Timeline of Deaf History

1000 B.C.

1500's

1800's

1820's

1870's

1900's

1995

Timeline of Deaf History

Milan Conference of 1880

345 - 550 A.D Early Christians

A Quick Glance

Martha's Vineyard

1864 Gallaudet College

• Pronounced oral methods superior to manual.
• The US was the only country to oppose the vote.
• This caused the founding of the National Association of the Deaf.
• A mass retirement of manual instructors happened after the conference.

Residential Schools

Hebrew Law and the Talmud

Deaf Miss America Crowned

1620

• Does not allow Deaf people to own property
• Protects the Deaf from being cursed by others

• A small isolated island off the coast of Massachusetts.
• 25% of residents were deaf.
• Martha's Vineyard Sign Language develops.
• All town meetings were conducted in speech and sign.
• It was considered

"Deaf Utopia"

• Mass exodus off of Martha's Vineyard.
• 80% French Sign Language, 20% Martha's Vineyard Sign Language
• This triggered the development of the Deaf community.
• Within 5 years, schools in NY, PA, KY, and OH opened.

Juan Pablo Bonet

• An advocate of early sign language
• Writes the first dictionary of manual alphabetic signs for deaf people

• St. Augustine - Deaf children are a result of God's anger towards their parents' sins.
• Deaf adults were the objects of ridicule (court jesters).
• They were committed to asylums because they were possessed by demons.
• People born Deaf were not allowed to have faith since there were unable to "hear" the word of God.
• Benedictine monks made a vow of silence because they believed this was wrong.

• Established in 1864
• Land granted by Abraham Lincoln
• Edward Minor Gallaudet became superintendent (President)
• Started as the National College for the Deaf and Dumb
• Name changed in 1893
• Students must be Deaf or HoH to attend as an undergrad
• Now has a hearing undergrad program

• 1910 -1950: Deaf employment skyrockets thanks to WWI and WWII
• 1960's: William Stokoe discovers ASL is a real language and prints the first ASL dictionary.
• 1964: Robert Weitbrecht invents the TTY so deaf people may use the phone
• 1964: The Babbidge report concludes oral deaf education has been a failure.
• 1970's: Total Communication began

• Heather Whitestone was crowned Miss Alabama in 1994
• Then crowned Miss America in 1995
• She was the first Deaf Miss America

1814 - 1817

1980's Historical Moments in Deafness

1892 Technology Advance

1850 - 1900's

384-322 B.C.

Alexander Graham Bell

1700's The French and the Deaf

The Development of Deaf Education

• The first hearing aid was developed
• It weighed several pounds
• Needed to be placed on a desk
• Was powered by 3 large volt batteries

• 1985 - Cochlear Implants are approved by the FDA for people 18 and older.
• 1987 - Marlee Matlin wins the Oscar
• 1988 - Deaf President Now protest at Gallaudet
• Students, faculty, staff, and alumni shut down the campus and protested
• They wanted a Deaf president of the college
• Gallaudet had hearing presidents up until 1988

More Residential Schools Open

• 1850 - there are 20 residential schools in the nation
• 1900 - Over 50 residential schools
• After the Civil War - segregated schools for Black Deaf children.
• Boys learned a trade
• Girls became skilled in the trade of home making

Abbe Charles-Michel De L'Eppe

• Establishes the first free public school for the Deaf.
• 1788 - publishes a dictionary of French Sign Language.
• Wrote Instruction of Deaf Mute Persons using Methodical Signs which advocated the use of natural signs,
• Known as the "Father of the Deaf"
• Succeeded by Abbe Sicard who

taught using object, sign, and

written word.

Geronimo Cardano

• The first to challenge Aristotle's belief.
• He believed words were not necessary for the understanding of ideas.
• Teaches his deaf son a written symbolic language.

Pedro Ponce de Leon

• Benedictine monk
• Taught the deaf sons of noblemen so they could inherit family fortune.
• Taught speech sounds and written language

The Greeks: Philosophers

• Aristotle - People cannot learn without hearing.
• Plato - Without speech, there is no outward sign of intelligence, so deaf people are unable to obtain ideas of language.
• Greek was the perfect language. People who could not speak Greek were thought to be barbarians.
• Deaf = Barbarian
• Deaf children were disowned or often murdered.

The Romans

• Deaf citizens were not allowed to marry.
• They were assigned guardians to look after them.

• Had a hearing loss
• Married a deaf woman
• Believed that deaf people were a "defective variety of the human race."
• Thought deaf people should be forbidden to marry eachother
• Believed in oral education of deaf children
• Invented the telephone
• Adamantly against the use of signs
• Founded 2 oral deaf schools in Wisconsin
• Considered the "Boogie Man'

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet Jr.

• Was funded by Mason Cogswell to go to Europe and learn their methods for teaching Deaf children.
• Went to England first and was turned away.
• Met Abbe Sicard and Laruent Clerc in France
• Studied with these men for 3 years and then returned with Clerc to America in 1817.
• Founded first Deaf Sunday School and Church
• Married a deaf woman - Sophia Fowler

Laurent Clerc

• Born Deaf, first Deaf teacher of the Deaf.
• Studied under Abbe De L'Eppe and later Sicard.
• Was appointed as a master teacher after completing his schooling.
• Agreed to come to America to help Gallaudet establish a school in America.
• Taught for 50 years, 41 years in America.

The Connecticut Asylum for the Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons

• Established in 1817 in Hartford, CT, first Deaf school in America.
• Later became the American School for the Deaf.
• Was a sign based school.
• Began with only 7 students.