I have often said that the American Asylum was a language laboratory when it opened and Laurent Clerc was the head scientist. Laurent brought Old French Sign Language with him to Hartford where it met home sign, Marthas Vineyards Sign and Plains Indian Sign. In the classroom and during those evening social gatherings emerged the early ASL that has evolved into what we see today. One of the best know examples of evolving American Sign Language is the story about President James Monroe's (video) bicorne hat.
It seems that after the president was elected he felt the need to present himself to the people of this new nation called the United States. At the time New England was much of what the United States was composed. So he set out to visit it and as Connecticut was kind of the center of the New World he ended up in Hartford on June 23, 1817. As this map from his presidential library indicates.
We found a record in the, Monroe Presidential Library, of this tour that brought him to Hartford that summer of 1817.
We will not fault President Monroe (video) for his biographers choice of words. And he is just an insignificant character in our story anyway, because for "Clercophiles" the most important person there was Laurent Clerc and not some president guy.
It seems that Monroe visited the new school on June 22, 1817. The following day he made a public address in front of the Hotel, where Thomas H. Gallaudet interpreted for attendees from the school.
The story goes that the kids piled out of the Bennett City Hotel, where the school had rented rooms.
and Laurent Clerc likely lived as 4 of his 6 children were born in the building. President Monroe was adorned in all his early Americana splendor and since it was outside he had on his bicorn hat.
The students crowded around the President and created the new sign to represent the person "president", based on his hat.
I am sure that Laurent was not one to rain on his students parade and he just went with it, teaching this sign in his classrooms from that day forward. Language library!
An interesting fact noted by the James Monroe Center is that the president was familiar with Laurent Clerc and his work. It seems that while in previously in France, likely when he was the Minister to France for the United States, he had attended a demonstration put on by the Abbe Sicard, which always featured Laurent, his star pupil.
And we know that Laurent performed the "question and answer" routine honed under the watchful eye of Sicard again that evening at dinner. Here is a handwritten note, written later and in Laurent's script, reported on the first page...
Here is a transcription...
"After dinner he received the congratulations of the Rev. clergy & other citizens and afterwards visited the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, where he witnessed with apparent satisfaction the progress of the pupils under the instruction of Messrs. Gallaudet & Clerc & put to Professor Clerc several questions, to which he replied in writing with his usual promptness & facility. The affable, unaffected & dignified deportment of the President has left such favorable impressions as will be long remembered by our citizens."
Here is page 2...Laurent seems to have made a mistake when he noted that an excerpt of his comments appeared in the Hartford Courant on Tuesday, July 1, 1817 (erroneously marked “June 1”).
Of course, situations like this happened everyday and Laurent's sign language began to change faster and faster. It is estimated that American Sign Language is now based on about 58% Old French Sign Language. We know that Laurent was an innovator and would not have gotten in the way of progress. Ok, that might not be true. Laurent was said to have resisted the changes to his teaching methods and introduction of new words but then it got away from him and he went with it. That did not prevent him, in a discussion in 1867, saying that he was bummed about the Deaf communities use of "ugly signs" (blog post).
-Laurent-
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