Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Site

Location

402 Turin St, Rome, NY 13440, USA

Lat/Long

43.224401648665, -75.455389125749

Grant Recipient

The New York State School for the Deaf

The New York State School for the Deaf (NYSSD) recently celebrated its sesquicentennial, and in doing so, commemorates its storied history with a historical marker through the Pomeroy Foundation.

Originally named the Central New York Institution for Deaf Mutes, the school was established by a noted advocate for deaf education, Alphonso Johnson. Johnson, who was a deaf graduate of the New York Institution for the Deaf, had established a small school for the deaf in 1874 in Rome. By the following year, the school joined two other state-operated institutions and was renamed the Central New York Institution for Deaf Mutes.

An article published in The Rome Sentinel on June 22, 1875 reporting on deaf education across the state described the new school:

The new institution has much to recommend it to public favor besides the endorsements of the citizens of Rome and of the Legislature, and its central location is not the least of its advantages. The project was heartily endorsed by the principal [Johnson] and other officers of the New York Institution, one of whose graduates long an efficient teacher within her walls now has charge of the institution.

Since opening in 1875, the NYSSD has continued to grow its offerings, now welcoming students from infancy to age 21 who are deaf and hard-of-hearing for an immersive bilingual and bicultural educational experience. In 1963, the school was renamed to the New York State School for the Deaf when it became a part of the New York State Education Department.

The application for this historical marker was submitted by the Deaf Advocacy Committee of the NYSSD in part of the commemoration of the school’s 150^th anniversary.

For more information on the NYSSD, visit:

Links

• https://www.nysed.gov/new-york-state-school-deaf