The Governor Morehead School
Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
The Governor Morehead School. Established for visually impaired students in 1845 under leadership of John Motley Morehead. Present plant is 3 blocks south.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
Founded in 1845 under Governor John Motley Morehead, this state school gave visually impaired North Carolinians a place to learn in an era when such children were often left without instruction. It was one of the antebellum South's pioneering special-education institutions. Its working campus stood a few blocks south of this marker.
Why it matters
The school reflects a growing 19th-century belief that education was a public duty owed even to those society had overlooked.
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Related people
- · John Motley Morehead
Themes & tags
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The Governor Morehead School
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In 1845, North Carolina opened a state institution for visually impaired students, guided by the leadership of Governor John Motley Morehead. It was among the earliest efforts in the antebellum South to provide formal education for children who had long been excluded from schooling. The school endured and grew, its later campus rising just north of this spot.
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