On February 1, 1951, Dr Richard Brill, then 36, became the school's first superintendent. He was born into his “Deaf Education” family. He was, in fact, born on the oral school campus in Connecticut, where his parents taught, in 1913.
After obtaining his BA from Rutgers University, Dr Brill headed to Gallaudet University for an MA in Deaf Education in 1936. He practiced teaching at Kendall Elementary School and had Betty Witczak as a student. For a career start, he taught English using the Rochester Method at CSD Berkeley from 1936 to 1941. While teaching, he earned another MA from UC Berkeley. He next became Principal at the Virginia School for the Deaf in 1941. At the outset of World War II, he was called to the US Navy, where he rose to become a Lieutenant in sea battles against Japan until 1945.
Dr Brill returned to his old principal duties at the VSDB and then to New Jersey the following year, where he was also a principal at the Bruce Street School for the Deaf, where he remained until 1949. In the meantime, he completed his doctorate in educational supervision at Rutgers University. In 1949, he became an Assistant Professor for the Special Education Department at the University of Illinois, where he taught until December 1950. He headed west to California for a new and unbuilt school in Riverside.
Interestingly, Dr Brill was the sole CSDR employee in February 1951 for a year before mass hiring began. He had the opportunity to influence the architecture of the proposed school. He wanted no massive buildings, which he had seen at other older schools for deaf students. He pushed for single-story buildings spreading out on the large tract of land. He also wanted lots of windows for natural light for speech reading. Dr Brill set up a school system that continues to this day.
Beginning on February 2, 1953, the new school grew by leaps and bounds, with 100 students and mass hiring for employment every year until 1958, when the student enrollment hit 500. The school also grew in international fame, beginning in the 1950s and continuing to this day. He left many lasting marks, such as the school mascot and colors.
For 12 years he taught a graduate course in administration to the National Leadership Training Program at California State University, Northridge. This was before the advent of Zoom for distance learning. He drove 90 minutes one way from Riverside to Northridge one time a week for class he taught on campus. This was how he recruited his students for employment at CSDR. He brought Bummy Burstein and James Hoxie to Riverside, for example.
Dr Brill also served as the president of the American Instructors of the Deaf, the Council on Education of the Deaf and the Conference of Executives of American Schools for the Deaf, an Assistant Editor of Abstracts and had over 40 papers published in professional journals.
In 1977, he finally retired after 26 years with enough time for writing and playing golf in San Clemente, California, for his next home. He was married to Ruth and had two children.
CSDR Director for Instruction James Hoxie (1962-1979) summarized Dr Brill’s many significant contributions to CSDR by stating that he built a “house” from the ground up on campus. After 14 years in retirement, Dr Brill died on October 20, 1991, at the age of 77. The Magnolia tree was planted in 1977 to remember his outstanding leadership for 26 years at CSDR.
Kevin Struxness, ‘76, MA
Editor, CSDR Old Times
27 October 2024
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