Illinois Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb

City: Jacksonville

County: Morgan

State: Illinois

The Illinois General Assembly chartered the Illinois Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb on February 23, 1839. The purpose of the institution, to be located near Jacksonville, was to promote the intellectual, moral, and physical culture of the hard of hearing and those unable to speak through a course of education that would enable them to more fully engage in the social and private aspects of life. This institution was the first charitable institution established by the state. The Panic of 1837 and the state budget crisis of the late 1830s and early 1840s slowed progress on construction, but work commenced in 1842, and by 1845, one building was partially ready for occupation. The institution officially opened in February 1846. In February 1849, the General Assembly changed the name of the institution to the Illinois Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb, and changed the charter to allow all deaf and mute persons residing in the state entrance free of tuition or fees. Builders completed the original building in 1849, and further facilities were added in 1852 and 1857. The Illinois Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb continued to operate through the Civil War and beyond.

An Act to Establish the Illinois Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb; "An Act in Relation to the State Hospital for the Insane, and the Deaf and Dumb Asylum," 3 February 1849, Laws of Illinois (1849), 93; History of the Illinois Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb at Jacksonville, Illinois, 1838-1893 (Chicago: John Morris, 1893), 5-64; Newton Bateman and Paul Selby, eds., Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois (Chicago: Munsell, 1901), 129.