Biography
Caroline Yale began her teaching career at age 19, teaching classes of 90 in Brandon and Williston.
In 1870, she moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to become a teacher of deaf children at the Clarke School. She spent the next 63 years there, working closely with Alexander Graham Bell and his father, Alexander Melville Bell. Yale developed the innovate Alexander Melville Bell's system of teaching. The result was a revolutionary system of phonetic symbols to teach the deaf. "The Northampton Vowels and Consonants Charts" became the most widely used system in the United States. This system is discussed in Yale's 1892 work, "Formation and Development of Elementary English Sounds".
During Yale's 63 years at the Clarke School, she was a teacher, became Associate Principal in 1873, and in 1886 took the position of Principal. She was Principal of the Clarke School for the next 36 years.
After her retirement in 1922, she continued to direct the teacher training program. She remained active with the Clarke School as a Board member for many years.
She received honorary doctorate degrees from Illinois Welseyan University in 1896 and from Mount Holyoke College in 1927.
An interesting side note: Caroline Yale hired a teacher, Grace Goodhue of Burlington, soon to become Mrs. Calvin Coolidge. Grace Coolidge was a life-long supporter and fund raiser for the school.
In 1931, Caroline Yale published her autobiography, "Years of Building: Memories of a Pioneer in a Special Field of Education".Education
Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (1868)
Honorary PhD, Illinoise Wesleyan (1896) and Mount Holyoke (1927)Occupation
Teacher
Administrator
Writer