This study has been motivated by an intimate contact with the Indiana State School for the Deaf as a teacher and by a growing interest in its development. This interest was further stimulated by coming into contact with the large volume of school records which, in some cases, date back to the beginning of the school in 1843. In spite of the fact that these original source materials have been fairly well preserved, no history of the school, other than comparatively brief sketches, has been written.