directed the congress’s work for child labor, marriage law, and other reforms. She served also as corresponding secretary of the Pennsylvania Congress of Mothers in 1911–15 and as its first vice president in 1915–25.