The Warren Museum and Archives is a collection of memorabilia and historical data that celebrates AIDB’s past. The Museum was created through a gift from a 1924 ASD alumnus, the late Latham Benaugh Warren, whose ancestors attended AIDB in its earliest days. Original school rolls, minute books, publications of The Messenger, The Alabama Brass, scrapbooks and hundreds of historical photos are carefully preserved for future generations.
Athletic jackets, a collection of hearing aids and devices dating back to the 19th century, braillewriters, and other early communication devices tell an educational story from years ago. There is a wedding dress designed and sewn by ASD home economics students for their classmates’ wedding just after graduation in 1962. A wooden toy cat carved by the school’s first student and longtime instructor in the 1870s for a homesick student. A piece of silverware hidden by Mrs. Emily Johnson (wife of founder Dr. Joseph Henry Johnson) in one of the massive columns of Manning Hall from Union troops when they stormed the area during the Civil War.
The Museum is housed in a central room in Manning Hall where the school began in 1858. It is said that the famed Alexander Graham Bell visited his friend, AIDB founder Dr. Joseph Johnson on many occasions and that he demonstrated his “new” invention – the telephone – for him in this room. Thus the first phone operated in Alabama was on the Alabama School for the Deaf (ASD) campus. Dr. Bell invented the telephone as he tried to discover new ways to help his wife overcome difficulties with hearing loss.
For information about the Warren Museum collection or to arrange a tour of AIDB email us!
The Warren Museum also operates a store where you can purchase many items imprinted with the AIDB logo, which make excellent keepsakes or small gifts. To order, click here and send us a list of the item or items you would like, and your telephone number so we can call for payment and shipping information. You may also call 256-761-3207 with your order.
- "The Ties that Bind" History Book (2008) - $15
- "Out of Silence and Darkness" History Book (1985) - $20
- "A Sense of Good Taste" Cookbook (1998) $5
- AIDB Note Pad - $1.50
- AIDB Pen - $1.75
- AIDB Tote Bag - $5
- AIDB 150th Anniversary Umbrella - $15
- AIDB Ceramic Mug - $3.50
- AIDB Blue Tumbler - $3
- AIDB Book Light - $4
- AIDB JournalBook - $10
- Flight Bag - $18.50
- 250 Sign Language cards - $20
- 100 Braille cards - $12
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*Prices do not include 10% sales tax