Deaf History

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bboyjfire

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So I need a history lesson ... does anyone know what is like being deaf during the 1910s or 1920s?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
 
1910s or 1920s? ummm... Well, all I can tell you that deaf people had some hard life during the 1800's and 1900's, They thought deaf are not capable to learn, they labeled them deaf-mutes, mutes, deaf and dumb. Then Sign langauge came along then was banned in schools for the deaf right up until 1970's, when Total Communication came along. The reason they banned sign language is because they stated that oral method (Alexander G, Bell founded the oralism movement, I think around the 1870's or so) was the best choice for the deaf people, to learn to speak, and lip reading. So, oralist moment won even when the sign supporters tried to get their voices heard, it failed. So, deaf people were force to learn oral until the 1970 as I mention above.

You can catch a movie at a library which called "Through deaf eyes" It basically tells you some things that you need to know about the deaf history, their language and how sign language were banned. Or any books about deaf history, I can't remember everything, but I tried at least say what I remembered reading. :lol:
 
bboyjfire said:
So I need a history lesson ... does anyone know what is like being deaf during the 1910s or 1920s?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
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As the stories has been passed down generation to generation among these deaf communities - I've been told over and over again during that time, it was pretty tough for a deaf person because of the communication barrier. Oralism was heavily enforced during that era. Signing was pretty much forbidden and if one was caught signing in the classrooms, The teacher would be using a stick of a wood ruler to smack on the hands (Ouch! That's gotta hurt!) and there were various types of corporal punishment for that as well.

If you're interested - I'd recommend you to read this book Deaf Heritage: A Narrative History of Deaf America. This book is kind of old as it was published some time during the early 80's or so - BUT - it still has tons and tons of rich information about the history of the Deaf Culture, Folklore, Controversial Topics among the Deaf Community, Deaf Education, so and on. It is definitely a good read. You can find this book on Amazon.com :)
 
I would also reccomend the books Damned for their Difference, When the Mind Hears, & The Mask of Benevolence.
 
I read somewhere that deaf people in the 1910s enjoyed going to movies before audio was invented.
 
shel90 said:
I read somewhere that deaf people in the 1910s enjoyed going to movies before audio was invented.
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My dad talked about that. Deaf people were a big audience, and sometimes it was funny if the actors were really saying quite obsene things instead of what the dialog cards said.
The studios started to regulate them when some deaf people complained as they could tell what they were saying. (This is history according to my dad, not official.)
 
what was the name of that documentary that was on PBS not too long ago, about deaf people?
 
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