Texas Blind, Deaf, and Orphan School was a school for blind and deaf

black people Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in s ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. Throughout its history, due to

educational segregation in the United States Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...

, the school served only black students and had black teachers; whites attended the

Texas School for the Deaf Texas School for the Deaf (TSD) is a state-operated primary and secondary school for deaf children in Austin, Texas. Opened in 1857 "in an old frame house, three log cabins, and a smokehouse", it is the oldest continually-operated public school in ...

(TSD) and the

Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) is a Texas special public school, in the continuum of statewide placements for students who have a visual impairment. It is considered a statewide resource to parents of these children a ...

(TSBVI).

History

The 18th

Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...

established the school in 1887 and spent $50,000 to acquire the site and build the facility. The school, originally named the Texas Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Institute for Colored Youth, opened on October 17, 1887. Initially, it had two teachers and 17 students. The school had dormitory facilities for students, with it initially having eleven dormitory rooms and with another dormitory and classroom building opening in 1888.Markham, James W.
TEXAS BLIND, DEAF, AND ORPHAN SCHOOL

Archive
.

Handbook of Texas The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). History The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President Wal ...

. Retrieved on May 12, 2015. It developed a dialect of sign language divergent from that of TSD because of their separation.Tabak, John. ''Significant Gestures: A History of American Sign Language''.

Greenwood Publishing Group Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG), also known as ABC-Clio/Greenwood (stylized ABC-CLIO/Greenwood), is an educational and academic publisher (middle school through university level) which is today part of ABC-Clio. Established in 1967 as Gr ...

, January 1, 2006. , 9780275989743. p
99
In 1943, the Texas State Colored Orphans' Home merged into the deaf and blind school, and its name changed to the Texas Blind, Deaf, and Orphan School. The school moved into a new campus in 1961. In 1965, its name was changed to the Texas Blind and Deaf School, and it merged into TSD that year. The

Texas State Library and Archives Commission The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) refers to the agency in the state of Texas that assists the people of Texas to effectively use information, archival resources, public records and library materials to improve their lives, th ...

took portions of the property east of Shoal Creek after the State of Texas deemed the former campus to be "excess property" in 1963; in 1987 the state gave all other portions to the

Texas Department of Transportation The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the American state of Texas. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway system ...

(TxDOT). The State of Texas earmarked parts of the land for an annex of the

Texas State Cemetery The Texas State Cemetery (TSC) is a cemetery located on about just east of downtown Austin, the capital of the U.S. state of Texas. Originally the burial place of Edward Burleson, Texas Revolutionary general and vice-president of the Republic of ...

in 1995; no cemetery use has yet occurred. Susan Dial of the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

stated that as there was never a historical examination of the buildings, and that historic evidence would be destroyed without one. In 2016 Michael Barnes of the ''

Austin American-Statesman The ''Austin American-Statesman'' is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is owned by Gannett. The paper prints Associated Press, ''New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', and ''Los Angeles Times'' internation ...

'' wrote "Virtually nothing remains of the campus". In 2016 the developer ARG Bull Creek had plans to build a development there.

Campus

The final site, in

East Austin East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

, located along Airport Boulevard, became the TSD East Campus in 1965.Heritage Center

Archive
. Texas School for the Deaf. Retrieved on May 12, 2015. The State of Texas had built 11 buildings at the site, formerly occupied by the Montopolis Drive-in Theater, for $1.5 million in 1961. These buildings had a capacity of 1,208 students. After the 2000–2001 school year TSD sold this property to the City of Austin, and the two campuses were consolidated. The Austin Animal Center now occupies the site. The original campus was on a site between 38th Street and 45th Street on Bull Creek Road. TXDOT had offices there from the 1980s. Charles Page Sr. had designed the administration building in 1923. In 2016 Barnes stated that the administration building and other major buildings are "Long gone" and "presumably demolished".

References

External links

* Markham, James W.
TEXAS BLIND, DEAF, AND ORPHAN SCHOOL
"

. {{Public boarding schools in the United States Schools for the deaf in the United States Schools for the blind in the United States Educational institutions established in 1887 1887 establishments in Texas Educational institutions disestablished in 1965 1965 disestablishments in Texas Historically segregated African-American schools in Texas Public boarding schools in the United States Boarding schools in Texas