ID
0210
Nationality
American
born Scottish (British)
Occupation
Teacher
Scientist
Inventor
CODA
Summary
Hearing. Most famous for inventing the telephone, but was originally a teacher of the deaf, with emphasis on development of speech. Born in Edinburgh to hearing father Alexander Melville Bell (q.v.) and deaf mother Eliza Bell (q.v.); adopted his father's Visible Speech method for teaching speechreading and speech to the deaf. Married Mabel G. Hubbard, a deaf student of his. A strong advocate of the oral-only method of deaf education; also advocated eugenics to prevent deaf people from "breeding" more deaf people. Was associated with the Clarke School for the Deaf, Boston, MA; died and buried on Cape Breton Island (his summer home), Nova Scotia, Canada.
References
Gallaudet Encyclopedia, vol.1 p.135-141; ABC-Clio companion, p.41-42; Deaf Heritage in Canada, p.45-46; Biographical Dictionary of American Educators, v.1 p.109-110; Dictionary of American Biography, vol.1, p.148-52; Encyclopedia of Special Education, vol.1, p.204; American National Biography, vol.2 p.496-500; Silence of the Spheres, p.66-67, 82-83.
Dates
3 March 1847-2 August 1922