The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind (FSDB) is a state-supported boarding school for deaf and blind children established in 1885, in St. Augustine, Florida, United States. History In 1882, Thomas Hines Coleman, a young deaf man, was preparing to graduate from Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the only college for the deaf in the world at that time. He had graduated from the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind and knew he wanted to make education for children his life's work. Florida was one of the few states that had not made provision for the education of children who were deaf/hard of hearing or who had visual impairments. Coleman wrote Governor William D. Bloxham and he replied favorably toward the establishment of such a school. As their correspondence continued, the sum of $20,000 was reached as a minimum appropriation to start the school. In 1883, Florida's legislature established an institution for the blind and deaf children for two years at $20,000. They requested bids from towns in the state for the location for the school. St. Augustine offered the best bid with $1,000 cash and of land, the land donated by Captain Edward E. Vaill, a pioneer of the city. Contractor William A. MacDuff erected the original first three wooden buildings at $12,749; they were completed in December 1884. The school opened in December, 1885 as The School for the Blind, Deaf and Dumb. Although the school had both black and white children in its early years, social opposition to racial integration was rampant, and the Florida Institute for the Blind, Deaf and Dumb, Colored Department was created in 1895. By 1892, there were 62 students enrolled and the first graduation ceremony, for two white deaf students, Artemas W. Pope and Cora Carlton, was held in 1898. The first graduation for a white blind student, DeWitt Lightsey, was held in 1898 and the first graduation for a black blind student, Louise Jones, was in 1914. The first graduation for a black deaf student, Cary White, was in 1925. The school was racially integrated in 1967 with the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind. The school was under the direction of a five-member board of trustees until 1905. The Florida legislature established the present seven-member Board of Trustees in 1963. Construction began on new dormitories in late 1958 and they opened in 1959. Taylor