Mabel Gardiner Hubbard - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Mabel Gardiner Hubbard (November 25, 1857 – January 3, 1923), was the daughter of Boston lawyer Gardiner Hubbard—the first president of the Bell Telephone Company

Bell Telephone Company

The Bell Telephone Company, a common law joint stock company, was organized in Boston, Massachusetts on July 9, 1877 by Alexander Graham Bell's father-in-law Gardiner Greene Hubbard, who also helped organize a sister company — the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company...

. Mabel was also the wife of Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone....

, an eminent scientist and the inventor of the first practical telephone

Telephone

The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...

.

From the time of Mabel's courtship with Graham Bell in 1873, until his death in 1922, Mabel became and remained the most significant influence in his life. Folklore held that Bell undertook telecommunication experiments in an attempt to restore her hearing which had been destroyed by disease close to her fifth birthday, leaving her completely deaf for the remainder of her life.

Biography

Mabel was born on November 25, 1857 in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

, United States, to Gardiner Greene Hubbard

Gardiner Greene Hubbard

Gardiner Greene Hubbard was a U.S. lawyer, financier, and philanthropist. He was one of the founders of the Bell Telephone Company and the first president of the National Geographic Society.- Biography :...

and Gertrude Mercer McCurdy. She suffered a near-fatal bout of scarlet fever

Scarlet fever

Scarlet fever is a disease caused by exotoxin released by Streptococcus pyogenes. Once a major cause of death, it is now effectively treated with antibiotics...

close to her fifth birthday in 1862 while visiting her maternal grandparents in New York City, and was thereafter left permanently and completely deaf. The disease also destroyed her inner ear

Inner ear

The inner ear is the innermost part of the vertebrate ear. In mammals, it consists of the bony labyrinth, a hollow cavity in the temporal bone of the skull with a system of passages comprising two main functional parts:...

's vestibular sensors

Vestibular system

The vestibular system, which contributes to balance in most mammals and to the sense of spatial orientation, is the sensory system that provides the leading contribution about movement and sense of balance. Together with the cochlea, a part of the auditory system, it constitutes the labyrinth of...

, additionally leaving her with a greatly impaired sense of balance

Balance disorder

A balance disorder is a disturbance that causes an individual to feel unsteady, for example when standing or walking. It may be accompanied by feelings of giddiness or wooziness, or having a sensation of movement, spinning, or floating...

, to the extent that it was very difficult for her to walk in the dark at night.

Mabel was the inspiration for her father's involvement in the founding of the first oral school for the deaf in the United States, the Clarke School for the Deaf

Clarke School for the Deaf

Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech, formerly Clarke School for the Deaf, is a private school located in Northampton, Massachusetts that specializes in educating deaf children using the oral method through the assistance of hearing aids and cochlear implants...

. Having been educated in both the United States and in Europe, she learned to both talk and lip-read

Lip reading

Lip reading, also known as lipreading or speechreading, is a technique of understanding speech by visually interpreting the movements of the lips, face and tongue with information provided by the context, language, and any residual hearing....

with great skill in multiple languages. She was also, due in great part to her parents' efforts, one of the first deaf children in the nation to be taught to both lip-read and speak, which allowed her to integrate herself easily and almost completely within the hearing world, an event virtually unknown to those in the deaf community of that era. Her avoidance of the deaf community until her middle age when her parents died and left her to assume their roles as benefactor to the societies for the deaf, would later lead to criticisms that she was embarrassed by her impairment.

Described as "strong and self-assured", she became one of Graham Bell's pupils at his new school for the deaf, and later evolved into his confidant. They married on July 11, 1877 in the Cambridge home of her parents, when she was 19, more than 10 years Bell's junior.

Together they had four children, including two daughters:
Elsie May Bell (1878–1964) who married Gilbert Grosvenor of National Geographic fame,
and Marian Hubbard Bell (1880–1962), who was referred to as "Daisy", and who was nearly named Photophone

Photophone

The photophone, also known as a radiophone, was invented jointly by Alexander Graham Bell and his then-assistant Charles Sumner Tainter on February 19, 1880, at Bell's 1325 'L' Street laboratory in Washington, D.C...

by Bell after her birth. Mabel also bore two sons, Edward (1881) and Robert (1883), both of whom died shortly after birth leaving their parents bereft. From 1877 Mabel and "Alec", as she preferred to call him, lived in Washington, D.C. at their home, the Brodhead-Bell Mansion which they occupied for several years, and from 1888 onwards residing increasingly at their Beinn Bhreagh

Beinn Bhreagh, Nova Scotia

Beinn Bhreagh, generally pronounced "ban vreeagh", is the name of the estate founded by Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, which has become an unincorporated rural community located in Victoria County, Nova Scotia, Canada...

(Gaelic for "beautiful mountain") estate, in Cape Breton

Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....

, Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

After Alec's death in 1922, Mabel slowly lost her sight and grew increasingly consigned to the care of her daughters, withdrawing into a world of silent darkness. She died of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...

at the home of her daughter Marion, in Chevy Chase, MD, less than a year after her husband, both of whom are buried near their home on "The Point" at their estate of Beinn Bhreagh, originally their summer residence. Her ashes were interred with Alexander's grave exactly one year, to the hour, after his burial. Today, they rest together near the top of their "beautiful mountain" of their estate overlooking Bras d'Or Lake

Bras d'Or Lake

Bras d'Or Lake is a large body of salt water dominating the centre of Cape Breton Island in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. Bras d'Or Lake is sometimes referred to as the Bras d'Or Lakes or the Bras d'Or Lakes system, however its official geographic name is Bras d'Or Lake as it is a singular...

, under a simple boulder of granite.

Deaf to Bell's utterances

Mabel was the indirect source of her husband's early commercial success after his creation of the telephone. The U.S. Centennial Exposition

Centennial Exposition

The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. It was officially...

in Philadelphia in 1876 made Bell's newly invented telephone a featured headline worldwide. Judges Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian Emperor Dom Pedro II and the eminent British physicist William Thomson

William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin

William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin OM, GCVO, PC, PRS, PRSE, was a mathematical physicist and engineer. At the University of Glasgow he did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and did much to unify the emerging...

(Lord Kelvin) recommended his device to the Committee of Electrical Awards, which voted Bell the Gold Medal for Electrical Equipment. Bell also won a second Gold Medal for Visible Speech
Visible Speech
Visible speech is the writing system used by Alexander Melville Bell, who was known internationally as a teacher of speech and proper elocution and an author of books on the subject. The system is composed of symbols that show the position and movement of the throat, tongue, and lips as they...

, for his additional display at the exposition, helping to propel him to international fame. Ironically, Bell, who was then a full-time teacher, hadn't even planned on exhibiting at the fair due to his heavy teaching schedule and preparation for his student's examinations. He went there only at the stern insistence of Mabel, his then-fiancée and future wife.

Mabel had understood Bell's reluctance to go to the exhibition and display his works, so she secretly bought his train ticket to Philadelphia, packed his bag, and then took the unknowing Bell to Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

's train station where she told her shocked fiancé that he was going on a trip. When Bell started to argue, Mabel turned her sight away from him, thus becoming literally deaf to his protests.

Mabel's stock ownership in the Bell Telephone Company

The Bell Telephone Company

Bell Telephone Company

was organized on July 9, 1877 by Mabel's father Gardiner Greene Hubbard

Gardiner Greene Hubbard

who owned 1,387 of the 5,000 issued shares and had the title of "trustee". Mabel's husband Alexander Bell owned 1,497 shares. But Bell immediately transferred all but 10 of his shares as a wedding gift to his new bride Mabel. A short time later, just prior to leaving for an extended honeymoon of Europe, Mabel signed a power of attorney

Power of attorney

A power of attorney or letter of attorney is a written authorization to represent or act on another's behalf in private affairs, business, or some other legal matter...

giving control of her shares to her father. This made Gardiner Hubbard the de facto president and chairman of the Bell Telephone Company, which later evolved into American Telephone & Telegraph

American Telephone & Telegraph

AT&T Corp., originally American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American telecommunications company that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agencies. AT&T is the oldest telecommunications company...

, at times the world's largest telephone company

Telephone company

A telephone company is a service provider of telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Many were at one time nationalized or state-regulated monopolies...

Support to aeronautical research

Mabel was highly intelligent but usually preferred to remain in the background while Bell conducted scientific discussions and meetings among his peers—for many decades he held regular Wednesday evening intellectual salons

Salon (gathering)

A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to...

in their home parlour

Parlour

Parlour , from the French word parloir, from parler , denotes an "audience chamber". In parts of the United Kingdom and the United States, parlours are common names for certain types of food service houses, restaurants or special service areas, such as tattoo parlors...

, dutifully documented in the multiple volumes of his "homenotes

Diary

A diary is a record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. A personal diary may include a person's experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings, including comment on current events outside the writer's direct experience. Someone...

". However Mabel strongly believed that a heavier-than-air vehicle could be designed to fly, and she provided the inspiration and financing of about $20,000CAD

Canadian dollar

The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...

to that end, a significant amount in 1907 (approximately $450,000 in 2008 dollars). At that time Mabel Bell sold some of her real estate and gave that amount of money to her husband and four others to establish the Aerial Experimental Association (AEA), for the purpose of constructing "a practical flying aerodrome or flying machine driven through the air by its own power and carrying a man." She later donated an additional $15,000 to the Association to permit a continuation of aeronautical research and development. Mabel often sat through the AEA's technical meetings and scientific discussions, eventually acquiring a detailed understanding of the mechanics of flight

Aircraft flight mechanics

In aeronautics, aircraft flight mechanics is the study of the forces that act on an aircraft in flight, and the way the aircraft responds to those forces.Aircraft flight mechanics are relevant to gliders, helicopters and aeroplanes....

.

In addition to Dr. Bell, the AEA also included a young resident of Baddeck, Nova Scotia

Baddeck, Nova Scotia

Baddeck is a Canadian village in Victoria County, Nova Scotia.It is the county's shire town and is situated on the northern shore of Bras d'Or Lake on Cape Breton Island...

named Douglas McCurdy, who was a recent engineering graduate of the University of Toronto

University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

. McCurdy also brought along a close friend Frederick "Casey" Baldwin, who also had an engineering degree from the same university, and who would become either the third or fourth person to pilot an aircraft in the Americas

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

after the Wright Brothers

Wright brothers

The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903...

.

Together the members of the AEA succeeded in designing, constructing and flying Canada

Canada

's first heavier-than-air vehicle, the Silver Dart

Silver Dart

Silver Dart may refer to:*AEA Silver Dart - An early aircraft which was flown off the ice at Baddeck, Nova Scotia on February 23, 1909. This was the first controlled powered flight in Canada....

. Based on their scientific experiments, the aircraft they designed and built incorporated several technical innovations not previously invented for flight, including lateral control by means of aileron

Aileron

Ailerons are hinged flight control surfaces attached to the trailing edge of the wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. The ailerons are used to control the aircraft in roll, which results in a change in heading due to the tilting of the lift vector...

Biography

Deaf to Bell's utterances

Mabel's stock ownership in the Bell Telephone Company

Support to aeronautical research

See also

Further reading