A Timeline of Deaf History

A Timeline of Deaf History

Abbe de L'epee

Religion & Early Deaf History

Alexander Graham Bell

The Deaf Community Today

• Most commonly known as the inventor of the telephone
• Had a deaf wife & mother
• Spent the majority of his life working to promote oralism and discover a technological cure for deafness
• Huge advocate of the eugenics movement
• "The formation of a deaf variety of the human race" presentation in 1883
• Proposed that Deaf people should not be allowed to marry
• Supported compulsory sterilization policies in California and half of U.S. states that became a model for those of of Nazi Germany

• Born to a wealthy family in Versailles, France
• Became a Catholic priest
• Met two young Deaf girls who inspired him to establish a Deaf school
• Established a school for the Deaf Paris in 1760
• Emphasized a teaching method that encouraged the use of sign language
• Published two critical books, The Instruction of Deaf and Dumb using Methodical Sign, and a sign language dictionary.

The Old Testament states that Deaf people are a part of God's plan, and therefore deserve respect.

• Deaf people were nevertheless excluded in Ancient Greek & Hebrew societies.

The New Testament creates a reference to Deaf people, stating that they are incapable of salvation, stating that only those who 'hear' the word of God can be saved.

• "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing the Word of God" (Romans 10:17) - St. Paul.

354 A.D: St. Augustine tells early Christians that deaf children are a sign of God's anger at the sins of their parents.

• Handicapped children were perceived as the results of the "sins" of their parents.

• Ongoing Manualism vs. Oralism battle
• Gallaudet University [and a few other institutions] never adopted oralism as proposed by the 1880 Milan conference
• Played a critical role in sign language preservation
• Positive shift towards sign language (manualism) began in the 1970's by the works of Deaf linguists and scholars
• William Stokoe
• More than a century later, the Deaf community continues to experience devastating effects of the decisions made in the conference

(Greenwald, 2018)

(Zak, 2005)

(Ray, 1848)

1800's

1850's

1600's

1900's

100 AD

Martha's Vineyard (1690 to 1950's)

First American School for the Deaf

Second International Congress on Education of the Deaf

• Unusually high rate of Deaf heredity
• 1 in 155 people were born Deaf
• 1 in 4 in the Chilmark town of Squibnocket were born Deaf
• Development of Martha Vineyard Sign Language
• Embraced and used frequently by the both the deaf and hearing population
• Deaf and hearing people were able to interact and converse with one other freely on a daily basis
• People who moved into Chilmark had to learn sign language to be a part of the community
• Deaf population eventually declined due to the growth of Deaf education on the mainland in the 1900's

• Dr. Mason Cogswell, a prominent surgeon, had a Deaf daughter, Alice Cogswell in Hartford
• Dr. Mason Cogswell developed a working relationship with priest, Thomas Gallaudet
• Discussed establishment of a Deaf school
• Thomas Gallaudet went on a trip abroad to learn of the educational methods for teaching Deaf children
• Braidwood Academy in Edinburg, Scotland
• Met Laurent Clerc who led him to Paris, France
• Clerc and Gallaudet went on to establish the first school for the Deaf in Connecticut in 1817

• The 1880 Milan Conference
• Only two to five Deaf representatives out of 164 attendants
• Huge debate between Bell's (oralist) and Gallaudet's (manualist) conflicting views
• Declared that oral education was superior to manual education
• Passed a resolution banning the use of sign language in school
• Schools in the United States & Europe adopted these policies and began incorporating speech therapy
• Teaching jobs went from Deaf people to hearing people during this transition
• Marked the start of the 'dark era' in Deaf education

(Groce, 1985)

(Oakling, 2007)

(American School for the Deaf, 2020)