Category: Deaf History

Welcome to our list of Start ASL Deaf History articles! Here you will find all of our articles related to Deaf history and the history of sign language.

Start here with our main article: History of Sign Language – Deaf History

William Stokoe

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William Stokoe – or William C. Stokoe Jr. – changed the course of American Sign Language history. Before Stokoe, ASL was not seen as a real language. It was seen […]

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Laurent Clerc

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Laurent Clerc played a significant part in the history of American Sign Language and was the first deaf teacher of the deaf in America. He was also among the first […]

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Ludwig Van Beethoven

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Ludwig Van Beethoven was completely deaf for the last part of his life and yet managed to produce some of the greatest music of all time. Beethoven Articles by Students […]

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Laura Redden Searing – First Deaf Female Journalist

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Laura Redden Searing was born in 1839 and is best known for being the first deaf female journalist. She was sent by the St. Louis Republican to cover the American Civil […]

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Julia Brace

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Julia Brace was a deaf-blind girl who was born before both Laura Bridgman and Helen Keller. She was successfully educated, but lost the credit as the first to Helen Keller. […]

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Helen Keller – The First Deaf-Blind College Graduate

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Helen Keller is an internationally acclaimed author and lecturer. And that is so amazing because she was deaf and blind. When I was in elementary school, we learned all about […]

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Deaf President Now (DPN)

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A big event that occurred in Deaf history was the Deaf President Now (DPN) movement. DPN was a huge protest at Gallaudet University that started in March of 1988. The […]

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Laura Bridgman – The First Helen Keller

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Laura Bridgman was the first deaf-blind person to learn language. When you think about the first deaf-blind child to be educated, you will most likely think of Helen Keller. In […]

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Dummy Hoy (William Hoy) – The First Deaf Major League Baseball Player

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Dummy Hoy made history as the first deaf major league baseball player. He’s also not famous just because he was deaf; he was also a remarkably talented and skilled baseball […]

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Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet

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Dr. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet is probably the most influential person in the history of American Sign Language. Gallaudet, along with Laurent Clerc, was responsible for starting the first free public […]

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Edward Miner Gallaudet

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When Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet died in 1851, his youngest son Edward Miner Gallaudet continued his legacy in deaf education, played a big part in the history of American Sign Language, and […]

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George William Veditz

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George Veditz was a former president of the National Association of the Deaf of the United States and was one of the first to film American Sign Language. George William […]

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Geronimo Cardano

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Geronimo Cardano played a significant role in the history of sign language–particularly in the history of deaf education. Cardano was an Italian mathematician and physician. He discovered in the 1500s […]

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Gallaudet University

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by Madeline Huwaldt | October 3, 2018 Gallaudet University was founded in 1864 and is located in Washington D.C and is a federally chartered private school. Originally Gallaudet was a […]

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Alice Cogswell – The Beginning of American Deaf Education

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When you are 9 years old, you don’t think about making history. Alice Cogswell made history at the age of 9 by sparking the beginning of the creation of American […]

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Marie Heurtin – the French Helen Keller

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by Alyssa Weeks | November 14, 2017 My favorite person in deaf history is Marie Heurtin. You might know her as the French Hellen Keller but to many she is […]

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Anne Sullivan

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Anne Sullivan is one of the most well-known teachers in history. She is best known for being the teacher of Helen Keller and the subject of movies such as The Miracle […]

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Alexander Graham Bell – Helpful or Harmful?

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We all know Alexander Graham Bell (known as AGB in the Deaf community) as the inventor of the telephone. That makes him a good guy, right? Creating a way for […]

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Pedro Ponce de Leon

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by Marcus McNeal | November 29, 2016 “Everybody has to start somewhere. You have your whole future ahead of you. Perfection doesn’t happen right away.” (Haruki Murakami, 2006). The quote […]

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Famous Deaf People

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No Hearing People Here! Deaf people have been more in the spotlight than you know. There are so many famous deaf people and famous hard of hearing people who have […]

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History of Sign Language – Deaf History

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The events that occurred in the history of sign language are actually pretty shocking. How deaf people experience life today is directly related to how they were treated in the […]

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History of American Sign Language

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The history of American Sign Language didn’t truly begin until 1814 when deaf education was introduced to the United States. There is virtually no information about American Sign Language history […]

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Who Invented Sign Language?

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The question of who invented sign language has sparked much debate and has a vague answer. If you want to know who invented sign language, you need to analyze the events […]

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Andrew Foster

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Andrew Foster is a very important person in Deaf history. He was the first African American Deaf person to earn a Bachelor’s Degree from Gallaudet University and is known as […]

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Martha’s Vineyard 

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by Nicole Colterman (08/27/2020) Martha’s Vineyard, home of astonishing landscapes, fishing towns, marvelous summer homes and one of the first known deaf communities in the United States. From the late […]

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Abbe de L’Epee

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Abbe de L’Epee, a French Catholic priest, founded the first social and religious association for deaf people around 1750. L’Epee’s full name was Abbe Charles Michel de L’Epee and he […]

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