Mystic Deaf History — knot so loud

Did you know that Mystic, Connecticut has some deaf history?!

I never knew this until a few years of living here. I bumped into some older Deaf adults who all told me about their former deaf school… which happened to be right here in Mystic. It used to be The Whipple Home School which established in Ledyard, Connecticut then moved a few miles away, in order to expand to Mystic.

First some history tidbits. In 1869, Whipple Home School was built in Ledyard, Connecticut (formerly known as Quakertown) by the grandson of Jonathan Whipple who successfully taught his deaf son, Enoch how to lip read and speak. Zerah Whipple, the grandson, wanted to continue the success of teaching oralism to other deaf students. The first student to come to the school was a 12 Y/O boy from a rich family in Delaware, a few years later he completed his education with great lipreading and speaking skills. Zerah began to receive more students and was getting crammed in the farmhouse so he bought Silas Burrows, a retired sea captain's mansion in Mystic on a hilltop overlooking the Mystic River.

The mansion that perched on 77+ acres was reformed into a residential school where deaf students lived while they attended school. The main focus was lipreading and speaking, no usage of sign language. They continued the oralism method. There was another deaf institute a hour away in Hartford, Connecticut which is known as American School for the Deaf today. It was known as the “sign school in Hartford” during the 1900’s. All students who attended the ‘signing school’ had a free education; however, there was an admission cost to attend Whipple’s school in Mystic.

Many families were impressed with the oralism method since it made the deaf people be more immersed in the hearing world. More families wanted their deaf kids to attend the school but Whipple did not have enough funds. In July 1872, Zerah Whipple got state aid to allow more students to attend. The Whipple Home School was given over to the state of Connecticut causing the name change to the Mystic Oral School (again later changed to Mystic Educational Center). Mystic Oral School faced chronic financial troubles and challenges with the oralism method (which declined over the years) but survived at least for 108 years.

Mystic Oral School shut down in 1980 after funds ran out. In that last year, the state tried to bring ‘mentally retarded’ (please read the disclaimer about this terminology) students to the school. The admission numbers of students attending Mystic Oral School had declined so they were looking to fill up space at the school. The Department of Mental Retardation had a waiting list of 170 students, the school had space for 55 students. Many parents of the deaf argued against this idea with their lawyers, stating that mixing deaf students with these students give credence to the stereotype of ‘deaf and dumb’. As a result, 5-4 opposed this idea.

DISCLAIMER: While I do understand the use of terminology is not encouraged in the present day. It was the terminology used back in 1979 and was the actual name of the Department.

A year later it was closed permanently. The town of Groton used the space for their Park & Recreation programs until 2011. The school had been abandoned since then. It has been in long need of renovation to preserve the historical site.

In November 2019, Respler Homes LLC purchased the land. Their plans showed their vision of turning the oral school into a ‘mixed use village’ named Mystic River Bluffs. The village consisted of luxury apartments, restaurant, office spaces, coffee shop, market, etc. The project became controversial in the community. You might’ve seen the red lawn signs that stated ‘Restrict the MOS Development’ pop up around the area. The signs came from the group Mystic Oral School Advocates (MOSA). MOSA is a group of citizens to express concerns about the project. Their main concern is that the sizing of the project was too large that it needed to be scaled back or eliminated, they also focused on zoning changes that would not harm the neighborhood/rural nature.

After 10 years of MOS being abandoned, the property unfortunately degraded overtime and was vandalized. In early 2021, I was filming a quick video in front of the school explaining the Deaf history of MOS when a re-development team leader from Respler Homes LLC was checking the property. We engaged in a conversation and we had a dialogue about the future of MOS. He offered to show me the inside of the school, I was thrilled to see some of the history!

Walking around the interiors gave me a mixed feeling. I was so amazed by the history, seeing the old classrooms, main office/lobby, dorms, staff quarters, cafeteria and old performing stage. Yet on the other hand, I was saddened by the vandalism (graffiti, broken windows, wallpapers torn down). Some of it was from state testing from hazardous materials but mostly from vandalism. The property definitely had a long way to go!

After a long year of going back and forth to move ahead with the project, it has stalled. The future for MOS is unknown at this time. I hope with the right people and with plans that works for the community life will be brought back into the beautiful historical site!

*Perched on a hilltop overlooking Mystic River (look closely thru the branches, that’s the water!)*

*The former infirmary. CORRECTION 1/27/21 this is the former house of the Superintendent.*

*Old classrooms (the walls had to be demolished so only the framing is left).*

*Old classroom. Did you notice the ceiling fan melted from the heat?!*

*Hallway between Pre-K section of the school and staff quarters.*

*One of the rooms in the staff quarters. The night shift staff lived in those rooms during the day.*

*Outside courtyard near the former cafeteria.*

Mystic has a ‘sign name’ representing the oral school history. If you look up the sign for “oral”, it will make sense. The letter Y was picked from Mystic to place on chin as shown in the photo below to be the sign name for Mystic. See more videos on Instagram here.

*Showing the sign name for MYSTIC. It is close to the sign for “oral”.*

Historical information was learned from several library books.

All opinions in this blog are my own.