Carlin Hall

This is an eight-story residence hall. There are two separate wings to each floor. Approximately 24 residents occupy a wing. Each wing consists of one single suite, one double suite, and three suites housing four students. Of these last suites, two contain two single rooms and one double room, and one suite has two double rooms. There is a private bathroom in each suite. The rooms have heating and air-conditioning units, carpeting, Venetian blinds, beds, desks, chairs, dressers, and closets. Carlin Hall's design provides a community living environment. On each odd-numbered floor there is a lounge with study tables and a TV. On the even-numbered floors there are balconies that open to the floor below. Carlin Hall houses 245 graduate students, seniors, juniors, and older students.

Erected: 1979
Number of floors: 8 plus basement
Unique feature: Largest residence hall on campus

Named for John Carlin (1813-1891)
John Carlin began his art career very early as a youngster by drawing chalk pictures on the floor, much to frustration of his mother who would shoo him outside and mop the fascinating figures away. Nonetheless, he persisted, and his art profession eventually blossomed.

He had only four years of formal schooling, but due to his diligence, he was able to graduate with a high school degree from the Mount Airy School for the Deaf in 1825. After that, Carlin taught himself five foreign languages and studied as much as he could about art. He had his heart set on being an artist, but had to earn money for formal training, so, he was a sign and house painter for seven years until he had enough money to travel to Europe to study under famous artists. When he ran out of money, he returned to America. By that time, he was confident enough with his artistic skills to establish a studio in New York City. Carlin's specialty was to do miniature portrait paintings on ivory.

Born on June 15, 1813, to a poor Philadelphia cobbler, Carlin was smart enough to establish his business in the location of higher class Knickerbocker families of old New York, and, sure enough, those families became his patrons.

Carlin married Miss Wayland in December 1843. They had five children.

By the 1850s, when his financial status was stable and comfortable, he used his leisure time to pursue different interests. He started to write poetry and children's stories. In fact, he published a children's book, The Stratchsides Family, and is well known for his poem called "The Mute's Lament." He wrote treatises on architecture for the Philadelphia Saturday Courier, gave lectures on subjects from genealogy to New York Central Park, and wrote columns in many leading papers for the deaf. One weakness he seemed to have was that he would write somewhat pugnacious letters to whomever might disagree with his principles. He probably had to write quite a few of those letters after an essay that he wrote for the American Annals of the Deaf was published. It was titled, "Advantages and Disadvantages of the Use of Signs." He classified sign language in four components. Natural signs, or American Sign Language, was "superfluous and retarding to progress"; verbal signs, or Signing Exact English, was the most necessary; pantomimic sign was permissible only in moderation in order to depict passion and imitate action; and individual signs, or name signs, were "wholly nonsensical and a lazy avoidance of the spelling out of proper names." Ironically, although he could not speak or lipread and signed very well, he felt that teaching speech and lipreading was of utmost importance, contending that oralism and fingerspelling were sufficient for both the education of deaf people and for daily communication among the deaf.

Carlin contributed much of his time to the educational and social advancement of deaf people. He raised $6,000 to help build St. Ann's Episcopal Church for the Deaf in New York City. He played a major role in influencing Edward Miner Gallaudet to establish a college on Kendall Green. It was appropriate, then, for him to be the first deaf person to be awarded an honorary degree by Gallaudet. Amos Kendall presented the degree to him.

Carlin died on April 23, 1891 from pneumonia. He will always be "remembered for his striking personality - a dark-haired, gray-bearded, dignified old gentleman who was a keen and just judge of human nature."