Bridgman, Laura Dewey, 1829-1889

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Laura Dewey Lynn Bridgman (b. December 21, 1829, Hanover, New Hampshire-d. May 24, 1889, Boston, Massachusetts), known as the first deaf-blind American child to gain a significant education in the English language, fifty years before the more famous Helen Keller. Bridgman was left deaf-blind at the age of two after contracting scarlet fever. She was educated at the Perkins Institution for the Blind where, under the direction of Samuel Gridley Howe, she learned to read and communicate using Braille and the manual alphabet developed by Charles-Michel de l'Épée. Bridgman gained celebrity status when Charles Dickens met her during his 1842 American tour and wrote about her accomplishments in his American Notes. Her fame was short-lived, however, and she spent the remainder of her life in relative obscurity, most of it at the Perkins Institute, where she passed her time sewing and reading books in Braille.
Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Samuel Gray Ward and Anna Hazard Barker Ward papers, 1823-1934 (inclusive) 1837-1900 (bulk). Houghton Library
referencedIn Green family. Papers, 1822-1900 The Filson Historical Society
referencedIn Fred A. Rosenstock autograph collection L. Tom Perry Special Collections
referencedIn Dix, Dorothea Lynde, 1802-1887. Letter, 1853 Oct. 18, Boston, to Miss Arnold. Dartmouth College Library
creatorOf Gilman family. Papers, 1737-1937. Massachusetts Historical Society
creatorOf Laura Dewey Lynn Bridgman letters and miscellany, 1873-1881 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
creatorOf Bridgman, Laura Dewey, 1829-1889. Laura Dewey Bridgman letter, 19th century. Litchfield Historical Society
creatorOf Bridgman, Laura Dewey, 1829-1889. Letter, 1852 May 11, South Boston, to Alexander Macdonald, Janesville, Wisconsin. Boston Athenaeum
referencedIn Cantwell, John Simon. Papers, 1804-1907. Andover-Harvard Theological Library
referencedIn Howe, S. G. (Samuel Gridley), 1801-1876. [Letter, 1872]. Boston Athenaeum
referencedIn Human curiosity prints, playbills, broadsides and other printed material, 1695-1937. Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
referencedIn Howe, Julia Ward, 1819-1910. Papers, 1874-1910 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Dix, Dorothea Lynde, 1802-1887. Papers, 1798-1893 (bulk 1827-1887) Houghton Library
referencedIn Life of William Hickling Prescott, extra-illustrated. Houghton Library
referencedIn Harvard, Houghton Library. Dorothea L. Dix Papers.
creatorOf Bridgman, Laura Dewey, 1829-1889. Sentiment, 1878 Dec. 9, signed. Dartmouth College Library
referencedIn Howe, Julia Ward, family. Papers, 1787-1984 (bulk 1787-1944) Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf Bridgman, Laura Dewey, 1829-1889. Letter, 1866 Feb. 12, to Mrs. Alvin Adams. Boston Athenaeum
referencedIn Page, John, 1787-1865. Letter, 1841 March 8, to Josiah Stevens, Jr. New Hampshire Newspaper Project
referencedIn Coffin, James H. (James Henry), 1806-1873. James Henry Coffin Papers, 1848-1884 Smithsonian Institution Archives
creatorOf Bridgman, Laura Dewey, 1829-1889. Letter, 1860, June 24, Thetford, Vt., to Addison Bridgman. Brown University Archives, John Hay Library
referencedIn Weather Bureau National Archives at College Park
creatorOf Bridgman, Laura Dewey, 1829-1889. Autographs, 1873. Boston Athenaeum
referencedIn James Thomas Fields collection of autographs and portraits of distinguished women, 1814-1907. Houghton Library
referencedIn Clapp, William Warland, Jr., 1826-1891. Correspondence, 1790-1891 (bulk 1840-1891) Houghton Library
creatorOf Bridgman, Laura Dewey, 1829-1889. Autograph, [undated]. Maine Historical Society Library
referencedIn Human curiosity prints, playbills, broadsides and other printed material, 1695-1937. Houghton Library
creatorOf Bridgman, Laura Dewey, 1829-1889. Papers, 1877-1887 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Huntington Library. Francis Lieber Papers.
creatorOf Churchill, Clara G., 1851-1945. Papers, 1880-1890. Dartmouth College Library
creatorOf Lamson family. Papers, 1840-1887 : bulk: 1855-1887. Massachusetts Historical Society
creatorOf Bridgman, Laura Dewey, 1829-1889. Letter, 1841 September 8, to her mother New Hampshire Newspaper Project
referencedIn Howe family. Papers of the Julia Ward Howe family, 1787-1984 (inclusive), 1787-1944 (bulk). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Howe, Julia Ward, 1819-1910. Letters, Boston, Mass. / Julia Ward Howe. Dartmouth College Library
creatorOf Bridgman, Laura Dewey, 1829-1889. Letter to an unidentified recipient, 1887 March 2. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions archives, 1810-1961. Houghton Library
referencedIn Autograph File, B, ca.1500-1982 Houghton Library
referencedIn Smithsonian Institution. Office of the Secretary. Correspondence, 1865-1891 Smithsonian Institution Archives
referencedIn Letters to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1761-1904 (inclusive), 1820-1888 (bulk) Houghton Library
creatorOf Bridgman, Laura Dewey, 1829-1889. Autograph, 1881. Harold B. Lee Library
creatorOf Bridgman, Laura Dewey, 1829-1889. Note, n.d. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Clarke, James Freeman, 1810-1888. Additional correspondence, 1787-1886 Houghton Library
referencedIn Gannett, Lewis, 1891-1966. Papers, 1681-1966 (bulk 1900-1960) Houghton Library
creatorOf Bridgman, Laura Dewey, 1829-1889. Holy home : holograph : [poem], [between 1840 and 1889] / L.D. Bridgman. Concord Free Public Library, Special Collection
Role Title Holding Repository

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Relation Name
associatedWith Adams, Ann Rebecca Bridge, 1809-1882. person
correspondedWith American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. corporateBody
associatedWith Aylesworth, Barton O. (Barton Orville), 1860-1933 person
correspondedWith Bacon, William person
associatedWith Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887 person
associatedWith Bridgman, Addison, person
associatedWith Bridgman, Harmony. person
correspondedWith Canten, Abby person
associatedWith Cantwell, John Simon. person
associatedWith Churchill, Clara G., 1851-1945. person
associatedWith Clapp, William Warland, 1826-1891 person
associatedWith Clarke, James Freeman, 1810-1888 person
correspondedWith Dix, Dorothea Lynde person
associatedWith Dix, Dorothea Lynde, 1802-1887. person
associatedWith Drew, Lydia H. person
associatedWith Fields, James Thomas, 1817-1881 person
associatedWith Gannett, Lewis, 1891-1966 person
associatedWith Gilman family. family
associatedWith Green family. family
correspondedWith Henry, Joseph, 1797-1878 person
associatedWith Howe family. family
associatedWith Howe, Julia Ward, 1819-1910. person
associatedWith Howe, S. G. (Samuel Gridley), 1801-1876. person
correspondedWith JULIA (WARD) HOWE FAMILY family
associatedWith JULIA (WARD) HOWE FAMILY family
associatedWith Lamson family. family
correspondedWith Lieber, Francis person
correspondedWith Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1807-1882 person
associatedWith Macdonald, Alexander. person
associatedWith Page, John, 1787-1865. person
associatedWith Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind. corporateBody
associatedWith Perkins School for the Blind. corporateBody
associatedWith Rosenstock, Fred A., b. 1895 person
associatedWith Ticknor, George, 1791-1871 person
associatedWith Ward, Samuel Gray. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
United States
United States
New England
Subject
Blind
Deaf
Deafblind people
Deafblind women
Deafblind women
Deafblind women
Poetry
Teachers of deafblind people
Women educators
Occupation
Deafblind women
Activity

Person

Birth 1829-12-21

Death 1889-05-24

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