Why Is Deaf History Important?

What do you think when you hear the word, "Deaf?"

When considering the term "Deaf" you probably think of someone who cant hear or someone who struggles with hearing. While this is correct, Deafness comes with its own culture, community, and even its own language.

Tracing all the way back to 1803 when Ohio became a state and regulations for the Deaf and the Blind came about. It wasn't until 1816 when the first American Deaf Asylum, later named the American school for the Deaf, was opened in Connecticut. Then in 1827, Ohio did the same.

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet

After graduating from Yale University, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet visited his brother in Europe when meeting a young Deaf child, Alice Cogswell. He spent time with her and her family, creating a bond and learning how to communicate with her. Wanting to learn more about the Deaf culture, he visited France, where he met Laurent Clerc, a french Deaf teacher. Both Gallaudet and Clerc decide to both head to America shortly after meeting in 1816. There they eventually set up the first school for the Deaf on April 15, 1817 in Hartford, Connitcuit.

Laurent Clerc

Laurent Clerc, while not born Deaf, fell into a fire when he was just one year old. This left him with scarring on his ears and a loss of both hearing and smell. When he was just 12, he went to Royal Institution for the Deaf in Paris. It was there he stayed and became an assistant teacher, later promoted to teach his own class. Gallaudet met Laurent here at the Royal Institution for the Deaf, and then asked him to come back to America with him for only a short period of time. In America, Laurent would help Gallaudet open the first Deaf school.

Alice CogsWell

By just the age of two, Alice suffered from an uncommon condition called cerebral-spinal meningitis, causing her to become deaf at a very young age. It wasn't until 1814 when Gallaudet met Alice when noticing she wasn't playing with the other children. Gallaudet went up to her and tried to communicate with her by writing in the dirt, and realized she was able to understand him. This made him intrigued about Deaf culture and Deaf education, prompting him on his journey to open the first Deaf school in America. She became one of the first out of six students to enter at the school.

Deaf President Now

For over 120 years, Gallaudet's board elected hearing presidents, which is not what the students were wanting. Having a deaf president for an all deaf school impacted them as a community. Not only was it insulting for a hearing person to be elected as president, they couldn't even sign. Everyone decided together this was unacceptable and had to come up with a plan.

In 1988 an uproar of student protests across Washington, came together to request one simple thing. Deaf President Now!

So what happened? Eventually the president resigned due to the protests and the first ever deaf president was elected, Dr. I. King Jordan.