Friday, December 2, 2016

Civil Rights: Laurent Clerc - West Hartford, CT

Laurent Clerc
West Hartford, CT


N 41° 46.246 W 072° 44.809



Short Description:

A monument honoring Laurent Clerc, pioneer teacher of the deaf,  is located on the campus of the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford, CT.

Long Description:

A 2' high bust of Laurent Clerc, pioneer teacher of the deaf, rests on a 6' high 5' square base. The bust was created by Carl H. Conrads. The sculpture was cast in 1874 and originally located on the grounds of the American School for the Deaf on Asylum Avenue in Hartford. It was moved to its current location around 1920, when the school moved to West Hartford.

Laurent Clerc is wearing a ruffled shirt and bow tie. The bust is placed on a two tiered circular bronze base and mounted on top of a polished granite pedestal. The pedestal is decorated with an bronze oak leaf wreath with palm leaves. Below in a horizontal bas relief panel, a right hand spells out Clerc's name, C-L-E-R-C, in American Sign Language. Three faces of the pedestal carry inscriptions.

On the front (east) side:


LAURENT CLERC
THE APOSTLE
TO THE DEAF MUTES OF
THE NEW WORLD 

On the north side:


LAURENT CLERC A.M.
BORN IN LA BALME, FRANCE
DECEMBER 26, 1785.
LANDED AT NEW YORK 
AUGUST 5, 1818.
DIED AT HARTFORD 
JULY 18, 1869 

On the south side:



ERECTED BY THE DEAF MUTES
OF AMERICA TO THE MEMORY
OF THEIR BENEFACTOR
THE PUPIL OF SICARD
THE ASSOCIATE OF GALLAUDET
WHO LEFT HIS NATIVE LAND
TO ELEVATE THEM
BY HIS TEACHING
AND ENCOURAGE THEM
BY HIS EXAMPLE 

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