Alfred Langdon Elwyn was a nonpracticing physician, an author, a philanthropist and a pioneer in the training and care of mentally disabled in the US. In addition, Elwyn was one of the founding officers of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Blind in 1833, and later served as the Institution's president. Elwyn also headed a Pennsylvania agricultural society and farm school. In addition, Elwyn was president of a society for prevential of cruelty to animals

Cruelty to animals

Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse or animal neglect, is the infliction of suffering or harm upon non-human animals, for purposes other than self-defense. More narrowly, it can be harm for specific gain, such as killing animals for food or for their fur, although opinions differ with...

. He served as treasurer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

American Association for the Advancement of Science

The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...

 between 1849 and 1870.

Elwyn was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...

, the grandson of John Langdon

John Langdon

John Langdon was a politician from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and one of the first two United States senators from that state. Langdon was an early supporter of the Revolutionary War and later served in the Continental Congress...

, the first continental governor of New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

. Elwyn graduated from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 in 1823, and studied medicine overseas from 1824-1829. He returned in 1831 and received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

. He never practiced medicine, but was an active philanthropist and author.

The town of Elwyn, Pennsylvania

Elwyn, Pennsylvania

Elwyn is a town in the Philadelphia-Camden metropolitan area. Elwyn is in Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, USA. Middletown Township had a population of 16,000 in the 2000 census...

 and the care and training facility Elwyn are named for Alfred Elwyn.

School for the mentally disabled

Elwyn travelled to Boston for a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

American Association for the Advancement of Science

The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...

 in 1849. He had promised to take a letter from Rachel Laird, a blind girl living in Philadelphia, to Laura Bridgman

Laura Bridgman

Laura Dewey Lynn Bridgman is known as the first deaf-blind American child to gain a significant education in the English language, fifty years before the more famous Helen Keller...

 (December 21, 1829 - May 24, 1889), who was a famous blind deaf mute in Boston. Bridgman was studying at the South Boston Institute for the Blind, and while there Elwyn visited a classroom for mentally deficient children run by teacher James Richards

James Richards

James Richards is the name of:* James Richards , American veterinarian and noted expert on cats* James A. D. Richards , United States Representative from Ohio...

.

Elwyn was impressed with Richards' work, and resolved to do something similar in Pennsylvania. In 1852, with Richards, Elwyn established a training school for the retarded in Germantown, Pennsylvania

Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Germantown is a neighborhood in the northwest section of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, about 7–8 miles northwest from the center of the city...

. In 1853, the Pennsylvania State Legislature formally chartered "The Pennsylvania Training School for Feeble-Minded Children" with Richards as its first superintendent in Germantown. The school soon outgrew its facilities in Germantown, and in 1857 a 60 acres (242,811.6 m²) farm was purchased in Media, Pennsylvania

Media, Pennsylvania

The borough of Media is the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania and is located west of Philadelphia. Media was incorporated in 1850 at the same time that it was named the county seat. The population was 5,533 at the 2000 census. Its school district is the Rose Tree Media School District...

to house a new facility with help from the Pennsylvania legislature. The buildings were completed in 1859 and Elwyn, Richards and 25 students moved in on September 1, 1859. The school was officially dedicated November 2, 1859. Elwyn became head of the school in 1870.

Writing

Elwyn published Glossary of Supposed Americanisms in Philadelphia in 1859. His thesis was that there was no reason to disdain the archaic English expressions that existed in American speech, since they come “from our remotest ancestry”. This book has been updated and republished several times, as recently as 2003.

Elwyn also published:

• " Bonaparte,", Philadelphia, 1848
• "Letters to the Hon. John Langdon, during and after the Revolution", 1880
• "Melancholy, and its Musings", 1881 and
• "A Few Hints to the City on Intemperance."