Kollar_Zsuzsanna_Vaci_Siketiskola

Founded in 1802, the Vác School for the Deaf was one of the exemplary cases of national institutions founded within the Estates System of the nineteenth century. The foundation of the school, also endorsed by the monarch, was preceded by a nationwide fundraising campaign, which mobilised broad social collaboration and proceeded to raise approximately half of the necessary capital. The names of hundreds of donors have been preserved on fundraising sheets, which provide invaluable insights into the social composition and motivations of the donors, as well as the geographical distribution of the collection drive. The study also examines the protocol associated with the Estates System that not only proved a viable path for the institutionalization process during the first half of the nineteenth century but was also instrumental in subsequent institutional foundations.