MSS 68
Gilbert C. Eastman, 1934-2006
Papers of Gilbert C. Eastman , 1974-1994

Gallaudet University Archives


Descriptive Summary

Repository: Gallaudet University Archives
Call No.: MSS 68
Creator:
Title: Papers of Gilbert C. Eastman, 1974-1994.
Quantity: 3.0 Linear Feet (6 document boxes)
Abstract:
Note: This document last updated 2005 December 2.

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information: The Gilbert C. Eastman collection was donated to the Gallaudet University Archives by Gilbert Eastman in 1990.
Processed by: Colleen Crisp. 1996 March 29.
Processing Note:
Conditions on Use and Access: This collection is open to the public with no restrictions. Photocopies may be made for scholarly research.


Related Material in the Archives:
See ALADIN for complete listings.

Films
  • A sense of wonder, a sense of worth [motion picture]. Gallaudet University Archives, Call Number: Deaf Film 17-6
  • Recruitment project - [Behind scenes of "Face of Clerc" play] [motion picture]. Gallaudet University Archives, Call Number: Deaf Film 382-4
  • Recruitment project - [Homecoming dance-play-alumni brunch] [motion picture]. Gallaudet University Archives, Call Number: Deaf Film 39-8
Manuscripts
  • Collection, The Hughes Memorial Theatre, 1959-1986. Gallaudet University Archives, Call Number: MSS 77
Photographs
  • 5th annual School of Communication Awards Program [picture]. Gallaudet University Archives, Call Number: Drawer B11
  • Gilbert C. Eastman [picture]. Gallaudet University Archives, Call Number: Portraits
Small Manuscripts
  • Papers, William Moses, 1987. Gallaudet University Archives, Call Number: SMSS
  • Papers, Gilbert Eastman, 1952. Gallaudet University Archives, Call Number: SMSS
Vertical Files
  • Gilbert Eastman. Gallaudet University Archives, Call Number: Deaf Biographical


Biographical Sketch

Gilbert C. Eastman was born in Middletown, CT on September 12, 1934. He graduated from the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, CT in 1953. He entered Gallaudet College and was an actor in many plays given at Gallaudet College. He graduated in 1957 and started teaching drama after he graduated.

For many years, Gilbert C. Eastman has accomplished so much that he became well-known in the Deaf Community. He was a founding member of the Tony Award-winning National Theater of the Deaf. He received a Master of Fine Arts in Drama from Catholic University in 1963, making him the first deaf person to earn that diploma. From 1957-1969, he was a director and a stage manager for many plays at Gallaudet College. He wrote and directed the well-known play, Laurent Clerc: A profile in 1977. He was a television host of the Emmy Award-winning show, Deaf Mosaic.

Gilbert C. Eastman gave many presentations on Laurent Clerc at banquets, meetings, and schools.  After 35 years of teaching and acting chair for the Drama Department, he retired in 1992.

Scope and Content

The Gilbert C. Eastman Collection contains papers mostly on Laurent Clerc. Gilbert C. Eastman became interested in collecting information on Laurent Clerc when he was on sabbatical leave from Gallaudet College to write his play, Laurent Clerc: A profile.

The collection has Xerox papers on Laurent Clerc, the history of American School for the Deaf, maps, pictures, Clerc's descendants, correspondence, presentations, and his trips to France. It also included his script from the play, Laurent Clerc: A profile. There are slides from his trip to France and they are now in the photograph collection in the Gallaudet University Archives. He gathered most of that information from Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale College, American School for the Deaf, and Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford, CT.

Series Descriptions and Folder Lists
No Series

 
Box Number Title of Folder Date
1 01 Articles on Laurent Clerc 1785-1815
1 02 Articles on Laurent Clerc 1815
1 03 Articles on Laurent Clerc 1816-1818
1 04 Articles on Laurent Clerc 1819-1829
1 05 Articles on Laurent Clerc 1830-1847
1 06 Articles on Laurent Clerc 1848-1860
1 07 Articles on Laurent Clerc 1861-1869
2 01 1870-1875
2 02 1876-1879, misc
2 03 An Address written by Mr. Clerc and read by his request at a public examination of the pupils in the Connecticut Asylum before the governor and both Houses of Legislative 1818
2 04 "Advantages and Disadvantages of the use of signs" n.d.
2 05 Announcement of Clerc's wedding 1819
2 06 Articles 1850-1943
2 07 Article-Why NYU chose Gallaudet? 1981
2 08 Asylum Hill Congregational Church 1965
2 09 Bibliography n.d.
2 10 Biography written by Clerc's grandson n.d.
2 11 Edmund Booth n.d.
2 12 "Deaf teachers of the Deaf" by Edmund B. Boatner n.d.
2 13 "Noteworthy careers and achievements of the Deaf" by Edmund B. Boatner 1933
2 14 Napoleon Bonaparte n.d.
2 15 John Brewster 1977
2 16 John Carlin 1868
2 17 City Hall n.d.
2 18 Laurent Clerc 1825-1983
2 19 Laurent Clerc Bicentennial Anniversary 1985-1986
2 20 Clerc's house in La Balme, France 1985
2 21 Laurent Clerc Memorial Dedication 1987
2 22 Clerc Hall Dedication 1974
2 23 Alice Cogswell 1815-1818
2 24 Mason Cogswell 1817-1818
2 25 Collection Stamps - Thomas Gallaudet n.d.
2 26 Comics 1953-1955
2 27 Commemorative Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet Stamps 1983
2 28 "Congress and the Deaf and Dumb" - The Silent World 1872
3 01 Conversation between Clerc and a passenger on a ship n.d.
3 02 Conversation between Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Clerc ca 1816
3 03 Copies from transparencies #1-8, map of Hartford, pictures of inns in Connecticut n.d.
3 04 Correspondence 1971-1991
3 05 "Deaf and Dumb or the orphan protected. A historical drama in five acts" 1817
3 06 Descendants of Laurent Clerc 1908-1945
3 07 Descriptive list of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Edward Miner Gallaudet papers n.d.
3 08 The diary of Laurent Clerc's voyage from France to America in 1816 1952
3 09 Documents relating to Clerc 1804-1978
3 10 To the editor of the Hartford from Walter G. Durian n.d.
3 11 Family tree of Clerc n.d.
3 12 The Fanwood Journal 1932-1938
3 13 "The Gate to Heaven: T.H. Gallaudet and the rhetoric of the Deaf Education movement" by James J. Fernandes 1979
3 14 Flyers 1991
3 15 Miner Fowler House 1917-1982
3 16 Sophia Fowler - early pictures 1818
3 17 Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet 1817
3 18 GCAA 32nd Triennial Reunion 1985
4 01 Susan Clerc Galloway 1976-1987
4 02 Jack Gannon 1981-1985
4 03 Greeting cards with Jean Massieu's quotes n.d.
4 04 Hartford, CT - general information n.d.
4 05 Historical, Anecdotal, etc n.d.
4 06 History of American School for the Deaf n.d.
4 07 The history of the first school for the Deaf-mutes of America: how they are educated and how the alphabets are invented and introduced into use 1883
4 08 "History of the town of Henniker" by Leander W. Cogswell 1978
4 09 "How to find your roots" 1977
4 10 Inauguration of the College for the Deaf and Dumb at Washington, DC 1864
4 11 Invitation to play - "Laurent Clerc and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and first school for the Deaf" at KDES 1982
4 12 "The language of the eye" n.d.
4 13 L'Abbe de l'Epeé 1818
4 14 List of records and historical objects in the museum of ASD, West Hartford, CT 1981
4 15 Manual (finger) Alphabet n.d.
4 16 Jean Massieu 1817
4 17 Miscellaneous 1808-1979
4 18 "The National College for Mutes" n.d.
4 19 National Deaf Mute Gazette 1868
4 20 Notes by Gilbert C.Eastman n.d
4 21 Ohio School for the Deaf 1872-1985
4 22 "On the use of Methodical Signs" n.d.
4 23 Oral and Manual Controversy n.d.
4 24 Charles Willson Peale 1822-1988
4 25 Photocopies of ASD n.d.
4 26 Photos of Laurent Clerc n.d.
4 27 Photostats of Clerc's papers from Yale College, donated by Francis J. Clerc (son) part 1
5 01 Photostats of Clerc's papers from Yale College, donated by Francis J. Clerc (son) part 2
5 02 Poems n.d.
5 03 Presentations 1977-1979
5 04 Presentations 1985-1994
5 05 Production - Laurent Clerc: A profile at ASD 1977
5 06 Proposal to change University's name 1987
5 07 Reminiscences of Laurent Clerc 1871-1882
5 08 Reports of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb 1865-1875
5 09 L'Abbe' Sicard n.d.
5 10 Lydia Huntley Sigourney 1845-1937
5 11 Slides from trip to France 1980
5 12 Specimens of original composition by some of the most advanced pupils in the Asylum 1886
5 13 "A retrospect of the education of the Deaf, on occasion of the Clerc Centennial Commemoration, December 28, 1885" by Henry Winter Syle 1885
6 01 Trip to France 1980
6 02 Trip to France 1980
6 03 Trip to France 1985