History of VSDBM - Hampton

In 1887, a movement began by parents and concerned citizens, which was led by a deaf man - William C. Ritter. The Honorable Harry R. Houston, a member of the General Assembly who worked endlessly trying to get the bill enacted, assisted him. The school officially opened on September 8, 1909 as the Virginia School for Colored Deaf and Blind Children. In 1977, the General Assembly mandated the agency to also serve children with multiple disabilities. After three subsequent name changes, the school was renamed the Virginia School for the Deaf, Blind and Multi-Disabled at Hampton in 2000.

William C. Ritter had been deafened as a youth when ill with scarlet fever. He was educated at the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind in Staunton.  Ritter, a printer, was approached one day by a black woman who offered to do his family's laundry if he would teach her deaf son. There was no school available for the boy.

After two futile attempts, Ritter persuaded the State Legislature to appropriate funds to establish a school for black deaf and blind children, The legislature voted to give Ritter $5,000 in 1906 to begin the school, but a careless clerical oversight delayed the funds until 1908. The school opened a year later in September with 23 children. Ritter was superintendent and teacher. The first deaf teachers he hired were R. Aumon Bass and Miss Mary Agnew Scott. The school was originally located in Newport News; later it was moved to Hampton. 

Ritter was a competent administrator praised by two governors for the business-like manner in which he ran the school. Governor Pollard called the school "One of the outstanding institutions of its kind." When Ritter resigned in 1938, the school's enrollment was 74, and it was receiving $34,000 in annual appropriations. He died February 10, 1952 after a long illness. Ritter is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery, not far from the school he founded and loved. 

The school presently operates under the supervision of the Virginia Department of Education and the Virginia Board of Education. The neatly manicured and serene campus spreads over approximately 75 acres and is located in Hampton, Virginia. The scenic campus of 14 well maintained buildings includes an administration building, three dormitories, two classroom buildings, a dining hall, a gymnasium with a snack bar and lounge, play grounds, and several other outdoor recreational areas.

Administration Building (left); Boys' Dormitory (right)

ca. 1909

C. T. Holtzclaw, Architect/Builder