Julia Brace (June 13, 1807 – August 12, 1884) was a deafblind woman who enrolled at the

American School for the Deaf The American School for the Deaf (ASD), originally ''The American Asylum, At Hartford, For The Education And Instruction Of The Deaf'', is the oldest permanent school for the deaf in the United States, and the first school for children with dis ...

, in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1825 and remained there as an employee after her graduation.

Biography

Julia Brace was born to a poor family in

Hartford County, Connecticut Hartford County is a county located in the north central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. According to the 2020 census, the population was 899,498, making it the second-most populous county in Connecticut. Hartford County contains the ...

, on June 13, 1807, and became deafblind at age five from

typhus fever Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

. She gradually stopped speaking and developed a system of

home sign Home sign (or kitchen sign) is a gestural communication system, often invented spontaneously by a deaf child who lacks accessible linguistic input. Home sign systems often arise in families where a deaf child is raised by hearing parents and is iso ...

that she used with her parents. She was sent to a boarding school with hearing and sighted children before being offered a place at the Hartford Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb (now called the

), where she enrolled on June 11, 1825, two days before her 18th birthday. During her childhood, she was described as independent, inquisitive and feisty. Although she was not given much formal instruction, she did acquire

tactile signing Tactile signing is a common means of communication used by people with deafblindness. It is based on a sign language or another system of manual communication. "Tactile signing" refers to the mode or medium, i.e. signing (using some form of sign ...

from the resident deaf students and staff at the Hartford school. Despite being the only blind person there, she became a part of the school community, forming friendships (and enemies), fulfilling communal duties, and developing skills in sewing and knitting. She began to be seen as something of a celebrity and received many curious visitors — although these regular interruptions to her daily activities apparently annoyed her and she was not afraid, on occasion, to make her displeasure known. She was protective of her own rights, and never intentionally invaded those of others, and she was never known to deceive. She was kind and gentle enough to be entrusted with the care of the sick, and made an excellent nurse.

Samuel Gridley Howe Samuel Gridley Howe (November 10, 1801 – January 9, 1876) was an American physician, abolitionist, and advocate of education for the blind. He organized and was the first director of the Perkins Institution. In 1824 he had gone to Greece to ...

, educator from the

Perkins School for the Blind Perkins School for the Blind, in Watertown, Massachusetts, was founded in 1829 and is the oldest school for the blind in the United States. It has also been known as the Perkins Institution for the Blind. Perkins manufactures its own Perkins Br ...

, began instructing the seven-year-old deafblind

Laura Bridgman Laura Dewey Lynn Bridgman (December 21, 1829 – May 24, 1889) was the first deaf-blind American child to gain a significant education in the English language, twenty years before the more famous Helen Keller; Laura's friend Anne Sullivan became ...

after meeting Brace during a visit to the Hartford school around 1837. After four years and much success with his young pupil, Howe returned to Hartford in 1841, bringing Bridgman with him. Although Brace was 34 years old, Howe thought he would also like to attempt to instruct her in the English language as he had Bridgman. On April 6, 1842, Brace enrolled as a student of the Perkins School. A woman named Mrs. Martha Johonnet left Brace 200 dollars annually after Martha's death. Howe's "experiment", however, proved less successful than he had hoped, as Brace clearly preferred to communicate in

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign l ...

, and she returned to the Hartford school after a year, where she continued to board until 1860. She left the school to take up residence with her sister in Bloomfield, Connecticut, where she died on August 12, 1884, aged 77. She was buried in an

unmarked grave An unmarked grave is one that lacks a marker, headstone, or nameplate indicating that a body is buried there. However, in cultures that mark burial sites, the phrase unmarked grave has taken on a metaphorical meaning. Metaphorical meaning As a ...

in the West Hill Cemetery.

Notes

References

* Howe, Samuel Gridley, "Julia Brace." Manuscript draft of first portion of Appendix C of the Eleventh Annual Report of the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind. Sanborn Brown Autograph Collection, Special Collections, Dartmouth College Library. * *

External links

Julia Brace biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brace, Julia 1807 births 1884 deaths American deafblind people People from Bloomfield, Connecticut People from Hartford, Connecticut