Creator: Deaf, School for the (RG 99).

Collection Summary:  Handwritten applications on printed forms for admission of deaf students to the Mississippi School for the Deaf in Jackson. The applications contain family information about the applicant as well as information about the cause and extent of the applicant’s deafness, speech and hearing abilities, and physical and moral condition. Students needed to be bona-fide residents of the state, and of “good moral character” in order to be admitted, and in return the state agreed to pay for all eligible indigent and invalid deaf persons free of charge. Although the school opened in 1854, the applications in this collection only date from 1894 to 1947. The school divided the applications by race. Several applications note that the applicant was never actually admitted to the institution. The materials are organized by surname.

Access Restrictions: Access to this series is limited due to the inclusion of privacy-sensitive material.

Date(s): 1894-1947.

Volume: 4.0 Cubic Feet.

Finding Aid Created By: Shaun Stalzer in December 2025.

Related Materials: TBD.

Collection Inventory:
Box Content 

Box Number

White Applicants: AM - HA36396
White Applicants: HE - PY

36397

White Applicants: QU – YO

36398

Black Applicants: AL – BU

36398

Black Applicants: CH - YO

36399