West Hartford History: Can You Identify the Make of This Car?

If you think you know the answer or have a special memory related to the photo, respond in the "Leave a comment" box below this article. We'll run the answer next Monday, along with a new historical photo. The image has been provided by the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society. For more information on the museum's collection and programs, visit www.noahwebsterhouse.org.

Last week we asked "Who Was This Man?" and it had people stumped for a little while until J. King piped in with: "Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. He was the man who helped found the American school for the Deaf. The first publicly funded school in United States."

J., you are absolutely correct. And we had no idea, as John Maloney pointed out, that Dec. 10, the date the photo appeared, was Galludet's birthday.

The official answer from the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society is: "Thomas Gallaudet founded the American School for the Deaf in 1817 and is considered to be the father of American Sign Language. He traveled in Europe studying schools for the deaf and applied this information when he established the first school for the deaf in the United States. It was first located in Hartford and moved to West Hartford in 1922."

About this column: A weekly photo from the archives of the Noah Webster House and West Hartford Historical Society.