Samuel
Gridley Howe
was
born in Boston on 10th November, 1801. He attended Harvard
Medical School but in 1824 left for Greece to help the
country in its fight for independence from Turkey. For the next three
years Howe organised the medical staff of the Greek Army.
In 1831 Howe visited Paris where he studied new
methods of educating the blind. He also visited Prussia where he became
involved in the Polish insurrection. After being imprisoned briefly
by the Prussian government he was allowed to return to the United
States.
Inspired by what he had seen in Paris, in 1832 Howe established the
Perkins School for the Blind in Boston. Howe soon emerged as the country's
leading expert on the subject.
A strong opponent of slavery, in 1843 Howe married Julia
Ward, a fellow member of the Anti-Slavery
Society. Howe was also active in the Free-Soil
Party and between 1851 and 1853 Howe and wife edited the anti-slavery
journal, Commonwealth.
In 1865 Howe became chairman of the Massachusetts
Board of State Charities and over
the next nine years strenuously lobbied Congress to pass legislation
to provide more aid for the education of the blind, deaf and mentally
ill. Samuel
Gridley Howe
died on 9th January, 1876.
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