Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 6 January 1870 (Creation)
Level of description
Item
Extent and medium
1 letter
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
John Barrett McGann was born in Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1810. He trained as a land surveyor and then taught in a public school for 14 years. He left Ireland for America in 1854 and became interested in the education of deaf-mute children. He moved to Toronto as a teacher in 1855 and by 1858 was running a school for deaf children. The school closed in 1864 and McGann reopened it at Dundurn Castle in Hamilton. Its funding was precarious and in 1870 the Government of Ontario took over responsibility for the school at new premises in Belleville, Ontario. McGann was the resident superintendent of the Ontario Institute for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb in Belleville from 1870 until his death in January 1880. He was buried in the Belleville Cemetery.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Letter written by J.B. McGann to municipal and provincial government representatives of Ontario, asking for financial support on behalf of the Deaf and Dumb Institution.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- McGann, John Barrett (Subject)
- Sir James Whitney School for the Deaf (Subject)