A Look Back: Fun Facts About Clarke's History

This year Clarke will be celebrating Founders Day on October 1.

It’s 159 years now, not a special zero birthday yet, but we think it’s certainly worth celebrating! We’ll also be sharing exciting news about Clarke’s plans for the future and inviting you to partner with us as we bring those plans to life.

In the meantime, here are some fun facts about Clarke’s founders and our organization's early history.

Gardiner Greene Hubbard

Boston-based lawyer and financier Gardiner Greene Hubbard grew interested in the field of deaf education when his five-year-old daughter, Mabel, became deaf as a result of scarlet fever. Firmly believing his daughter could speak and learn just like other children, Gardiner hired a teacher to work with Mabel on her speech and language. At age 10, Mabel did as well in the classroom as any of her peers with typical hearing.

Mabel Hubbard as a toddler

Mabel Hubbard as a teen

John Clarke

Watching his daughter learn and grow, Gardiner became a dedicated advocate of education for children who were deaf or hard of hearing. Together with philanthropist John Clarke, who donated $50,000 to open a school for children with hearing loss, Gardiner founded Clarke School for the Deaf in 1867 in Northampton, Massachusetts, offering residential educational services for children who were deaf or hard of hearing.

Calvin and Grace Coolidge

Future first lady Grace (Goodhue) Coolidge trained and taught at Clarke School. While living in Clarke’s Gawith Hall, she met future husband and President Calvin Coolidge, who stayed at Adams house while practicing law in Northampton. Here are the Coolidges in 1923.

Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell was a teacher and board member at Clarke. In fact, he was associated with Clarke for more than 50 years.

We hope you enjoyed this glimpse into Clarke’s past. On October 1, we will share the vision for Clarke’s future!

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Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. As an IRS qualified charity, gifts to Clarke are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Clarke teaches children who are deaf or hard of hearing to listen and talk. Since our founding in 1867, we have prepared children to succeed in mainstream schools and the wider world, evolving to meet the needs of children and families today. Our teachers of the deaf, audiologists and speech-language pathologists partner with families to help their infants, toddlers and school-age children develop listening and spoken language (LSL) skills to maximize their learning, and we also serve adults with hearing loss at our audiology clinic. We support nearly 1,000 children and their families annually, through a wide range of programs at our multiple locations, in mainstream classrooms and through our virtual services. Learn more at clarkeschools.org.

Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech

855.203.7085 | communications@clarkeschools.org | clarkeschools.org

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