Samuel Thomas Greene

Samuel Thomas Greene (June 11, 1843 – February 17, 1890) was a Deaf American educator and Ontario's first Deaf teacher in 1870 at the Ontario Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb, which later changed to Sir James Whitney School of the Deaf in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. He was born in 1843 in Portland, Maine and attended America's first Deaf school in Hartford, Connecticut.

Biography Samuel Thomas Greene was born on June 11, 1843, in Portland, Maine to hearing parents, Jacob and Sarah Greene. He had four other siblings, one of whom was also Deaf. Greene's parents, Jacob and Sarah, were huge believers of education and religion. Before starting the formal education, Greene began reading and writing at an early age and he also managed to acquire some of American Sign Language (ASL) from his Deaf sister, Sarah Abbott Greene, who attended to the American Asylum for the Education and Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, currently known as the American School of the Deaf, during that time. Greene eventually began his formal education at the American School of the Deaf on September 18, 1855, and he was taught by one of the most prominent teacher, Laurent Clerc, a French co-founder of the first deaf school in United States in 1817, who dedicated his time in the Deaf Education field for more than fifty years.

After his graduation in 1866, Greene enrolled into National Deaf-Mute College (now Gallaudet University) on September 12, 1866, to pursue a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree. He graduated from Gallaudet University on June 30, 1870, with four other graduates and they were the second congregation to graduate from the university. Greene delivered an oration during his graduation day "The Law of Limitation in National Life". After the graduation, Greene worked at American School of the Deaf as an assistant teacher before he began his journey to Belleville, Ontario to be a teacher at newly opened Sir James Whitney School of the Deaf (formerly Ontario Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb) on October 20, 1870. He is considered Ontario's first Deaf teacher.

Greene married to Caroline Campbell Howard on April 9, 1871. Caroline was a granddaughter of the pioneer Belleville settler, Elijah Wallbridge who settled at Meyer's Creek in 1800, which later became the City of Belleville. The couple has five children, four girls and one boy, and all of them were hearing. Greene and his family embraced bilingualism and biculturalism in their household.

The provincial Government wrote a report on Greene's performance in 1877 and an excerpt from the report states that Greene recognizes that Deaf students need a good foundation to build their education.

Legacy Samuel Thomas Greene was Ontario's first Deaf teacher and he was described as "a born teacher". Greene was the trailblazer in Deaf Education in Ontario and he is known for his reputation through his Deaf education and leadership efforts in the deaf community. He was one of the founding fathers of the Ontario Deaf-Mute Association in 1886. The name was later changed to Ontario Association of the Deaf (OAD) in 1910. Greene was mentioned in the City of Belleville's Heritage walking guide in recognition of his work in Deaf Education.