In some cases there were exhibitions of pupils, either from the school which was hoped to be aided, or from an already established school in another state. These were designed to awaken interest in the public, and especially among the legislators, and to quicken the desired action. In more than one instance the school was established at or near the state capital to show the legislatures what could be done and to influence their proceedings. Not infrequently memorials or petitions, in some cases containing a great number of names, were presented to the legislatures, praying for the establishment of the schools. Sometimes if doubt as to the wisdom of the proposed course seemed to delay matters, a point was to be gained in the dispatch as a preliminary procedure of a special committee or agent to some existing school in another state, to examine and report upon its work, this report being, as was expected, nearly always highly favorable.[231]
But appeals to these bodies, whatever their nature, were rarely turned away, and usually secured prompt response. When action was finally to be obtained, the measure relating to the deaf was passed with few dissenting votes, sometimes with none at all. So eager had the representatives of the people now become, that, if it was not deemed practicable at once to create a state institution, haste was made to provide for the children in a school in another state till one within their own borders could be established. In some cases steps were taken to this end by the legislative assemblies of territories before statehood had been bestowed upon them.[232]
At the same time not to be forgotten, in the narration of the extension of the means of education to the deaf of the country, is the real debt to private action. It was private initiative that often brought the schools into being, and it was private solicitude that often won their final endorsement and adoption by the state. In not a few places there were citizens found who were willing to give of their substance to forward the new work.[233] For some of the schools money was not only subscribed, but it came also from the proceeds of fairs and concerts, and for a few also from lectures, debates, exhibits of pictures, and similar affairs; while exhibitions of the pupils themselves from the schools seldom failed to draw a generous offering.[234] Indeed, many were glad of the opportunity to lend a hand, and contributions were tendered not only by various individuals, but also by different societies and organizations[235]—churches probably among the latter proving the most ready givers, with aid, in addition, at time from newspapers, and now and then from a school or college. In some cases funds were collected by citizens with which to purchase a site, and sometimes the land required was given by the cities themselves. Indirect aid was extended as well of not a few kinds; and in the early schools there was seldom great difficulty in securing reduced transportation on railroads and steamboats.[236]
However, except in a few instances, private assistance in the aggregate did not prove great: as a rule in most schools it was limited, usually sufficing only to tide them over their nascent stage, and in large part ceasing upon their full establishment. From then on the maintenance was assumed practically entirely as a public charge, the legislatures of the several states undertaking themselves to provide for the schools. In a few cases, however, there was public aid of another sort. In several schools there were allowances for a longer or shorter period from municipal funds, as in Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York, and from county, as in North Carolina and Utah.[237] But much the most important assistance of this character came from the national government; and while only a few schools were favored by its action, the benefactions to those were hardly less than munificent. For the benefit of the Connecticut and Kentucky schools early in their careers Congress granted great areas of the public domain; and later, on the admission of half a dozen or so states in the West into the Union, set apart extensive tracts for the schools to be established in them.[238]
When the school for the deaf had been formally recognized by the state, its first act of assistance as a rule was in the form of per capita allowances for the pupils, with only occasionally a specific appropriation. These allowances were in the beginning small, but in time were gradually increased. It was usually some years before the policy was adopted of making regular appropriations. In a few cases, as in Indiana and Illinois, when it was decided to create a state institution, the first proceedings were, in lieu of a direct appropriation, the levying of a small mill tax upon the assessed property of the state. In New York benefit was allowed from the fines or licenses on lotteries, and in Ohio from the receipts of a tax on auctions in one of the counties of the state. In a few cases the schools were even located where there appeared the greatest financial inducement,[239] as with the requirement that a certain number of acres of land should be donated for the school.[240]
For the organization of the new schools a small body of citizens was appointed, often the original promoters of the undertaking, to act as trustees, and to them was confided its direction, with the support and general oversight of the state back of them.[241] Now and then the trustees of an existing educational or other institution were given charge as a temporary arrangement.[242]
In the material projection of the schools, little was to be expected at the beginning. With the meagre resources at their disposal, the directors had small choice in what was to be provided. In not a few cases the schools started out under conditions far from auspicious, and in some the circumstances in connection with their origin were quite discouraging.[243] The quarters secured for the schools were nearly always of unpretentious, and sometimes of humble, type. Many began in a single rented room, and a few in a church building lent for the purpose. It was only in the course of the years, as the communities grew in population and wealth, that the establishments for the deaf assumed appearances in keeping with their character.
The schools for the deaf were now in being, and were ready for the reception of their pupils. But what of these pupils, and where were they? Were they found at the doors of the new institutions, clamoring for admission? The situation was hardly this. In point of fact, in nearly every case the schools were ahead of the pupils. Though in practically every community where a school was created, there were a greater or less number of children in need of an education, these children, or rather their parents, were slow in availing themselves of the privilege. It was thus that the schools when established had to wait, as it were, for the coming of their pupils, and indeed, in not a few instances, to go out after them.
On the opening of the schools, none was found to have a large number of pupils, and in most there were only a handful, as three, four or five.[244] It was discovered that it was a far from easy task to get the children in.[245] The parents were in no small measure ignorant themselves, and the real value of the school was not always readily understood. Besides, in many sections the country was new, the roads bad, and the facilities for travel scant.