Notices were sent out to the leading newspapers in New York State, announcing there would be a “convention for the deaf-mutes” at the Wieting Hall in Syracuse on August 30, 1865. Over 150 people attended the Empire State Deaf-Mute Association and established a new Constitution and By-Laws, which was drawn by John Carlin. John Wilkes Chandler of Mexico, NY in Oswego County was its first President. The name of the association was changed to the Empire State Association of the Deaf in 1912. ESAD is the oldest and active state association of the Deaf in the country – even older than the National Association of the Deaf itself.
