Kathy Jankowski introduces David de Lorenzo, the next speaker– he is the first of three speakers on the initial panel. de Lorenzo will speak about Edward Miner Gallaudet (EMG) and the origins of the Columbia Institution. de Lorenzo was an archivist and head of special collections during his tenure at Gallaudet; he has since worked at Harvard Law School as curator of manuscripts, and at the Meyrick Library. He is now the associate director and head of the technical services library at UC Berkeley, and teaches at San Jose State and UC Berkeley as well.

Christopher Kurz, a professor in the graduate school at NTID, will be the second speaker within this panel, and will discuss mathematics instruction during Gallaudet’s early years. The third speaker will be Ron Sutcliffe, who will speak about George Detmold.

de Lorenzo says that the initial years of the Columbia Institute were bumpy– he will focus this morning on the years from 1857 to 1864. He will speak about Edward Miner Gallaudet’s leadership during this time.

Gallaudet was the youngest of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet’s children, and was born in 1837. He was educated both at home and in a public school, and after his father’s death, he worked at the Phoenix Bank in Hartford, with help from friends of his fathers. de Lorenzo is essentially re-introducing EMG to the audience.

He mentions that the Hartford of this era was a small city, where banking and insurance were central industries. He says that Gallaudet met and had some access to the movers and shakers in Hartford, due to his father’s social position.

de Lorenzo now talks about leadership, and the distinctions between leadership and management. Management is about the details, the “nuts and bolts” so to speak. Leadership is about having a vision, and de Lorenzo goes on to mention four aspects of leadership: structural leadership, human resources leadership, political leadership, and symbolic leadership. de Lorenzo will examine these aspects in relation to EMG. He feels that Gallaudet exhibited all of these attributes.

One of the earliest issues for Gallaudet was developing the organizational structure, and he did so by examining the organization of ASD, which his father helped to found. He queried superintendents and boards at other schools in an attempt to understand how the schools worked, and what the best way would be to structure Kendall School (and by extension, Gallaudet University). ASD had no real central management, and this was a flaw Gallaudet intended to correct for the Columbia Institutition and its programs. Gallaudet discussed this issue with Amos Kendall, and the two agreed EMG would centralize control. Gallaudet’s assertion and handling of the problem impressed Kendall, who subsequently recommended Gallaudet as the head of the National Deaf-Mute College.

Another interesting problem was that in the beginning, Gallaudet was dealing with men who were far older than he, and this meant that Gallaudet had a learning curve to overcome in the early years. His initial battle was with Trustee Wiliam Stickney over his duties, and the management of funds. Gallaudet was concerned about the overlap between board control and his own role in managing the school. These concerns led to Kendall’s recommendation that Gallaudet be named president when the university’s charter was signed in 1864.

Gallaudet spent some of his time communicating with parents, with community members, and tried to be accessible to as many people as possible. He carved out time from his schedule to get to know the pupils and parents. Two of the first four staff members were deaf (Sophia Fowler Gallaudet and James Denison)– Gallaudet’s decision in personnel matters meant there was empowerment of the deaf right from the start. de Lorenzo comments that Gallaudet probably didn’t try telling his mother what to do (audience laughs).

Gallaudet was not the originator of the concept of a college for the deaf. But Gallaudet excited Kendall with his vision for what he perceived for a college. Kendall was also a visionary of sorts, and had taken risks in amassing his fortune. So both men understood the challenges ahead of them. Gallaudet had to garner support from the Maryland state legislature (Maryland School for the Deaf is younger than Kendall School), from Congress, and from community members. This meant he rapidly built up his networking skills. Less than a year after Kendall started, he presented a demonstration by Kendall pupils to Congress. He successfully lobied Congress over the next couple of years for additional funding for the Columbia Institution. This was increasingly difficult as the Civil War began, yet Gallaudet was able to obtain increased appropriations, with fewer strings attached to the money.

de Lorenzo then discusses symbolic leaders– they interpret experiences, convey visions, demonstrate and effect change. Sophia Fowler Gallaudet was a role model and an example of what the new school could accomplish with its pupils– she was very much a symbolic leader, and so was her son Edward. The decision to hire his mother and James Denison is an example of his human resources leadership.

Although E.M. Gallaudet socialized with tons of important people, he was discreet about such interactions in his personal papers– he knew the importance of power, but he also understood the need for modesty as well. Gallaudet utilized his political leadership in marshalling support, especially during the crucial first few years. By expanding the role of the Columbia Instititution from a small residential program for the Deaf children of DC and then adding a collegiate program within a decade, Gallaudet demonstrated his vision, which is an example of his symbolic leadership. de Lorenzo then closes his speech.

My Commentary: This was an interesting profile of Edward Miner Gallaudet. de Lorenzo is certainly familiar with EMG, due to his editing the history of Gallaudet written by EMG, History of the College for the Deaf, 1857-1907, and his years as archivist at Gallaudet University. The drawback to this presentation was keeping up with the interpreter at times– de Lorenzo spoke quickly at times and covered a lot of material. The information he presented made me realize that it is probably time for a new examination of Edward Miner Gallaudet– while Boatner’s biography is a good start, it was written more than fifty years ago, and since then there have been new books, articles, and other materials that provide us with a better sense of Gallaudet and his role in the history of Kendall School, Gallaudet University, and the battle between manualism and oralism.