West Virginia Schools
for the Deaf and the Blind

WHEREAS, A superior binding obligation to cherish and educate, as far as possible, all the deaf and dumb and blind youth within its limits, is imposed upon the state by the very laws of nature and all just claims of humanity, which this legislation doth fully recognize; therefore,

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

1. That immediately after the passage of this act, the governor shall appoint one person from each senatorial district of the state, to constitute, collectively, a body corporate, with powers to rent, purchase, and convey real estate, and will all other powers necessary for the establishment of a temporary institution for the education of the deaf and dumb and blind youth of West Virginia, as hereinafter provided; and to be known as the "Board of Regents of the West Virginia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and Blind." . . .

2. The board of regents of the West Virginia Institution for the deaf and dumb and blind, shall meet in the city of Wheeling at a time to be specified by the governor, within a period of three months after the passage of this act, and shall proceed at once to adopt and put in execution the necessary means for the education of the deaf and dumb and blind youth of West Virginia.

3. At their first meeting, they shall elect a principal, whose term of office shall begin on the day of his election; and in concert with the board, it shall be his duty to superintend all the preliminary preparations for the opening of the West Virginia institution for the deaf and dumb and blind. . . .

4. The board of regents, at their first meeting, or as soon thereafter as practicable, shall establish the temporary institution at Romney, in Hampshire county, in the building gratuitously furnished by the citizens thereof, or at some other suitable place; and shall provide, with the advice and co-operation of the principal, the furniture, fixtures, apparatus, etc., necessary for the comfort and convenience of the inmates of the institution, and shall have all things in readiness for the opening of the school on the first Monday in September, eighteen hundred and seventy, or as soon thereafter as practicable.

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8. The board of regents in the establishment of the institution herein authorized shall provide accommodations for not more than forty persons, at first, including officers, assistants, etc. And they shall authorize their principal to notify the principal of the Virginia institution and the superintendent of the Ohio institution for the deaf and dumb and blind, at as early date as practicable, of the time at which the West Virginia institution for the deaf and dumb and blind shall be open, and ready to accommodate the indigent and all other deaf and dumb and blind youth from this state, who have been so kindly, and so liberally accommodated in their respective institutions, and the board shall at that time furnish the necessary means for the transportation of such indigent youth as may then be in said institution, to their own institution.

9. All deaf and dumb and blind youth, residents of the state of West Virginia, between the ages of six and twenty five years, shall be admitted to pupilage in the institution, on application to the principal, until the institution is filled; applicants shall be admitted in the order of their application; and it shall be the duty of the principal to keep a careful record of the names of all the pupils admitted, with the dates of their admission and discharge, their age, post office address, the names of their parents or guardians, the degree, cause and circumstance of their blindness, etc. All pupils shall be admitted as above directed without charge for board and tuition; and in all cases of indigence their clothing shall be furnished by the institution, while they are inmates of the same. The term of pupilage shall be determined by the board of regents, when they shall have had sufficient facts before them to enable them to decide the question. . . .

12. The sum of eight thousand dollars is hereby appropriated, to be paid out of the treasury of the state upon the order and warrant of the board of regents of the West Virginia institution for the deaf and dumb and blind; which sum shall be used by said board in meeting the expenses of the establishment of the institution hereby authorized, and in supporting the same from the date of its establishment to the thirtieth day of September, eighteen hundred and seventy-one.

Education