Deaf History from 1900-1949

  • Gallaudet News

    Gallaudet News
    Elizabeth Peet joined female faculty as Dean of Women.
  • News

    News
    The National Fraternal Society of the Deaf was formed as an insurance carrier for Deaf men. They established an auxiliary in 1910 for women and then admitted women as full members in 1951.
  • Gallaudet News

    Gallaudet News
    The Kappa Gamma fraternity was established at Gallaudet, the first permanent fraternity on campus. The first Grand Rajah was John Fisher in 1901
  • Technology

    Technology
    The first electric hearing aid (radio aid) was developed.
  • Sports

    Sports
    The first football game was played between two deaf schools. The Tennessee School for the Deaf and the North Carolina School for the Deaf. North Carolina won 51-0.
  • News

    News
    Diamond Head School for the Deaf opened in Honolulu, Hawaii.
  • News

    News
    Helen Keller earned a BA degree cum laude at Radcliffe College.
  • News

    News
    African-American children were transferred from Columbia Institution to the Maryland School for Colored Deaf Mutes in Baltimore.
  • Sports

    Sports
    Luther H. Taylor (deaf) played on the 1905 New York Giants team which won the World Series.
  • News

    News
    Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind opened in Gooding.
  • News

    News
    Virginia School for the Deaf opened in Hampton.
  • News

    News
    William Howard Taft overturned Roosevelt’s earlier decision to prohibit deaf people from taking civil service exams for federal jobs.
  • Gallaudet News

    Gallaudet News
    Percival Hall was installed as president of Gallaudet College. He was a Harvard graduate. In 1892 he earned a B.A. degree and earned his Master's degree in 1893. He first taught at New York School for the Deaf then returned to Gallaudet in 1895 as a professor of mathematics.
  • News

    News
    The Volta Review began its publications.
  • News

    News
    Alice Nicholson was installed as first female Editor-in-Chief of The Buff and Blue. The next female Editor-in-Chief, Alice McVan was appointed in 1927-1928.
  • Film

    Film
    From 1910-1920, The Teens preserved Sign Language film series, poems, lectures, and stories in Sign Language on film. Funds for the projects were raised by George Veditz.
  • Gallaudet News

    Gallaudet News
    February 6 there was a big fire in the College Hall causing $25,000 in damages and losses. Students, faculty, and fire department worked hard to put out the fire. It was bitter cold and the water turned into ice, encasing the entire building in ice.
  • News

    News
    Arizona School for the Deaf and the Blind opened in Tucson.
  • News

    News
    Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low, a late deafened woman founded the Girl Scouts of America in Savannah, Georgia. In 1919, the Illinois School for the Deaf was the first to start a scout troop for girls.
  • News

    News
    Dr. Harry Best published The Deaf; Their Position in Society and the Provisions for their Education in the U.S.
  • News

    News
    Edwin Nies was the first deaf person to earn a Doctor of Dental Sciences. He earned the degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
  • News

    News
    Central Institution for the Deaf opened in St. Louis.
  • News

    From 1916-1920, Deaf women began an era of female leadership of state associations. Annie Lashbrook and Alice Terry were elected as Presidents of the Empire State Association of the Deaf and the California Association of the Deaf respectively. Olga Anderson presided over the North Dakota Association of the Deaf.
  • News

    News
    Dr. Edward M. Gallaudet died.
  • Technology

    Technology
    Earl C. Hanson patented the first vacuum-tube hearing aid.
  • Sports

    Sports
    Rolf Harmsen became first deaf athlete to run 100-yard dash in 9.8 seconds.
  • News

    News
    Alexander Graham Bell died in Nova Scotia, Canada.
  • Gallaudet News

    Gallaudet News
    The first aerial view photo was taken of Kendall Green.
  • Gallaudet Sports

    Gallaudet Sports
    Football field “Garlic Field” was renamed “Hotchkiss Field.”
  • Sports

    The International Committee of Silent Sports (ICSS) was founded on August 16 by E. Rubens Alcais of France and Antoine Dresse of Belgium following the first International Games for the Deaf which were held in Pershing Stadium in Paris. The first games in the United States took place in 1965 in Washington, DC.
  • News

    News
    Edith Fitzgerald published Straight Language for the Deaf.
  • News

    News
    Deaf artist Henry Humphrey Moore died.
  • News

    News
    Nellie Zabel Willhite (deaf) was licensed to fly in South Dakota. She is believed to be the first solo deaf pilot in the world.
  • News

    News
    U.S. Bureau of the Census did a census of deaf people.
  • Sports

    Sports
    Everett “Silent” Rattan won 109 straight wrestling matches as a professional deaf wrestler.
  • News

    News
    Federal survey of the deaf and hard of hearing began under U.S. Office of Education.
  • Gallaudet Sports

    Gallaudet Sports
    Gallaudet had its first Homecoming football game against Shenandoah College. Gallaudet won 7-6.
  • Religious

    Religious
    One of the first Baptist Deaf ministries was organized in Wealthy Street Baptist Church, 2233 Michigan St. NE in Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503 by Rev. Harold Christensen (a deaf graduate of Nebraska School for the Deaf in Omaha). Gilbert L. Branagan (deaf) continues to lead the deaf ministry.
  • News

    News
    Anne Sullivan “Teacher” of Helen Keller died.
  • News

    News
    Ernest Marshall produced a motion picture in Sign Language for deaf audiences.
  • News

    News
    Helmer Myklebust published The Psychology of Deafness.
  • News

    News
    The John Tracy Clinic for the Deaf (by Mrs. Spencer Tracy) opened in Los Angeles.
  • News

    News
    The Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet Liberty ship was built and commissioned for World War II. Later, during the Lend-Lease agreement with the Soviet Union, it was renamed the Maikop. In 1951 it was sold to a private corporation.
  • News

    News
    Harry Best's book, Deafness and the Deaf in the United States was published.
  • Gallaudet Sports

    Gallaudet Sports
    The season of the 5 Iron Men came into the tournament with a 4-11 record. The Gallaudet team played with only five men and no alternates. Holcomb, the leading scorer only had 16 points, whereas Roberts had 41 points although he had only had 87 points for the entire season. 1943 was also the year Gallaudet won the pennant. The five Ironmen were Hal Weingold, Earl Roberts, Paul Baldridge, Roy Holcomb, and Don Padden.
  • Sports

    Sports
    The American Athletic Association of the Deaf was established in Akron, Ohio where the Deaf worked for Firestone and had established a colony.
  • Religious

    Religious
    One of the first known Deaf Interpreted church services in a Baptist Church was provided at Akron Baptist Temple in Akron, Ohio. Pastor Dallas F. Billington was touched by a local deaf couple and provided an interpreter in all church services.
  • Galloudet News

    Galloudet News
    Hall retired as president of Gallaudet College and Leonard M. Elstad was named as third president of Gallaudet College.
  • News

    News
    Rhulin Thomas of D.C became the first deaf aviator to fly coast to coast.
  • Religious

    Religious
    Rev. Carter Bearden (deaf) was appointed as a Southern Baptist Missionary in Waco, Texas where he served as the conference's first president in 1949 and 1950 before moving to Atlanta to serve as Southern Baptists' first national missionary to the deaf. Rev. Carter Bearden, B.D., Th.M attended Gallaudet College, and received his B.A. from Baylor University. His B.D. is from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and his Th.M. is from Columbia Theological Seminary. Carter is a native of Dallas,