Rev. Jacob M. Koehler (1860-1932)
Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Founder in 1882 of the institute that became the Scranton State School for the Deaf. An ordained minister who was deaf, he was concerned for this state's uneducated deaf children and was a leading advocate of compulsory education of the deaf. President, National Association of the Deaf, 1896-1900. Twice president, Pennsylvania Society for the Advancement of the Deaf. U.S. representative to the World Congress of the Deaf (Paris), 1889.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In the late nineteenth century, deaf children in Pennsylvania often went without formal schooling, and Rev. Jacob M. Koehler—an ordained minister who was himself deaf—set out to change that. In 1882 he founded the Scranton institute that grew into the Scranton State School for the Deaf, and he became a national voice for the education of deaf children, serving as president of the National Association of the Deaf and representing the United States at the 1889 World Congress of the Deaf in Paris.
Why it matters
Koehler's work helped establish deaf education as a public responsibility and gave deaf Americans leadership in shaping their own schools and advocacy.
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Related people
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