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The Handoff
With the advent of the residential school, deaf children shared the "hand-off" experience. Since 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents and had no meaningful communication were taken to residential school and placed into the care of the residential school administration. -
Parisian Deaf Teacher Brings Formal Sign Language to U.S.
Laurent Clerc of Paris, France accompanies Thomas Gallaudet to the United States and starts American School for the Deaf. First school devoted to teaching deaf children. -
Alexander Graham Bell: Proponent of Oralism
Bell opens School of Vocal Physiology and Mechanics of Speech in Boston. Bell's school taught only lipreading and speech. He used his influence to meet with lawmakers and educators to eradicate Sign Language. -
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Secret Sign
Forced by the results of the Milan Conference of 1880, deaf students in residents schools preserve their language by signing in secret. Despite its resolutions, the Conference fails to eradicate Sign Language. -
Milan Conference of 1880
Pivotal point in the history of Deaf Culture. Oralism wins they day, and teaching/teaching in Sign Language is banned. The impact on Deaf Culture and Community still felt today. -
National Association of the Deaf
NAD was founded to promote the civil rights and right to language for the Deaf community in the United States. NAD has stood opposite the Oralist movement, working to promote sign language as the first language of the Deaf. -
Hearing Aids
First electric hearing aid invented by Miller Reese Hutchinson. Being fitted with a hearing aid seemed to be a right of passage. -
Deaf Club: A Place to Belong
Deaf clubs begin to form in early part of 1900s, allowing normally isolated deaf people to gather together and enjoy each other's company. -
George Veditz: Standing Against Linguistic Oppression
Taking advantage of silent film technology, George Veditz stands up for ASL. Veditz makes 14 minute film that demonstrates and defends the beautiful of the natural visual language of the Deaf. -
TTY: Deaf Inventor Uses Ingenuity to Make Telephone Accessible
Robert Weitbreicht invents a device called the TTY Relay System that allows the Deaf Community to utilize Bell's telephone system. The Deaf Community is now able to communicate much more quickly than ever before -
Video Relay Service
With the first videophone invented by AT&T in 1964, the technology allowing deaf people to enjoy face to face communication began its development. In the late 1990s, VRS became more readily available allowing greater ease of communication. -
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Television and Movie Access Comes to Deaf World
On screen text appearing in television and movies allows deaf people the ability to enjoy movies for the first time since the Silent Film Era. -
Texting Opens New Dimension in Communication
Created by Friedhelm Hillebrand and Bernard Ghillebaert, the text message become the premier way for hearing and deaf to communicate within their respective communities and between communities. -
Marlee Wins the Oscar!
Her performance in "Children of a Lesser God" earns Marlee Matlin an Oscar for Best Actress. Not only is she the first deaf woman to win this award she is also the youngest actress. -
Deaf President Now
Beginning on March 6, 1988 and ending on March 13, 1988, the Deaf President Now protest demanded the appointment of a Deaf President for Gallaudet University. The protest resulted in the appointment of I. King Jordan as the first deaf president of Gallaudet. -
De'VIA
Deaf Art Movement began at Gallaudet University. De'VIA is characterized by the shared experiences of the Deaf Community as it experienced at the hands of the hearing population and a celebration of the Deaf spirit, pride, community and sign language. -
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Not Deaf Enough
Despite being deaf from early childhood, Dr. Jane Fernandes' nomination to the presidency of Gallaudet University was protested because she had not learned ASL until adulthood and seemed out of touch with the students she was to serve. The unlike the earlier DPN protest, this protest resulted in the arrest of 133 protestors and the appointment of Robert Davila to become interim president.
