The Gallaudet School of the Deaf is a university in Washington DC. The school was initially intended for the deaf and blind. Mason Cogswell had a daughter, Alice, who was deaf. He, like any father, was worried about his education since he could not learn like normal children. Cogswell discovered that Thomas Braidwood had started a school for the deaf in England, so he sent the most trusted person he knew to investigate the school. He convinced his neighbor and member of his intellectual circle, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, to go to England and check it out. Thomas Gallaudet was a known genius. He was a reverend who founded Yale University at fourteen. Three years later, at the age of seventeen, he graduated first in his class. Gallaudet was pleased with his findings and returned with a companion and the two founded the first school for the deaf, the American School for the Deaf. Alice was the first student and the school still teaches today. Gallaudet University was founded in 1864 when Amos Kendall donated two acres in Washington DC for deaf and blind students seeking help. He became involved in the children's lives and persuaded the government to leave them under his care. He received help from the government and founded the Columbia Institute for the Instruction for the Deaf and Dumb. Kendall appointed Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet's son, Edward Miner Gallaudet, as superintendent. In the twentieth century, the university moved more toward technical fields of study, but Percival Hall, the school's second president, changed the curriculum again to a more liberal field. In 1954, by an act of congress, the Columbia Institute for the Instruction for the Deaf and Dumb was changed to Gallaudet University. In 1970, Gallaudet was ... middle of paper ... ways out of his punishment, including insanity, which was professionally proven not to be true, and that someone with black gloves signed him to do what he did. This too has been denied. Mesa was charged with two counts of criminal homicide, one while armed, along with some robbery and burglary charges. He went to prison for the rest of his life without parole. Even though the school has been through difficult times, Gallaudet University still stands strong. Deaf people dream of going to school there and are honored to have the chance to receive a good education even if they have a disability. Many students manage to get good jobs and change the deaf community. They inspire deaf youth and show the world that even though they may not be normal people, they can still make a difference. However, normality is overrated.