Historical Reflections: The Medical Heritage Center Blog

Ohio Institution for the Education of the Deaf

The following is an excerpt about the Institution from The Second Blessing: Columbus Medicine and Health, The Early Years by Charles F. Wooley and Barbara A. Van Brimmer. Copies of these books are available for purchase from the Medical Heritage Center for $45 (plus applicable sales tax).

The first school for the deaf in the United States was established in Hartford, Connecticut. It owed its origins to Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a Congregational minister who traveled to Europe in 1815 to study methods of communicating with deaf people. The Connecticut Asylum for the Education of Deaf and Dumb Persons opened its doors in 1817 in Hartford, with Laurent Clerc as sign-language teacher.

The Ohio Deaf and Dumb Asylum Act was passed during the 1826-1827 legislative session and the first annual report of the board of trustees of the Ohio Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb was submitted to the Ohio Legislature in 1827. Lucas Sullivant’s third son Michael was a member of the board; physician members of the board were Lincoln Goodale, Robert Thompson, and Samuel Parsons. The early institution began in 1829, operating from rented quarters on North High Street in Columbus. A legislative appropriation in 1828 was followed by purchase of a ten-acre site about half a mile east of the center of the city on Town Street. By 1830 permanent-building plans were in pace, and the school principal, Horatio N. Hubbell, who had been sent to the Hartford Asylum for 18 months of training – was at work with two assistants, both educated at Hartford.

The annual reports of the institution are comprehensive and include lists of the pupils’ names, their places of residence, and how they were supported – whether by their families, friends, or (if indigent) by the state. By 1834 the main buildings were finished and occupied, and Hubbell was working with four assistants, three of whom were themselves deaf mutes who had been educated at Hartford. Hubbell’s 1834 principal’s report included a summary of the history of teaching the deaf and a discussion of sign language as the natural language of the deaf, as opposed to articulation as taught at some schools. Education of the deaf was entering a controversial era as authoritative proponents of two major systems of communication – sign language, and the oralism or articulation system – took sides in battles over the control of the institution of the deaf. In one form or another, the conflicts surrounding language, linguistic expression, and the education of deaf children have persisted and even heightened during the second half of the 20^th century.

Robert Thompson was the physician to the Ohio Institution for the Education of Deaf and Dumb from 1833 to 1857. During the later years of his appointment, the annual reports contained Thompson’s detailed physician’s reports to the board of trustees regarding the health of the residents of the institution, along with his recommendations to the board. Topics included smallpox vaccination and causes of death among the residents in 1844; repeated requests for the completion of sewers in 1849; the need for a separate building for the sick (“for want of a hospital”) with an outbreak of cholera in 1852; his continuing concerns about “a want of capacity and adaptation in the buildings” in 1853.

Most of the deaf students were of school age. They received vocational training that include bookbinding in the deaf-school bindery, sewing, cooking, and housekeeping. Over the years the school for deaf was variously known as the Ohio Deaf and Dumb Asylum, Ohio State School for the Deaf, and the Ohio Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb. The next school for deaf was at 450 East Town Street. It was completed in 1868 to a design by George W. Bellows, Sr., father of George Bellows, the well-known Columbus artist. The latest school, the Ohio State School for the Deaf, was built at 500 Morse Road in Columbus in 1953.

This hospital was built in 1958 and closed in 1971. Located on East Livingston Avenue, it was opened as a for-profit primary surgical care center by a group of local surgeons. Due to government regulations and a rejection for Medicare coverage in 1971, the facility could no longer provide service. Today, it is the site of Grant Hospital Ambulatory Service.

The Ohio Institution for the Education of the Blind (AKA Ohio State School for the Blind)

The following is an excerpt about the Institution from The Second Blessing: Columbus Medicine and Health, The Early Years by Charles F. Wooley and Barbara A. Van Brimmer. Copies of these books are available for purchase from the Medical Heritage Center for $45 (plus applicable sales tax).

At the first session of the influential Ohio physician’ meeting held in Columbus in 1835 – the Medical Convention of Ohio – a resolution was adopted “that Dr. Daniel Drake be requested to deliver an address on the subject of the Instruction of the Blind, tomorrow (Wednesday) evening, at half past 6 o’clock, and that both houses of the Legislature of Ohio be respectfully invited to attend.”  Drake fulfilled his task and the General Assembly appointed a commission to collect information relative to the education of the blind.  The group consisted of the Reverend James Hoge, Columbus minister; N.H. Swayne, a Columbus lawyer; and Dr. William Awl. Their report was a comprehensive and persuasive document.  The act establishing the Ohio Institution for the Education of the Blind was passed April 3, 1837.

The first trustees of the institution were N.H. Swayne, William Awl, and the Reverend James Hoge; the physician was Dr. R. L. Howard.  Located on East Main Street, the institute opened in October 1839 and soon gained a reputation as a progressive school with many successful alumni that provided pupils and training in a number of areas and disciplines. In 1873 Governor Tod appointed Dr. Awl as a physician to the blind asylum, a position he held until his death in 1876.

The annual reports placed emphasis on the history of such institutions and the instruction of the blind according to the standards of the day. Dr. Howard wrote the physicians’ and oculist’s reports in the annual reports; in the twelfth annual report he noted that many of the pupils never enjoyed good health. He examined the eyes of all the pupils in 1848 and found three cases of cataract; in 1849 he operated on four individuals with cataracts.  Chronic disease remained prevalent among the residents, and one death from pulmonary consumption occurred in a twenty-four year-old after a long and prolonged illness.

The Franklin County Hospital for Tuberculosis operated at the corner of Alum Creek Drive and Frebis Avenue from 1909 to 1972. The architects were Howard and Merriam. The hospital was designed to have a capacity of 100 beds and at some point housed 120 beds. The building was estimated to cost $80,000. In 1946 William L. Potts, MD served as the medical director. The hospital was planned to house patients in all stages of the disease and was one of the first buildings of this type designed to contain wards for children suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis.

The 77-acre military post known today as Fort Hayes was originally built and used as a federal arsenal to store and repair Ordinance Corps arms and to equip Ohio regiments called to duty during the Civil War. The land for Fort Hayes was purchased from Robert and Jannette Neil on February 17, 1863. The Neil’s were members of the same Neil family from whom the land to build The Ohio State University was later purchased.

The military base was called The Columbus Barracks from 1905 to December 1922, when it was named after Ohio governor and later president Rutherford B. Hayes.

Post Hospital (also known as Post Military Hospital) was part of the Columbus Barracks and opened in 1891, operating until about 1946.

Ohio State Penitentiary (Ohio Penitentiary Hospital)

Built in 1834, the Ohio Penitentiary was actually the second Ohio Penitentiary, the third state prison, and the fourth jail in early Columbus. Prison Hospital was a part of the upper corridor of the city prison and was set aside as a hospital by Prison Director Davis in 1900. In April 1955 it housed an all-time high of 5,235 prisoners. Most prisoners were removed from the prison by 1972 with the completion of the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, and the facility was closed December 31, 1983. The state sold the Ohio Penitentiary to the City of Columbus in 1995. The 23-acre site, bounded by Maple, West and Spring Streets and Neil Avenue, is now part of the Nationwide Arena complex.

Grant Hospital, c.1904

Dr. James F. Baldwin began Grant Hospital in 1900 as a private hospital to serve the growing middle class. Three additions were added to the original building from 1904-1914. By 1904, Grant Hospital was considered the largest private hospital in the world with a bed count of 303.

Mercy Hospital, c. 1920

South Side Emergency Hospital, Mercy Hospital, Columbus Community Hospital

South Side Emergency Hospital opened March 17, 1903 in a large house at 1522 South High Street at Welch started by a doctor and several laymen. They abandoned the effort but the residents of the area saw the need for a hospital to serve the south side of Columbus and they pushed ahead with plans to establish a permanent facility. In early 1904, twenty ladies organized a nonprofit corporation. A charter was established authorizing its operation and establishing a school of nursing. Mercy Hospital opened March 1, 1904 with four doctors, one nurse and one patient. During 1907, the School of Nursing graduated its first class and a decision was made to begin fund raising efforts for a new, larger facility. Money was raised to purchase a new permanent building at 1430 South High Street. The new facility opened in 1910 and was expanded in 1930. A medical office building was constructed in 1958. In 1970 new buildings replaced the old building. Mercy Hospital was renamed Columbus Community Hospital in 2001 and closed later that year for financial reasons. In 2002 it was reopen as an urgent care facility named Urgent Care Plus and in 2011 still functions as such.