Born on December 21, 1829, in Hanover, New Hampshire, Laura Bridgman was struck by scarlet fever at the age of two and left blind and deaf. Her other senses were also affected, but she retained the sense of touch, which she developed sufficiently to learn to sew and knit. In 1837 her case came to the attention of Samuel Gridley Howe, director of the Perkins Institution for the Blind, then in Boston. He brought her to the school in October and began to attempt, against prevailing opinion and experience, to teach her by touch. By attaching words made of raised letters to common objects he was able eventually to convey to her the idea of names. Inspired by the sudden revelation of the possibility of communication, she went on to learn the letters and the manual alphabet and with these was able to study a number of advanced subjects, from arithmetic to geography. She was the first blind deaf-mute ever known to have been taught successfully, and Howe╒s achievement drew much attention, especially after Charles Dickens visited the school in 1842 and enthusiastically described Bridgman╒s accomplishments in his American Notes. She remained at the school for the rest of her life and gradually assumed household duties and helped teach other pupils. In 1887 a jubilee celebration was held to mark the fiftieth anniversary of her coming to the school. She died on May 24, 1889.
