We had to be in Hartford a day earlier than we had originally expected so, we really had to burn rubber for the nine hour trip from Niagara. We drove most of the night, with Kevin stopping for a quick three hour nap before continuing on the road again. We arrived at the American School for the Deaf at 12:45 to a nice welcome by the ASD students who held up a sign celebrating our arrival. It was a fun welcome which we really appreciated.

Since none of us had ever been to the “first Deaf school in the Americas,” we all got a full tour of the beautiful grounds. We visited Gallaudet Hall, the main building on campus, the gymnasium, vocational building, and best of all, the ASD Museum.

The archivist at the ASD Museum is Gary Wait, a tall, thin man with a full beard and wire glasses that look like they came straight out of the 1850’s. His gold pocket watch accessorizes his vest which he wears everyday, giving him his name sign of “G” signed with both hands shaping a vest. He talks about how, when he was 11 years old, he met Helen Keller and almost based his thesis paper on her. Like Assistant Director of School Development Jeff Bravin says, “Not only is Gary a great archivist, but he even looks the part.” We certainly enjoyed meeting him in his office, the school museum, and getting a tour from him.

The musty room filled with books dating as far back as the 1600’s, holds one of the largest collections of old Deaf education books and materials in the world. “We have a very generous purchase budget, so we are always looking to buy anything we can,” explains Gary. His favorite place to shop for these rare books?

“EBay.” Wait then points to a book he recently bought on EBay which was printed in the 1800’s detailing what the author described as the best method of educating the Deaf. He talks about the time he helped the Illinois School for the Deaf buy a walking stick of their school’s founder using the auction site.

Gary goes on to show us Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet’s actual glasses that he owned, and a chair that he always liked to sit in. One of the most fascinating things I learned that day, however, belongs to a silhouette of Alice Cogswell (see picture). This silhouette is the only existing likeness of Alice. There is not a single known photograph, painting, or drawing in existence that shows what she looks like. The original silhouette, which calls the ASD museum home, is what the sculptor used to portray Alice in the famous Gallaudet/Cogswell statue at Gallaudet University. I asked him if this meant that Alice could look nothing like what she looks like on the statue. “Exactly,” Gary replied.

We had a ball touring the museum and seeing the many artifacts and hearing the many stories behind most of them. After seeing some more of ASD’s buildings, Jeff Bravin invited us over his home for a barbeque with Executive Director Harvey Corson and his wife Mary Ann coming as well. We had a great time eating the delicious steak and potatoes that Jeff cooked on the grill and chatting. It was a definite nice change of pace from Subway’s for dinner! Many thanks to Jeff and his wife for being such wonderful hosts.

I’d like to update you all with the “Name Our RV!” contest. We have gotten many entries and would like to encourage even more of you to enter the contest. We decided to extend the deadline to May 12th so more of you have the opportunity to participate and have a chance at winning a free X-Box! For details about the contest, read Day 6 of our journal!

From the parking lot of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Hartford, Connecticut, good night.