Mabel Hubbard Bell (1857-1923)

Mabel G. Hubbard Bell was an influential community organizer and philanthropist. After losing her hearing as a child in Massachusetts, she continued to speak and learned to read lips with the encouragement of her parents, who advocated the oral method of education for the deaf. She married inventor Alexander Graham Bell in 1877, and provided crucial support for his scientific research in the United States and at their Beinn Bhreagh estate. While living in Cape Breton, Mabel Bell helped establish the Young Ladies’ Club of Baddeck in 1891, as well as the first Montessori classes, and the earliest home and school association in Canada.

Mabel G. Hubbard Bell est une influente philanthrope et organisatrice communautaire. Perdant l’ouïe dès son enfance au Massachusetts, elle continue de parler et apprend la lecture labiale grâce à ses parents qui prônent la méthode d’éducation oraliste pour les sourds. Elle épouse l’inventeur Alexander Graham Bell en 1877, et elle l’appuie dans ses travaux de recherche aux États-Unis et à leur domaine Beinn Bhreagh. Alors qu’elle habite au Cap-Breton, Mabel Bell aide à établir le Young Ladies’ Club de Baddeck, en 1891, ainsi que les premiers cours Montessori et la première association foyer-école au Canada.