Douglas Craig, 186?-1936

Freedman Village and Alley People

The 1870 United States census lists Douglas Craig as living at a house operated by the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children (NARDCWC).² It is not known how long he had lived at the house or who took him there. The home was established in 1863 by an act of Congress as a shelter to support aged or indigent African American women and children, who were to be provided with clothing and Christian instruction.³ Many individuals in the house came from the Freedman’s Village that was established to handle the overflow of freed slaves after legislation of April 16, 1862, manumitted slaves in the District of Columbia.⁴ Under the direction of the government and the American Missionary Association, the Freedman’s Village housed the refugees, trained them in skilled labor, and educated the children.

The Freedman’s Village soon became a showplace for government officials to direct foreign visitors and other dignitaries to see the progress of former slaves.⁵ There were so many people in the village, however, that the Army had to expand and build an industrial school, several “normal” schools for children, a hospital, a home for the aged, and churches. Although the buildings were originally intended to be temporary, moving people out soon became a serious problem. Destitute women and children such as Douglas Craig were particularly noticeable. One historian wrote that the creation of Freedman’s Village’s had less to do with eventually helping Blacks integrate into the free society than with maintaining segregation.⁶

Craig may have come from one of the notorious alleys where former slaves gathered. After the Civil War, the nation’s capital was a major center for the Black population, both in absolute numbers and in terms of their proportions of the city’s total population. Many of them dwelled in alleys. Although the early history of alley house construction remains unknown, one theory is that they were built as slave quarters, but after slavery ended free people migrated from the countryside and moved into them. These new alley dwellers were considered a “separate class,” or simply the “other Americans” in the nation’s capital. It is also likely that landowners, builders, and others saw potential profit and developed low-cost housing in the alleys. In any event, the socialization process for children in the alleys was limited, and external institutions often could not and did not assist them.⁷ There was tremendous concern about children such as Craig, and they were taken to charitable groups to be cared for. Yet the condition of the homes the groups managed was poor, and the inhabitants were poverty stricken.

In their 1867 annual report, the secretary of NARDCWC, Eliza Heacock, confirmed the challenges the organization faced. The report indicated that there were a total of eighty-five people in the house. Eleven children and two women died between 1866 and 1867, and twenty-four children were sent to other homes.⁸ Indeed, the long-term goal of the NARDCWC staff was to find permanent placement for homeless women and children who were displaced by the war, but since Craig was deaf, placing him was a daunting task. Heacock’s report described the general health of the “inmates” as good, yet it stated that there were childhood diseases in the house; and one child had been badly burned. With the crowding, sickness, and confusion at home, it is easy to understand why Craig ran away.

Senator Aaron Harrison Cragin

When Senator Cragin picked up Craig from the streets of Washington, D.C., he soon realized that the child was deaf and could not speak. He took him to the Columbia Institution, which was 5.1 miles from NARDCWC. Compassion and justice for African Americans were not new sentiments for Senator Cragin. In an August 4, 1856, speech he argued passionately in support of Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, the leading Senate opponent of slavery, whom Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina had beaten brutally with a cane.⁹ It is likely that Cragin’s act demonstrated empathy beyond just picking up a small “colored” child hovering in the cold, and it was unusual for the time. The predominant attitude of white people toward Blacks in Washington, D.C., was becoming increasingly hostile due to the large numbers of freed slaves who poured into the city during and after the Civil War. ¹⁰

Senator Cragin was well aware of the deaf school and knew it was the only place in Washington, D.C., where Craig could be educated and become part of a community. The school’s president, Edward Miner Gallaudet, had a personal and professional relationship with James W. Paterson, the other senator from New Hampshire. Patterson was Gallaudet’s primary advocate on Capitol Hill and helped him obtain funding for the school. In fact, Patterson was a member of a key committee that was responsible for making recommendations and ultimately approving funds for institutions such as the Columbia Institution. Patterson was also a trained meteorologist from Dartmouth College (1854–1865), and he taught astronomy part-time at the college for deaf students.¹¹ How this relationship affected the acceptance of Craig to the Columbia Institution is unknown. What is known is that funds were distributed by the Department of Interior to the institution to support Craig, and the legal transfer of Craig from the Charity Home to Gallaudet was also handled by the Interior Department.¹²

Craig’s Name

Roy Stewart, an 1899 graduate of Gallaudet College, knew Craig well and wrote stories about his interaction with individuals on the campus. According to Stewart, John Wight,

family supervisor for the Columbia Institution, created Craig’s name. He chose the first name in honor of Fredrick Douglass, who in 1870, when Douglas Craig was found, had just become owner and editor of the New National Era, a weekly newspaper in Washington, D.C. The last name was derived from, and in honor of, Senator Cragin.¹³

The exact date when Senator Cragin found Craig is unknown, but it is likely that Craig stayed at the Columbia Institution as an unofficial resident before his formal transfer to the school. Whatever the situation, the official documents from the Department of Interior giving Gallaudet legal guardianship of the child were not signed until January 31, 1871. Secretary Heacock represented the home during the legal transfer at the Department of Interior. The following statement was notarized and signed in 1871.

District of Columbia Washington D. C.
I Eliza Heacock do affirm that I am Matron for the Home for the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children in the District of Columbia and that I have been such Matron for the six months . . . I know a colored boy Douglas Craig who is a deaf mute. He was in the home when I became Matron and he has been there every since. He is about ten years old and has no relatives that are known to us or any person connected with the home. From such evidence that as I have, I believe that he probably belongs to the District of Columbia. Eliza Heacock subscribed before me the 30th Day of January In 1871 N. Callan, Notary Public¹⁴

The next day Edward M. Gallaudet signed the following statement on behalf of the Columbia Institution.

Sir,


I have the honor to forward the application of Douglas Craig, through Mrs. S. C. Pomeray [President of NARDWCC] for admission to this Institution. The Certificate of N. Collan a Notary Public for the Court of Washington with the Washington January 31, 1871 original evidence on which it was granted, are herewith transmitted. I am satisfied that the said Douglas Craig is a proper person to be received and instructed in this Institution, and therefore recommend that an order for his admission be issued.

Very respectfully,


Yours obedient servant,


E. M. Gallaudet President Columbia Institute
To the Hon. Columbus Delano Secretary of the Interior¹⁵

After January 31, 1871, Douglas was an official resident of the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and Blind.

Living Quarters

The few African American students who were accepted to the school between 1857 and 1905, when the school became formally segregated, had separate sleeping rooms and dining tables from white students, but they took classes in an integrated setting. Unlike other African American students who had families and often went home, Craig’s permanent home was the school. He was not given a dormitory room. Instead, his living quarters were over the stable where the horses’ buggy was kept and where later the college’s automobile was housed and maintained. Eventually his room became private space that he extended, often with-out permission, so he could store his collection of what some viewed as “junk,” old tin bathtubs, bed springs, clothes, and stove-pipe hats that other people had given to him. In addition to Craig’s space, another part of the garage was later turned into a quiet work place for President Gallaudet to write a book on international law.

Although primarily a student his first eight years on campus, Douglas was viewed much like an African American servant. Washington’s Black servants and white employers lived side by side in what was described as an “intertwined” way. Servants were kept close at hand yet out of sight. In some homes, the butler had a closet near the door where he could wait out of sight until someone came to the house. Servants also often lived in what was called “a servant wing” or a free-standing structure in back of the house.¹⁶

Schooling At Kendall

Douglas’s precise status for several years while he was at the Columbia Institution is somewhat unclear. An Interior Department document shows that he was expected to be

a student until 1885. Yet he was only listed as being an official student at the Kendall School from 1871 to 1879, and personnel records state that he became an employee of the school in 1875, with no indication of whether he was full-time or part-time. The Book of Honors, a monthly honor roll of students who pre-served unbroken records of faithful performance of duty, whether in school, at work, or in their general department, showed Craig on the list several times between 1872 and 1879.¹⁷

There was never any official explanation of why Craig ceased being a student in 1879, but students around the campus were told that Douglas had all the training that he could get. According to Stewart, after three or four years of schooling—which meant that Douglas was about twelve years old—business manager John Wight decided that Douglas was larger than most of his classmates and had to be removed from the class-room setting.¹⁸ There were other options to educate Douglas if race was the issue. The Maryland School for “colored” deaf students at Overlea, for example, accepted African Americans from Washington, D.C. However, if Craig were to be transferred to

Maryland, at least some of the federal funds from the Department of the Interior that Gallaudet was receiving would have been transferred as well. Because of Douglas’s residential status at Kendall School, transferring funds and losing his free labor would not have been to the school’s advantage and may have created a complex issue. In this respect, Craig’s situation differed markedly from African American students who did not live on campus.

There was sometimes “grumbling” about Craig’s mischievous behavior on campus. One incident involved a female student who was an American Indian. Someone told Craig that female Indians were different from other women, or at least different from white women. Craig’s curiosity about the girl led to inappropriate behavior, or what some students described jokingly as his “anthropological research” of her. Of course there was no reprimand for the boys joking, yet Craig was severely punished. In fact, teasing about the incident continued for several years and was often used as a way to get reactions from Craig. If Craig was hanging out in the reading room and students wanted him to move on, all they had to do was sign “Indian girl.” Former student Oscar Guire described one such incident.

Douglas turned his head and caught a prepster sophomore named Schneider signing ‘Indian Girl.’ This action caused Douglas to freeze in his tracks and [he] stared at Schneider for minutes. This was a true test of Douglas’ anger as everyone in the room stopped reading, writing and waited to see what would happen next. Schneider was afraid to leave the room but Douglas finally left. After that day, the word Indian Girl was never mentioned again.¹⁹

Welcoming Students to the Campus

There are many stories about Craig’s interaction with staff, faculty, and students but none more memorable than his collecting one dollar from students who arrived on campus needing help with their heavy trunks. Craig would lift the heavy trunks and take them to the students’ rooms. Then he would ask the student for one dollar, which most students gave without hesitating. Craig marked the dollar so that he could give the same one back to each student when he or she went off to camp during the school year. While students were always happy to receive the dollar back, the welcoming was later privately discussed as being “aggravating.” But once students got to know Craig, most loved his humbleness and sense of humor, because he was harmless.

Whatcoat Black Deaf Mission and Religious Services

Religion has been a powerful, deeply felt, and influential force in African American communities, and it was very much a part of Craig’s life. He attended service at the Shiloh Baptist Church near the Gallaudet campus. Since he interacted with, and proposed to, many of the female African American cooks in the kitchen, it is likely that

he joined them on Sundays for service. He was later married less than two miles from the school in the Saint Calvary Episcopal Church, probably because his wife was associated with that church. In 1895 the Reverend Daniel Moylan established a church specifically to hold services for deaf people in Baltimore. It is the oldest known operational church of its kind in the Methodist congregation.²⁰ It was a place where lasting friendships developed among deaf people, many of whom were very much a part of the vibrant and organized community in Baltimore near the Overlea School for African American deaf students. When Craig found time for pleasure, he went to Maryland.

In 1905 a group called the Whatcoat Black Deaf Mission organized within the Christ United Methodist Church in Baltimore, and it may have influenced Douglas. The Whatcoat Black Deaf Mission’s goal was to create a network and foster social interaction between deaf people. A former member of the group recounts,

We all arrived at Overlea School for the Deaf and Blind when we were between 6 and 12 years old. We learned their language skills, starting with how to finger-spell our names. We all had one thing in common and that was “fear” when we were left at the residential school. But we all found Whatcoat and our place was in the basement. Blacks and Whites were forbidden from worshipping together. Whites were up stairs and Blacks were down stairs. We worshipped at 10 A.M. and they worshipped in the afternoon. The place needed painting which I helped do. A farmer donated a furnace and the place was beautiful. We did shows with skits and performances every Saturday night.²¹

It is very likely that Craig attended the Whatcoat performances and took ideas back to Gallaudet where he had his own stage and generated lots of laughs.

He was a “community icon” at Gallaudet and was viewed through various prisms. During one graduation season a “mock convocation” was held to award Craig a humorous degree called “M. M.,” conferred on him by the college boys. The original meaning of the M. M. degree is unknown because the meaning changed over the years. One meaning was “Master of Mail,” because Craig frequently rode his bicycle to Union Station to pick up the campus mail and deliver it within the school. Craig was trusted on the campus, and therefore he became another type of mailman, delivering many “cupid’ notes from one student to another. M. M. also designated “Master of Mechanics,” because Craig was considered a “jack of all trades” and could fix almost anything, including the campus tower clock. It is not clear whether he had any training to do repairs or whether he was simply creative and kept things “ticking.” When he was introduced as “Professor Craig, M. M.,” he “mouthed gibberish and used exaggerated gestures” of appreciation for being honored.²²

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Douglas Craig, bicycling

A New Hat

Most stories about Douglas Craig include one about the new hat. Jonathan Hall, the son of second Gallaudet President Percival Hall, offered this version:

Douglas interacted with everyone including the president. After all it was Edward Gallaudet who Senator Cragin negotiated with regarding taking Douglas into the school. There was a comfort level that Douglas had with President Gallaudet, yet he knew his boundaries. Since he often considered himself the campus ‘greeter’ of guests arriving on campus he took pride in the way he dressed. One day Douglas entered the president’s office and asked for money for a new hat and was given a lecture on thrift. In the meantime, he was holding his old hat in his hand. He held it up, then put it on the desk of the lecturer and asked, “Will you wear this hat? You can have it.” Gallaudet replied, “All right. I will give you money for a new hat.”²³

Financial Ventures

Although Craig had what he called his private secretary, a trusted student, to help him write letters and handle his business, he managed to get himself into several difficult

situations regarding money. It was not unusual for Gallaudet to receive a letter informing him that Craig had borrowed money and not paid it back. This letter from attorney Jas S. McDonogh of Washington, D.C., written to President Gallaudet January 22, 1904, is an example.

Sup. Gallaudet Inst.

Dear Sir,

One of your employees Douglas Craig is indebted to a client of mine, Mr. A. H. Hutterly for $15.30 which is long past due and unpaid. He has often promised but always failed to pay. I do not like to report him but I think that it is a rule in your institution that all employees shall pay their honest debt and this is one. We are

willing to make the terms so that he can easily pay it if he is willing and if you will call this to his attention I am sure that he will settle soon. Thanking you in advance for any favor. I am.
Yours very truly
Jas S. McDonogh²⁴

Although there is no documentation of how the funds were collected from Craig, Superintendent W. G. Fowler responded to the letter for President Gallaudet by sending a payment, acknowledged by McDonogh on February 16, 1894. Ten years later, on April 7, 1904, McDonogh again wrote President Gallaudet.

Dear Sir,
Please accept my thanks for your favor of enclosing check for $5.00 on

a/c of Douglas Craig. This is 4 years interest due on this a/c which he should also pay if you can make him so it is $3.60. Please again accept my thanks.
Jas S. McDonogh.²⁵

Another deal went sour when Craig was persuaded to enter a real estate scheme and purchased lots in a subdivision in the eastern section of Washington, only to find that the seller did not have a good title. In the end, Douglas lost several hundred dollars that he had faithfully paid towards the purchase of what he thought was his property.²⁶ At one point, Craig tried to start his own business of raising pet rabbits to sell, but wild animals always killed the babies and that venture failed.

Marriage

Craig spent much of his adult life searching for a wife. Race apparently was not an issue. He often told white students that he would “take their girlfriend.” One student wrote, “When Douglas was told that White people did not marry Black people, he pointed out how a team of one Black and one white horse were married in ‘holy wedlock.’”²⁷ After proposing to every African American cook at Gallaudet, dressing in fancy clothing on weekends, and making sure he always wore his signature vest, Douglas finally met a deaf woman named Katie Jones who would marry him. The date was set for April 21, 1920, and everyone who received an invitation knew it would be a “class act.” The wording was printed in an eloquent script on fancy paper. The wedding was held at the Calvary Episcopal Church, Eleventh and G Streets, NE, Washington, D.C. It was indeed an elegant event, and most faculty and staff from Gallaudet attended. Brides usually get most of the attention at weddings, but Douglas was the man of the hour and the day. He wore a dark suit, white tie, his signature vest, and white gloves. Percival Hall interpreted for the hearing people in the audience.²⁸

After a reception, the couple went to Baltimore for a honeymoon, but it only lasted for one day. Their plans were cut short when Douglas’s wallet, containing about $300, was either lost or stolen. The entire Gallaudet community was concerned, and individuals did all they could to try and retrieve the money. Tracing the route that the couple said they took, Hall wrote a letter to the Chief of Police of Baltimore and to the Washington

Railway and Electric Company, which operated between Washington and Baltimore, asking for their help in finding the money.²⁹

This incident suggests the problems Craig had functioning outside the campus. Vacations or time off from work proved to be problematic. In fact, he did not know what a vacation was when he was encouraged to take one. Once he made plans and took a trip to Norfolk, Virginia. While there he saw several men loading packages on a dock and agreed to work. He considered that a vacation and came back to the campus with the money he earned and said that he had a good vacation.

After the wedding and honeymoon Douglas and Katie Craig moved off campus but remained close by; in fact, they could see the campus from the Camp Meade Cottage housing unit where they lived. A year later, when Gallaudet alumni held a reunion at the college, many who had fond memories of the wedding decided to give Douglas and Katie a chance to use some of the wedding gifts they received. The crew bought ice cream and cake and paid the couple a visit. The Craigs were gracious hosts and fun was had by all.

Married life was not what Craig expected, however. He was used to his own space in the stable and barn and soon realized that living on campus was better than living in an apartment in a poverty stricken area of Washington, D.C., where the roof in the house leaked, and the landlord refused to do repairs. Before marriage, he had never washed his own laundry or had to worry about where the next meal would come from, because all of those things were done for him. As mentioned earlier, Craig had never learned to manage money, either. After several mishaps, including losing his money on the honeymoon, being robbed often, and frequently borrowing money that he could not pay back, he was given an allowance from his own money by the payroll department at Gallaudet. Payroll also deducted funds from his salary for some services and personal items, such as shoe repairs, glasses, and so on.³⁰

After the excitement of the marriage waned, Craig spoke to President Hall about being unhappy. Later, a letter dated October 29, 1924, from Katie Craig indicated that they were having financial difficulties. She asked if Hall could “please give [her] husband more money each month.” She stressed that she had to “work nights” for them to survive. Katie requested that President Hall give her mother, who was probably a hearing person, the answer to the letter.³¹ He responded the same day.

My Dear Mrs. Craig,


Your husband, Douglas Craig has just had a raise of $5.00 per month.

This is all we can pay to our lawn hands at the present time. If he wishes to make an arrangement to take his meals at home we can make a change in the rate of his pay. Any such arrangements should be made between him and me and not by other members of the family.

Very truly yours Percival Hall President³²

The second cry for help from Craig and his wife to Hall came five months later, March 10, 1925, regarding their apartment and living space. Apparently the apartment was in such poor condition that when it rained the walls became wet. Hall wrote to the landlord

for the Craigs, asking him or her to “repair the leak in the roof.” He also reminded the owner that Craig was “deaf and could not use the phone to communicate with him and if the situation was not resolved soon, Douglas and his wife would be in further discomfort.”³³

When Katie became ill, Craig’s life changed again. On November 23, 1928, Katie Jones Craig died after a short illness. Her death was announced in the Buff and Blue, and notes of sympathy were sent to Craig from many alumni around the country. After Katie’s death, Craig moved back to the Gallaudet campus. Although he had been living off campus for eight years, it seemed as if he never left, for he had been working there all along. Kendall Green was home for him, and he continued the routine that he had before moving; but he was older and not well.

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Douglas Craig and his wife Katie

Honoring Douglas Craig

By 1935, Craig was quite frail and no longer worked or lived on campus, but in a special ceremony he raised the campus flag one last time. One of Craig’s tasks during his long employment at Gallaudet had been to raise the American flag to the top of the chapel tower. The 1935 graduating class purchased a new flag for the university and decided that it was only fitting to bring Craig back to raise the new flag. He arrived on campus in a cab and sat in a special arm chair, because of weakness, but he hoisted the flag to great applause.

Many faculty, students, and alumni noticed Craig’s frailty during the flag raising ceremony and decided it was time to pay tribute to him for his legacy at the college. The once energetic, happy “Old Craig” was quite ill, so this was the time to acknowledge his over sixty years of work.

On January 14, 1936, President Hall received a letter from Florence Bridges Crammatte, one of the organizers of an Alumni Association banquet to be held on Edward Miner Gallaudet’s birthday, February 5th, requesting President Hall’s assistance in getting stories, anecdotes, and incidents “whether happy or sad” about Craig’s life at the college.³⁴ Since Gallaudet was instrumental in bringing Douglas to the campus in 1871, both men would be honored at the banquet. There were many stories submitted and compiled in an essay about Douglas written by Roy Stewart. Stewart’s documentation of the stories about Craig became part of the Gallaudet Archives, and many others were written referencing Stewart’s original stories.

Death of Douglas Craig

On February 11, 1936, six days after the banquet honoring Edward Miner Gallaudet and Douglas Craig, President Hall wrote to Katherine Gallaudet, daughter of Edward, informing her that Craig had died at the Freedman “Colored” Hospital in Washington, D.C. (later named Howard University Hospital), and a “proper and impressive funeral was held for him in the campus Chapel.”³⁵ The announcement was also made to Gallaudet alumni. Condolences were sent from around the country. Toivo Lindhoom of the Deaf American wrote, “Craig was liked, respected and trusted by perhaps all

students of Gallaudet.”³⁶ The North Dakota Banner noted that “it was a day of sadness at Kendall Green. Douglas was an integral part of the institution.”³⁷ Gallaudet’s Buff and Blue news-paper’s heading read: “Kendall Green Pays Last Respect to Douglas Craig.” The paper described Craig as having “a body of steel, a big heart and a jolly disposition. Perhaps the only deaf Darkie whom any Gallaudet [student who] graduated would call his bosom pal and be proud of it.”³⁸

Many beautiful floral arrangements covered the pulpit of the chapel where the funeral service for Craig was held on Thursday, February 13, 1936, at 2 P.M. The Reverend H. L. Tracey officiated and was assisted by the Reverend Harrison of the Shiloh Baptist Church. President Hall paid high tribute to Craig, noting that “for so many years he had been a good and faithful worker on the Green.” Other hearing and deaf members of the Shiloh Baptist Church attended and sang hymns, including, “Abide With Me.” Ernest G. Draper, D.C.’s assistant secretary of commerce and at that time a member of the Gallaudet College Board of Directors, attended. Members of the Washington, D.C., chapter of the alumni association, students, faculty, staff, fellow workers, and “colored” friends filled the chapel to capacity. Richard Thompson, his wife, and their daughter were also at the funeral. Craig moved off campus to the Thompsons’ home once he became too frail and weak to take care of himself. Gallaudet College continued to pay his salary until his death.³⁹

Douglas Craig was buried next to Katie Craig in the Columbia Harmony Cemetery, once located at Ninth Street and Rhode Island Avenue, NE, and later moved to the new National Harmony Memorial Park (NHMP) in Landover, Maryland. Established by a group of free and inspired African Americans in the early nineteenth century, Harmony became the premiere black cemetery in the city, and along with the Craigs numerous African Americans who were important to local and nation history were interred there.

William Rich

During Craig’s lifetime, the Gallaudet campus employed other African American men in addition to Craig. One employee whose job was similar to Craig’s was William J. Rich. A District resident, born in 1868, his mother brought him to the school in 1874, three

years after Craig was enrolled. They became lifelong friends. It is not known whether Rich lived on campus when he was a student, but he graduated from Kendall School in 1885, which is when Douglas should have graduated as well.

Craig and Rich looked very different.⁴⁰ Although they were about the same height and age, Craig was a dark-skinned man, and Rich was a mulatto. The mulatto status was an advantage for Rich, as he was immediately hired after graduation as a janitor and waiter in the girl’s dining hall. Craig was not always very visible, but Rich was head waiter at all receptions held at President Gallaudet’s home. Rich was a quiet and private man who had a life outside of the campus. Eventually he married a hearing woman. They had three children who were quite successful. One son, Vernon, graduated from Howard University; William, Jr., received a master’s degree from New York University; and Celestine graduated from Dunbar High School in Washington.

Although Craig and Rich were the best of friends, they had occasional disagreements. At one point, Craig reported Rich to President Gallaudet as being a “rascal.” It was

rumored that Rich had invaded Craig’s space. Whatever the issue, it was resolved quickly. Whenever Rich left the campus Craig would wave good-bye and sign “pray for me.”⁴¹ Craig often had holiday dinners off campus with some of the kitchen help or with Rich and his family.

There were two big events held for Rich. One took place in June 1937, one year after Craig’s death. President Hall organized a special dinner to honor Rich for his fifty years of service. Another was in 1944 for his 76th birthday. When the idea of the surprise birthday party was announced, faculty and staff eagerly agreed to participate in the planning. The party was a picnic for Rich, but he was led to believe that the party was for President Hall so he gladly donated one dollar to help the cause. At the party, Rich was acknowledged for his unfailing courtesy and kindness.⁴² Rich died at his home in Washington, D.C., on July 27, 1945, at the age of seventy-seven.⁴³

Street Naming and Douglas Craig

In 1969, thirty-three years after Douglas Craig’s death, Edward C. Merrill, Jr., from the University of Tennessee’s College of Education, became the fourth president of Gallaudet, then in its 105th year. One of Merrill’s legacies was a street-naming project on campus. A committee formed in 1978 to choose people who were worthy of having a street named for them. The committee set three major criteria: first, the person could not have any other memorials; second, the person had to be retired or deceased; and third, the individual had to have some significant connection with the college, deafness, or deaf people. A ballot of forty-one names and biographical information was sent to faculty, employees, students, and those attending the 1979 Gallaudet College Alumni Association reunion. Each person was asked to vote for eight individuals on the list. By 1981 the process was complete, and several streets and buildings were named, one in

honor of Craig. The committee decided that for “his meritorious, achievement in the field of services” to the university a street would be named Craig Street.⁴⁴

Integration at the Kendall School

Like all great institutions, Gallaudet has had its moments of shame and its moments of honor. While the school can proudly acknowledge many honors, one shame cannot be ignored–injustice and segregation. From the time the school was formally established in 1857 until 1905, the school admitted some African American students, such as Douglas Craig and William Rich. The total number of Black students was so small, however, that according to President Gallaudet they were of no “particular difficulty.” By 1905 the total number of Blacks attending the school reached an all time high of about fourteen students.⁴⁵

There were three components to the problem of Blacks students at-tending the school by 1905. One, white parents of the deaf students started to complain about the mixing of races on the campus. Two, there were complaints about the way Blacks were being treated on the campus. Three, some white teachers embraced and kissed the younger deaf students as they entered the school each morning, a practice that was viewed as being problematic with Black students.⁴⁶ In fact, the parents of the white students were so concerned about integration that they pressured members of Congress to pass an appropriation act to assure that the school would become, and remain, segregated.

By 1905, white parents had accomplished their goal. The annual report for the Columbia Institution included a subheading that read “Education of Colored Deaf-Mutes.”

March 3, 1905. The directors of said (Columbia) institute are hereby authorized to provide for the education of colored deaf-mute children properly belonging to the District of Columbia in the Maryland school for Colored Deaf-Mutes, or some other suitable school, at a cost not exceeding the per capita expenses of educating the State pupils in such school.⁴⁷

Kendall School and Gallaudet College would remain segregated for nearly fifty years.

Douglas Craig did not live to see an integrated Kendall School. However, sixteen years after his death, deaf students of the District of Columbia received a pre–Brown v. Board of Education victory in the Miller v. District of Columbia Board of Education suit filed in 1952. The case reversed a forty-seven-year policy that segregated the only school in the District of Columbia created to educate deaf children. The school that removed Craig from the classroom in 1879 for unknown and unconfirmed reasons again became integrated.

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Eventually, a picture of Douglas Craig, wearing one of his signature vests, was hung in the lobby at the Kendall School, where he symbolically greeted children as he did in the nineteenth century. Douglas Craig was a legend and very much a part of the history of the Columbia Institution, Kendall School, and Gallaudet College.