Evening Star Newspaper, January 27, 1929, Page 20

NS, COLOGEADS DEAF SEHOO FUND Tact and Grace Aided First “Lady as Teacher of Speech- less Children. The tact and graciousness of Mrs. Coolidge’s personality and the charm with which she wins every one in her exacting position as mistress of the ‘White House are everywhere recognized. A less well known fact is that before her marriage Mrs. Coolidge had em- barked upon a unique career in which these qualities were likewise great as- sets to her success. ‘When Grace Goodhue graduated from the University of Vermont few college girls entered any other profession than teaching. She decided upon teaching as a carcer, but a kind different from that of her fellow students. She under- took the difficult task of teaching deaf ichildren. ‘This unusual choice of a profession in ithat day came about through the fact ithat Grace Goodhue’s family in Bur- ilington, Vt., knew the family of a re- {markably interesting woman who had been blazing new trails in the education ‘of deaf children for some 30 years, but ‘in so quiet a way that few people knew anything about the work. This was Car- ‘oline A. Yale, principal of the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, Mass. In 1900, this country was just begin- ning to escape from asylums and insti- tutions for the “deaf and dumb.” The teaching of speech to the deaf was still 50 much of a novelty that it was, among teachers themselves, a matter of con- One small group, led by hool, took the so-called “deaf ‘and dumb” children and, without re- Sorting to signs of any kind, taught them o read words spoken by other people “from the lips, and to speak themselves. : ‘The results appeared to be miraculous 2and only those teachers who had special training and who were endowed with unusual gifts could succeed in the work. *There was a large and militant opposi- ition to the method as expounded at Clarke School, for there were many peo- le who did not believe that such teach- g was possible. i This was the appeal which caughtand fired the imagination of the energetic and idealistic young college girl. Here was an opportunity not only for an in- teresting career, but for a great humani- garian service. H Studied for Year. ¢ 'To the Clarke School Grace Goodhue pplied for a position. First, she had take a course of training in the ormal department. For a year she tudied the problems of the deaf, learned ‘o enunciate her words so clearly that those who hear nothing could read the Bccents on her lips, learned the pho- hetics of words and the physiology of the vocal cords. She was, in fact, in fraining to be a doctor to the deaf and gure their muteness. ¢ She learned how great a part of the n of the beginning deaf child is the encouraging smile of the teacher d the sympathetic hug at the end, hether a goal is quite reached or not. race Goodhue’s naturally warm smile s a great asset in this new career. 2 After a year's preparation Grace dhue began to teach. Some of her Classmates went out into the new gchools for the deaf springing up in Bther States, modeled upon the Clarke THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., JANUARY 27, 1929—PART I MRS. COOLIDGE VISITS CLARKE SCHOOL Mrs. Coolidge is welcomed by some of the pupils of the Clarke School for the Deaf, where she once taught. in its most difficult stage. The children she saw in front of her, grouped in a semi-circle in their little chairs, had, for the most part, never heard sounds. Some had been born deaf, others had been left deaf from childish diseases be- fore speech had become a part of their equipment for life. Patience and Skill. She looked upon these little children across & barrier that no other teacher knows. How to reach them? How to break through that invisible wall which makes them prisoners in a soundless world? Patience, concentration, skill and an understanding of their affliction were necessary. “Ball,” said Grace Goodhue, clearly, smilingly, as she held up the familiar plaything. Again and again she re- peated it, finally asking her pupils, one by one, to pick out a ball from a group of playthings, as she said the word. Then she had them feel her face and throat as she said “ball,” so they might have some idea of the action of muscles and breath. Then at last she asked the children to say the word after her. Finally the answer came, not in full, musical round syllable like her own, but a word, and that was a great deal. And so the lessons went on from day to day, each day adding a word, and soon, two or three words, to their slender store. For a year Grace Goodhue lived with these primary children, watching their minds unfold to the stimulus of their daily lessons. Sullen little faces bright- ened gradually. They were learning to be like other people! The next year the primary teacher whose place she had taken returned, and Grace Goodhue was given an in- termediate class. Now her chief task was to acquaint these children with still a member of that board. Just be- fore he became President Mr. Coolidge was interested in obtaining new funds for Clarke School, to meet the increas- ing demands upon its services, both in teaching deaf children and in training teachers of deaf children. ‘Then the necessary absorption of the presidential office cut him off from this undertaking and it was not until several years later that the late Clar- ence W. Barron, editor of the Wall Street Journal and other financial papers, a friend of the Coolidges, dis- covered their keen interest in this proj- ect, and undertook to head a group to raise $2,000,000—which would not only strengthen the school and give it better equipment, but would create a research department, where problems relating to the long neglected field of deafness could be investigated under favorable con- ditions. Sponsor Fund Movement. It was Mr. Barron who persuaded the President and Mrs. Coolidge to sponsor this movement with their name to in- dicate the deep interest they felt in its success. Mr. Barron himself became so absorbed in the enterprise that he devoted most of the last year of his life to raising the first half of the fund. ‘The Coolidge fund is the greatest the world of ideas from which they had been shut away through the years when hearing children - absorb ' information without conscious effort. Their curiosity was insatiable. But always she had to remember that each lesson was one in language; that every faulty pronuncia- tion must be corrected at once, before it became a habit; that she must stand where the light would fall on her face, and enunciate each word with clear- ness and precision. Weds Coolidge, At the end of this second year of teaching, a young lawyer named Calvin Coolidge, whom she had met through Mrs. Robert B. Weir, wife of the steward of Clarke School, at whose home he lived, persuaded her to give up her cherished career. They were married ‘hool. But she stayed on in North- pton to take a position under her d family friend, Caroline Yale. One of the primary teachers was on wve of ‘absence that year, and Grace we substituted in her classes. fere she met the problem of the deaf AT AR TR TS T VT aT R 4 Latest Model Peerless Dynamic Speaker and UX- 250 Super-power Amplifying Tube at_her parents' home in Burlington, Vt. MON. Satisfaction or First Quality KRYPTOKS $ at Half Price— One-piece Far or Near Invisible Bifocal Lenses—Kryptoks She continued through the years of her early married life as & neighbor of the school on Round Hill, and her old associates remained her friends, When her husband became Governor of Massa- chusetts he accepted a place on the board of trustees of the school, and is RIGHT 907 G St. N.W. "SAVE 4622 MODEL N-12 All-Electric (D) Don’t take our say-so—come in and hear for yourself! Let the Small Deposit. $3 per week. Trade in your present set. B — a famous “speak” for itself; let the GIANT power-tube reveal tone you never thought possible! Don’t miss this, the chance of Peerless Dynamic lifetime—come in today! 1239.G St FRESH MA UR ULTIMATE RADIO N RADIO'S GREATEST "BUY" ONCE IN A LIFE TIME ! FORMER 4TH DIVISION ENLISTED MEN SOUGHT Reunion and Buffet Supper Plan- ned at Army and Navy Club Wednesday Night. All former enlisted men of the 4th Regular Division of the A. E. F. are requested to attend a reunion and buffet supper at the Army and Navy Club Wednesday night at 7 o'clock. ‘The 40 former officers of the division, who have been holding monthly meet- ings at the club, are anxious to get in touch with ex-service men of the out- fit residing in and near Washington. Capt. Gustav J. Braun, secref on duty with the historical section of the Army War College, is in charge of the arrangements for the meeting. Many pi ent men here are among the former officers of the division. These include: Representative Hamil- Fish of New York, Rev. R. Rush Rankin, 8. J., dean of Georgetowr: Col- lege, Senator Arthur Robinson of Indi- ana, and others. The Washington Branch of the 4th Division Association also includes among its members the former division, brigade and regimental commanders. HEALTH EXPERT HERE. Col. L. W. Harrison, British physician and adviser of the British itry of health on social diseases, will address a joint meeting of the Medical Society and the Social Hygiene Soclety of the District of Columbia at the Medical So- clety’s auditorium, 1718 M street, to- morrow_night at 8 o'clock. Col. Harrison is visiting the United States as the guest of American Social Hygiene Association, to attend its annual meeting in New York and to lecture before scientific and social hy- giene organizations Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, Washington, Balti- more and Boston. effort that has ever been made to bring adequate support to the difficult and delicate problem of teaching the deaf. President Coolidge has expressed the hope that this effort will result “not only in broadening the spbere of use- fulness of Clarke School, but may Also help to arouse a greater interest in the problems of the deaf and in this hu- manitarian work, which has seemingly failed to keep pace with progress in other flelds.” & TUES.ONLY Money Back Reading or Distance asses— To see far $ 4.50 | EXAMINATIONS MADE BY DR. C. FORIGH OPTICAL CO. Modern Equipment Just think, we pass on to YOU the amazing saving made pos- sible by the recent consolida- tion of the great Freshman and Freed-Eisemann organizations. They have effected vast eccno= mies in manufacturing costs— YOU get the benefit! at 13th g Police Asked to Find Woman. Hazard Wheeler, 1022}, Sixth street northeast, has asked authorities to search for his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Laura Wheeler, who disappeared from her home in Lanham, Md., December 1. _Her husband, John G. Wheeler, is a Government employe he) . @. A. R. Head Calls on Coolidge. John Reese of Brokenbow, Nebr., commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, called upon President Coolidge yesterday and urged him sup) r? the Robinson bill, now pending in the Senate, to increase pensions to Civil War veterans and their widows. The President did not commit himself. to |ist Organization of America. OPEN FORUM TO BE HELD FOR JEWISH PROBLEMS Rabbi Louis J. Schwefel to Review Book, “Jews Are Like That,” Tomorrow Night. Formation of an open forum to dis- cuss Jewish problems was announced yesterday by Charles J. Stein, president of the Washington district of the Zion- Begin- ning a series of Monday evening meet- ings in the lodge roora in the Jewish Community Center, with different speakers on each occasion, Ralph Louis J. Sehwefel of the Adas Israel Syna- gogue wm'revlaw the - book “Jews Are Like That,” by Analyticus (James ‘Waterman Wise), tomorrow night. “It is intended that this forum will stimulate free and open airing of all questions confronting Jewish people, thereby leading to a better understand- ing of the underlying factors,” Mr. Stein explained. “The weekly program calls for a guest speaker to present a particular problem, to be followed by discussion from the floor.’ —_——— An estate of 70 acres at Berwick- shire, England, is to be used as an House & Herrmann Seventh and Eye Sts. Anglo-Scottish Boy Scout Camp. A Message of Unusual Importance GUDE IS HONORED. — Willlam F. 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