Texas
Deaf, Dumb and Blind Institute for Colored Youth (Austin)
- Founded 1887
- Integrated with the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, 1965
In 1887, the state legislature created the Texas Institute for Deaf, Dumb and Blind Colored Youths. William Holland, a former slave who pushed for the establishment of a school for African-American deaf, became its first superintendent. The first year, the school employed one teacher for the deaf and one for the blind and enrolled nine blind students and eight deaf students. The campus consisted of an eleven-room residence, but in 1888 a new two-story brick building was added to provide more classroom and dormitory space. Enrollment climbed to 125 by 1912, with a faculty of 11. When the State Colored Orphans' Home was combined with the institute in 1943, the name of the facility was changed to the Deaf, Dumb and Blind Asylum for Colored Youths and Colored Orphans. In 1966, the blind black students were merged with their white counterparts in the Texas School for the Blind.