Laura Bridgman

Laura Bridgman, who lost her sight and hearing at the age of two as a result of scarlet fever, would become the first blind and deaf American child to achieve an education. Unable to function at home, in 1837 she entered the care of Dr. Samuel G. Howe, director of the Perkins Institution for the Blind in Boston. Despite the common belief that little could be done to help Bridgman, Howe taught her to read and write. Bridgman spent the rest of her life at the Perkins Institute, where she assisted with other patients and sold examples of her sewing to visitors. Through her, Americans became aware of a class of people critically in need of assistance. She became an inspiration to many, notably to Helen Keller’s mother, who hired a former pupil and teacher at the Perkins Institution to become her daughter’s instructor.