The American School for the Deaf (ASD), founded in 1817, is the oldest school for deaf students in the United States. Its founder, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, met Alice Cogswell in Hartford, Connecticut, while he was recovering from an illness. Alice had been deafened by a childhood illness and could not communicate with her parents or siblings very well because they did not know any sign language. Gallaudet believed that Alice could be educated to communicate. Gallaudet studied at the French Institute for the Deaf in Paris and returned to America with Laurent Clerc, a teacher from the Institute. Together they founded ASD which has educated about 4000 deaf students.

In this sculpture, young Alice Cogswell stands in the palms of two cupped hands that form the word "light" in sign language. She holds a book in front of her that represents the education she and others received because of the founding of this school.