Category Archives: Deaf Culture Resources

Recommended Reading: THE INVENTION OF MIRACLES by Katie Booth

Deaf Culture Resources, Resources for Educators and Librarians, Reviews

The Invention of Miracles: Language, Power, and Alexander Graham Bell’s Quest to End DeafnessThe Invention of Miracles: Language, Power, and Alexander Graham Bell’s Quest to End Deafness by Katie Booth
Summary: When Alexander Graham Bell first unveiled his telephone to the world, it was considered miraculous. But few people know that it was inspired by another supposed miracle: his work teaching the deaf to speak. The son of one deaf woman and husband to another, he was motivated by a desire to empower deaf people by integrating them into the hearing world, but he ended up becoming their most powerful enemy, waging a war against Sign Language and Deaf culture that still rages today. The Invention of Miracles tells the dual stories of Bell’s remarkable, world-changing invention and his dangerous ethnocide of Deaf culture and language. It also charts the rise of Deaf activism and tells the triumphant tale of a community reclaiming a once-forbidden language. Inspired by her mixed hearing/Deaf family, Katie Booth has researched this story for over a decade, poring over Bell’s papers, Library of Congress archives, and the records of deaf schools around America. Witnessing the damaging impact of Bell’s legacy on her family set her on a path that upturned everything she thought she knew about language, power, deafness, and technology.

Unlike many hearing people, I already knew quite a bit about the deep harm wrought by Bell’s crusade for oralism before reading this book. I knew that he had a deaf wife and a deaf mother, and I always wondered how he could have done so much to work against the Deaf community. I expected to be horrified by Bell’s work with eugenics, his attempts to prevent deaf people from intermarrying, and his disregard of the lived experienced and knowledge of deaf people – and I was horrified. What I didn’t expect was to find some measure of understanding for how Bell could have gone so wrong, for how the best of intentions, combined with the massive renown and wealth resulting from his invention of the telephone, led to decades of trauma for the Deaf community. Booth’s study of Bell’s life gives the full story, from the perspective of the Deaf community – which is too often missing from narratives of Bell’s work. Within the rigorous historical study is seated a deeply personal narrative as well, as the author explores her own place as a hearing granddaughter of Deaf grandparents, and what lessons Bell’s dismissal of the Deaf perspective has for all hearing members of the community.

Booth explores Bell’s greatest sin – disregarding the Deaf community’s perspective and wisdom. So it is deeply ironic that the book never capitalizes “Deaf” when referring to Deaf culture or the Deaf community – which has long been the stated preference of the Deaf community. I know too much about the publishing process to suppose that this was the author’s choice; more likely it was a battle that the publisher’s stylesheet won. But it is a distracting and disrespectful detail in what is otherwise an important scholarly work as well as an intensely readable biography.

THE INVENTION OF MIRACLES is out now.

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Recommended Reading: THE BUTTERFLY CAGE by Rachel Zemach

Deaf Culture Resources, Resources for Educators and Librarians, Reviews

The Butterfly CageThe Butterfly Cage by Rachel Zemach
Summary: A tender and perspective-shifting book that offers a rare level of understanding about the subtle and no-so-subtle layers of internalized oppression and deep feelings and dilemmas of Deaf people, written by former Deaf teacher Rachel Zemach. This mesmerizing, funny, and disruptive narrative invites you to be a fly on the wall in a Deaf classroom at a hearing school, experiencing the immense frustration, unbridled joy, and indelible humor that arise for Deaf adults and children in a hearing environment. Rachel struggles with staff, administration, and aides who sabotage her efforts at every turn. The students contend with a principal who removes their textbooks, intercom announcements that are totally inaccessible and a system that renders them all defenseless against these dysfunctional and often absurd forces. You’ll meet seven-year-old Laszlo, the brilliant, language-hungry boy who will capture your heart, and the political, fiercely intelligent elite members of the Deaf community who rally to change legislation after his life takes a shocking turn at age sixteen when he makes a heart-wrenching decision. In a series of short, distinctive chapters, Zemach shares her personal Deafhood journey, poignant scenes from the classroom, shocking individualized education meetings and their impact, and the larger political and historical picture surrounding Deaf education.

I LOVE this book. Honestly, I want to shove it into the hands of hearing people on the street and say, “Read this! Just read this, and maybe, maybe, you’ll start to understand.” Zemach introduces so many important concepts and historical moments that are crucial for understanding the Deaf world – and lends immediacy, context, and humanity to those abstract concepts by grounding them in her own story. She brings her classroom to life before our eyes, showing the wonder and promise of her Deaf students, and the mainstream education system that failed them time and time again. As a teacher/librarian/camp counselor and director who has worked with Deaf kids for many years, I was entranced at how well she shows how much Deaf kids ROCK. Zemach’s writing is lovely, filled with beautiful turns of phrase, elegant descriptions, and, when necessary, unpleasant but very necessary truths.

THE BUTTERFLY CAGE is out now. For more information, visit https://rachelzemach.com.

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Cogswell-Macy Act Reintroduced in Congress

Deaf Culture Resources

The following text is shared from a press release from the American Society of Deaf Children and will be of interest to anyone who supports educational access for all students.

A blue circle in the center of the graphic reads: COGSWELL-MACY ACT. In the uppper left corner is a photo of a white girl with blond hair studying something in her hand. In the upper right corner is a photo of a girl with olive skin and black hair writing something. In the bottom left corner is a photo of a Black boy with close-cropped black hair. He is looking at a page that an adult is pointing to. In the bottom right corner is a picture of a white woman with blond hair who is smiling at a child whose face is obscured by the circle of text.

Named for the first deaf student to be formally educated in the U.S. and for Helen Keller’s beloved teacher, respectively, the Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act was created to strengthen the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and improve services and education opportunities for deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, and deaf-blind children, including those with additional disabilities.

We are proud to share the news that as of September 27, 2023, the Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act has officially been reintroduced in both the U.S. House and Senate.

As a nation, we have come a long way in providing education for children who are deaf/hard of hearing, visually impaired/blind, or deafblind. There is much to be proud of, and there are many success stories.

Still, many children continue to have unmet educational needs. The stories about opportunities lost are harder to share but deserve attention to improve your child’s future. If a child has a significant physical or intellectual disability, it is not uncommon for deafness, blindness, or deafblindness to be underreported and subsequently unaddressed. If we do not act, we accept that many students will continue to be underrepresented and underserved.

Key points of the CMA:

  • Increase training for teachers and other special education professionals so they are qualified to work with deaf, hard of hearing, and DeafBlind students.
  • Require more appropriate and specific data tracking through appropriate evaluations and assessments, which will give us better data and information to best support our deaf, hard of hearing, and DeafBlind students.
  • Encourage states to develop quality improvement services, such as requiring language goals to include measured progress in acquiring American Sign Language (ASL) as well as English, which leads to national expectations for quality services for deaf, hard of hearing, and DeafBlind students.
  • Protection for special education placements for DHH and DB students, including deaf schools and deaf programs for DHH students.
  • Require interpreter training programs to prepare students for the educational interpreting field and move them towards educational interpreting licensure.

Educate everyone! Invite them to explore the full text of the Cogswell/Macy Act

Click here to learn how to advocate and show your support for this important legislation!

Clerc and Gallaudet Week: A Message from Friends of Libraries for Deaf Action

Deaf Culture Resources, In the Community, Online Resources, Resources for Educators and Librarians

Public Release from Friends of Libraries for Deaf Action!  FOLDA!                       

Celebrate! Clerc and Gallaudet Week: December 3-10, 2022.  

Two visionary leaders in American Deaf Education and the birth of American Sign Language, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet (hearing) and Laurent Clerc  (Deaf), co-founders of the first-kind American School for the Deaf, were born in the month of December, Gallaudet on Dec 10, 1787, Clerc on Dec 26, 1785. December 3 is also International Day of Persons with Disabilities (est.1992) and December 10 is Humans Rights Day (est. 1948).  Such International Days have been proclaimed annually by the General Assembly of the United Nations, joined by the White House and US President.

World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) est. 1951
The WFD, located in Helsinki, Finland realizes the human rights of the Deaf with many cultures to quality education and knowledge of pioneers and deaf historical events that change the world. From Abbe Charles Michel de L’Épée of Paris (the 1760s) to the infamous Milan (Italy) Conference (1880) to the Dark age of Deaf Education globally ever since, and much more.

The Values of Deaf History                                                                                               The FOLDA mission is to promote full library access and quality deaf cultural resources for the Deaf Community, and all, nationally and globally. http://www.foldadeaf.net/

FOLDA believes that knowledge of the past is crucially important to the well-being of individuals, communities, and the future of all nations.  “There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know,” is a famous quote by Harry S. Truman, 34th US President.

In this case, members of both the deaf communities and the library communities should not assume that the general public, especially most government agencies, know about the Americans with Disabilities Act signed into federal law on July 26, 1990.   And also, the Deaf Culture Digital Library (DCDL) was signed into state law on May 15, 2014, by Maryland Governor as well as the  Deaf History Month,  March 13 to April 15 signed into state law by Ohio Governor on December 6, 2017.

FOLDA encourages OSD (National Organizations that Serve the Deaf ) – their affiliates, chapters, and the related local communities of the nation to ask local public libraries about using their meeting room for presenting a deaf cultural program observing  Clerc-Gallaudet Week, December 3-10, 2022.   If the date is too close, then plan for March 13 – April 15, 2023.

Members with an interest to create a program at a local public library should let their organizational president know. 

In this case, please email your program announcement before November 15, 2022, to FOLDA via ahagemeyer@gmail.com. 

The general purpose of such annual deaf events presented at the public library in local communities of the nation, the Deaf with many cultures would be able to work together to build an inclusive library community engagement in local communities of the nation, and globally.

 A Brief History

In November 1972, John A. Love, Governor of Colorado declared what we call today Deaf History Month.  It was then called “Deaf Awareness Week.”  The first movers and shakers of such a first-ever event were David Anthony and Jerome Moers of the Colorado Association of the Deaf.

Two years later in December 1974, then the  DC Executive Office (now of Mayor) declared what we call today Clerc-Gallaudet Week, December 3-10.  Originally called “Deaf Awareness Week” was launched by the District of Columbia Public Library, later followed by “Deaf Action Week” and “Deaf Heritage Week,” in partnership with the NAD and DC Deaf Community. The library staff who took sign class with two Deaf co-workers, Alice L. Hagemeyer and Ida Mapes, took the responsibility for the week’s agenda, and was a big success.

In  1989,  FOLDA suggested changing it to Clerc-Gallaudet Week and to add a new annual event, National Deaf History Month, from March 13 to April 15.  NAD board approved of it.

Later we made December 3 – December 10 the official week date.  December 3 and December 10 are the International Day of People with Disabilities and of Human Rights as proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1992 and 1948 respectively.

The purpose of National Deaf History Month, March 13 -April 15 is to recognize three turning points in America’s history dating back to April 15, 1817 – The first public school for the Deaf opens in Hartford, CT; April 8, 1864 – Gallaudet University, the world’s first institution dedicated to advanced education for the Deaf and March 13, 1988 – The first Deaf president ever hired in Gallaudet’s 124 years history which led to the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into federal law two years later on July 26, 1990.

In 2005 and 2006, the NAD and the American Library Association (ALA) endorsed National Deaf History Month, March 13 – April 15, respectively.

Maryland’s Deaf Culture Digital Library launches guide for libraries

Deaf Culture Resources, Online Resources

The Maryland Deaf Culture Digital Library, the result of a bill that was passed into law, is the “first stop” information center that will provide Maryland residents, local public library staff, college and university librarians and other libraries in the state of Maryland with access to:

  • online resources on deaf culture,
  • a comprehensive electronic collection of deaf resources,
  • deaf cultural programs, and
  • training programs for library staff.

While the DCDL’s services are still being developed, it has created an online guide for library patrons and staff alike, featuring resources about Deaf Culture, American Sign Language, accessibility, and more.  Find the Deaf Culture Digital Library resource guide here.

An Interview with Nancy Churnin, author of THE WILLIAM HOY STORY

Deaf Culture Resources, Picture Books About ASL and Deafness
A few days ago, I posted my review of Nancy Churnin’s terrific new picture book, The William Hoy Story.  Today, I am excited to share an interview with the author herself!
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.About the Book:

The William Hoy Story: How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game
By Nancy Churnin
Illustrated by Jez Tuya
All William Ellsworth Hoy wanted to do was play baseball. After losing out on a spot on the local deaf team, William practiced even harder—eventually earning a position on a professional team. But his struggle was far from over. In addition to the prejudice Hoy faced, he could not hear the umpires’ calls. One day he asked the umpire to use hand signals: strike, ball, out. That day he not only got on base but also changed the way the game was played forever. William “Dummy” Hoy became one of the greatest and most beloved players of his time! 

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About the Author

Nancy Churnin is the author of five non-fiction picture book biographies. Her debut, The William Hoy Story: How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game, published by Albert Whitman & Company in March 2016, received a glowing review in The New York Times and was featured in People magazine and USA Today Sports Weekly. William Hoy is a 2017 Storytelling World Resource Award Honor Book and a 2017 North Texas Book Festival Best Children’s Books finalist and is on several book lists: the 2016 New York Public Library Best Books for Kids; the 2017 Texas Library Association 2×2 Reading List and Topaz Nonfiction Reading List; the 2017 Best Children’s Books of the Year, Bank Street College and the 2018 Illinois Monarch Award Master List. Her second book, Manjhi Moves a Mountain (Creston Books), will be published Sept. 1, 2017 and is a fall 2017 Junior Library Guild selection. Coming up in 2018: Charlie Takes His Shot, How Charlie Sifford Broke the Color Barrier in Golf (Albert Whitman); Irving Berlin, the Immigrant Boy Who Made America Sing (Creston Books); The Princess and the First Christmas Tree (Albert Whitman). When she’s not writing children’s books, Nancy keeps busy as the theater critic for The Dallas Morning News. She lives in Texas with her husband, Michael Granberry, their four sons and two cats.
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The Interview

How did you first become interested in the story of William Hoy?
I am the theater critic for The Dallas Morning News. After I wrote a story about a fascinating play being staged at a local high school in Garland, Texas called The Signal Season of Dummy Hoy by Allen Meyer and Michael Nowak, I received a thank you e-mail from Steve Sandy of Ohio. I thanked him for his email and asked why someone from Ohio would be interested in a story about a play in a high school in Garland, Texas. Steve wrote me that he is deaf and shared his dream that more people, hearing and deaf, would know the story about this great deaf hero. Steve told me of his dream that William Hoy would be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, where he would be the first deaf player honored there. The more we discussed this, the more I knew Steve was right. I tried to figure out what I could do to help. That’s when I got the idea that if I wrote a children’s book about William Hoy, the children would help us. And so far, they have. I have personally delivered more than 800 letters from kids to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, which have been entered into his official file in the Hall of Fame library.
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What kind of research did you do while writing the story?
Steve Sandy is a friend of the Hoy family and he shared all the precious things they had entrusted with him: copies of original letters, newspaper articles, photos. Also very important: Steve gave me an education on what it was like to grow up deaf in the 19th century as William Hoy had. He sent me papers about the international conference of deaf educators in Milan in 1880, when a declaration was made that oral education was better than signing. William Hoy never spoke. He always signed. This helped me understand and be even more in awe of the enormity of what he accomplished — bringing sign language to baseball and succeeding with pride and even a sense of humor on his own terms. In addition to Steve’s help, I am very indebted to Eric Nadel, the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame announcer, who is incredibly knowledgeable about baseball history. He double-checked my baseball references and was kind enough to write a blurb for the back of the book and to read it to kids at Texas Ranger story time sessions.
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Were there any interesting tidbits about Hoy that didn’t make it into the story?

So many! One of the reasons it took me as long as it did to get to the final draft of this story (13 years, but who’s counting), was to figure out how to focus the story. I was able to add some anecdotes to the back matter, but I find kids enjoy hearing stories that didn’t make it into the book. I’ve got lots of stories, but my favorite one that didn’t make it is about his honesty. William was an amazing outfielder who made incredible catches. One day he was out in centerfield and the ball comes in very low. He catches it. The umpire calls the runner out. William shakes his head. No. The ball hit the ground. The runner was safe. One of the players on his team threw his cap on the ground because he was so mad! Years later, at the end of William’s life, a reporter asked him what his proudest moment in baseball was. William Hoy set a lot of records over the years. He even hit a grand slam to help the Chicago White Sox win the American pennant in 1901. But his proudest moment? The one where he let the umpire know the runner was safe.
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Your book presents a very human, relatable portrait of Hoy. How did you navigate the challenges of creating a story full of moving details while keeping it historically accurate?
I realized I needed to figure out what William’s dream was, how he had achieved that dream and what he and we could learn from his journey. His dream was to play baseball. He achieved his dream through persistence, hard work and realizing that the very thing that made him different from his teammates — his deafness — was his gift. His mother applauding him in sign language in the beginning of the book returns as a memory to help him in the middle of the book when he can’t seem to connect with his teammates, the opposing team or the fans. The signs not only help him succeed in making those connections and being a successful baseball player, they make baseball a better game. Finally, the sign for applause becomes a way for the fans to show their love for him. I followed my instincts in writing the story. I went back and checked with Steve Sandy and Eric Nadel to make sure I hadn’t written anything that wasn’t historically accurate. I am so happy that the book has their blessing and the blessing of the Hoy family.
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In the book’s acknowledgements, you mention that you are on the “Hoy for the Hall” Committee, campaigning to get William Hoy inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY.  Please tell us more about the campaign and how readers can support it!
This book got its start with my determination to help Steve achieve his dream of getting William Hoy in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Everywhere I present the book I ask kids if they think he should be in the Hall of Fame. They do! Then I ask them if they will draw pictures or write letters to the Hall of Fame. Some send me copies so I can post on my Facebook pages at Nancy Churnin Children’s Books and Nancy Churnin and on Twitter @nchurnin.  You can find the address for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in the free downloadable teachers guide on the Albert Whitman website.
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Anything else you want readers to know about the book?
This was a labor of love, which kicked off a passion to tell more true stories of people who are not well known, but should be. I have four more children’s books coming out and none of this would have been possible if I had not gotten the opportunity to tell William’s inspiring story. I am so appreciative of Steve and his wife, Bonnie, who have become such good friends to me. I am thankful for the opportunity to get to know wonderful people in the deaf community. It has been my honor and privilege to be interviewed by DPanTV alongside Steve Sandy about William Hoy, which you can see here. I am thrilled about all the people who have taken William Hoy’s story to their hearts and spread the word, through blog posts, reviews, interviews and putting the book on state reading lists because that helps get William’s story in the hands and hearts of more children.
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I recently heard from an 11-year-old boy I met at an airport last summer, waiting to get on a plane. I gave this little boy and his sister a copy of the book, which I autographed. Now, a year later, I received an email from the boy, saying he had been to his native Japan and saw The William Hoy Story in Japanese. He wrote that he found the books “piled up in front of the cashier as selected one of must-read books for 3rd and 4th graders during summer vacation. I was so excited and got one. I love this story!! I just wanted to let you know this great news.Thank you.” A letter like that is everything to me.
 

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Recommended DVD Series: Sign with Robert

Deaf Culture Resources, Resources for Educators and Librarians, Resources for Teens and Adults

I have been writing reviews of ASL materials for School Library Journal for several years now.  Whenever I get a new one, I tense a little with worry – there are some frankly awful sign language DVDs out there.

That’s why it’s such a thrill when I get to review a series that I can review as enthusiastically as this one.  Sign with Robert is well-planned-out, well-executed, and always mindful of the needs of its audience.

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Here’s some of what I had to say in my review:

“This excellent series goes far beyond the usual introductions to American Sign Language (ASL) to create value for multiple audiences. Deaf actor and educator Robert DeMayo brings his native ASL fluency to the demonstrations of signs and discussion of culture, and the series features a clean visual style that keeps the focus on the language. The vocabulary segments go into far greater depth than most ASL materials, making the series valuable to advanced signers and interpreters as well as beginners.”

Sign with Robert is available as a 10-volume series, or by individual discs or streaming episodes.  Voiceovers and open captions are used where necessary to make sure everyone has access.

 

Update on Maryland’s Deaf Culture Digital Library

Deaf Culture Resources, Resources for Educators and Librarians

The following is shared with permission.

DEAF CULTURE DIGITAL LIBRARY FACT SHEET

February 2016

The Maryland State Department of Education/Division of Library Development and Services and Montgomery County Public Libraries would like to share information on the progress of the Deaf Culture Digital Library.

The Deaf Culture Digital Library, the result of a bill that was passed into law, is the “first stop” information center that will provide Maryland residents, local public library staff, college and university librarians and other libraries in the state of Maryland with access to online resources on deaf culture, a comprehensive electronic collection of deaf resources, deaf cultural programs, and training programs for library staff.

Current Status

* The groundwork to formalize the foundation of the Deaf Cultural Digital Library is in progress. A letter of agreement between the Maryland State Department of Education/Division of Library Development and Services and Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL) is in progress.
* The job descriptions are currently being written and refined.

* The Division of Library Development and Services (DLDS) is working with MCPL to establish procedures to formalize the DCDL Advisory Board. DLDS will begin taking applications for membership late February 2016. The majority of board members are required to be deaf or hard of hearing and will be selected from the following entities:

  1. County library systems
  2. The Division of Library Development and Services
  3. The Governor’s Office for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
  4. Statewide deaf and hard of hearing organizations; and,
  5. Other organizations as agreed upon by the Governor’s Office for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Division of Library Development and Services

* Board members will then recruit members for the Deaf Culture Digital Library “Friends of the Library.” These individuals are expected to be strongly committed, well-positioned and able to promote community involvement, advocacy, and funding for the DCDL.

* Additional details will be announced as they become available during the months ahead.

* For more information about the Deaf Culture Digital Library, contact Susan Cohen at 301-637-2964 (videophone) or Irene Padilla, 410-767-0434.

Background

* In the 2012 Regular Session, the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill establishing a Task Force to Study the Establishment of a Deaf Culture Digital Library. http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2012rs/bills/sb/sb0571e.pdf

* In September 2013 the eleven member task force, established to study the feasibility of the DCDL proposal, submitted a report with recommendations to the Governor. The final report to the Governor on the Deaf Culture Digital Library may be seen at: http://tinyurl.com/o3dcb7o.

*On May 15, 2014, the Maryland General Assembly passed the bill to create the Deaf Culture Digital Libraryhttp://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmMain.aspx?id=hb0653&stab=01&pid=billpage&tab=subject3&ys=2014rs.

The credit for the concept of the library goes to numerous advocates including Alice Hagemeyer, Silver Spring Library resident and longtime advocate for the deaf community to have equal access to library services. Ms. Hagemeyer is the president and founder of the Friends of the Library for Deaf Action.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Who selected MCPL as the site of the Deaf Cultural Digital Library?

The Division of Library Development and Services of the Maryland State Department of Education selected Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL) to manage the Deaf Cultural Digital Library (DCDL) for the state of Maryland.
2. Why was MCPL selected as the site of the DCDL?

MCPL was selected as the site of the DCDL due to its long history of providing library services to people who are deaf and hard of hearing including communication access, deaf resources, collections of materials for, by, and about people who are deaf and hard of hearing, and programs featuring deaf authors and speakers on topics related to deaf culture, and coping with hearing level changes due to aging. These services are renowned throughout the State of Maryland and across the nation.
3. Who will take the lead on this project?

Susan Cohen, Librarian II, at Montgomery County Public Libraries, will serve as the DCDL Project Coordinator. Ms. Cohen, who is deaf, has expertise in delivering library services to the deaf and hard of hearing community, deaf resources, and a long history of connections with the deaf and hard of hearing community.
4. How will this library be funded and how many staff will be hired?

State funding for the DCDL includes personnel and other resources. Two full-time library staff members will be hired to help coordinate, organize and monitor the program. The librarian is required to be a deaf or hard of hearing individual, eligible for Professional Public Librarian Certification issued by the State Superintendent of Schools, and knowledgeable about library, literacy and accessibility related issues of deaf and hard of hearing individuals.
5. How will the two staff positions support the DCDL?

Staff members in these positions will help plan and develop deaf cultural programs, give presentations about DCDL to Maryland residents and library staff, showcase library services at deaf conferences, develop and maintain the DCDL website, coordinate training sessions for library staff statewide, and support and facilitate vital statewide partnerships.


6. Where will the DCDL be located?

The DCDL, an online resource, will be available virtually to Maryland residents and library staff throughout the state of Maryland. DCDL staff will be based at the Germantown Library.

References to Legislation and Statute

Task Force Bill (SB 571): http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2012rs/bills/sb/sb0571e.pdf

DCDL Established (HB 653): http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmMain.aspx?id=hb0653&stab=01&pid=billpage&tab=subject3&ys=2014rs

 

Chapter 606: http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2014RS/chapters_noln/Ch_606_hb0653E.pdf

Statute 23-108: http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmStatutesText.aspx?article=ged&section=23-108&ext=html&session=2016RS&tab=subject5

New Developments for Maryland’s Deaf Culture Digital Library

Deaf Culture Resources, In the Community, Resources for Educators and Librarians

Things are moving ahead for Maryland’s Deaf Culture Digital Library, the first of its kind in the country!  Congratulations to Montgomery County Public Library for being selected to host this amazing resource.

Here’s the latest press release:

For Immediate Release: 6/22/2015

Montgomery County Public Libraries Selected to Manage Maryland’s Deaf Culture Digital Library
County Executive Ike Leggett has announced that Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL)has been selected by the Maryland State Division of Library Development and Services (MS-DLDS) as the site of the State’s Deaf Culture Digital Library (DCDL).“This is a true honor for Montgomery County Public Libraries,” Leggett said. “It is a well-deserved recognition of our library system’s long tradition of helping to identify and address the needs of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community for resources, collections, programs and technologies.”

Irene Padilla, assistant state superintendent of Libraries (Division of Library Development and Services) said, “Montgomery County Public Libraries’ services are renowned throughout the state of Maryland and across the nation. We are excited that MCPL has agreed to work with the MS-DLDS to ensure that the Deaf Culture Digital Library is the ‘first stop’ information center that will furnish statewide access to deaf resources. DCDL will provide highly competent assistance to Maryland residents and library staff in local public library systems, academic librarians in colleges and universities, and other libraries in the State of Maryland.”

“It’s a privilege and honor to be selected as a site for the DCDL,” said MCPL Director Parker Hamilton. “The Deaf Culture Digital Library is important to MCPL and the community, because it will improve availability and access to a comprehensive collection on deaf culture and programs that will help lead to better appreciation and awareness of deaf culture and the deaf community. We look forward to making resources more readily available to customers in the State of Maryland.”

The groundwork to formalize the foundation of the Deaf Culture Digital Library will take place in 2016, beginning with formation of the DCDL Advisory Board. The Division of Library Development and Services will begin taking applications for membership on the Board in the fall. The Deaf Culture Digital Library will be staffed with a full-time coordinator and an assistant. Additional details will be announced as they become available during the months ahead.

The final report to the Governor on the Deaf Culture Digital Library may be seen at:
http://tinyurl.com/o3dcb7o.

For more information about the Deaf Culture Digital Library, contact Susan Cohen at 301-637-2964 or Irene Padilla, 410-767-0444.
Release ID: 15-250
Media Contact: Bonnie Ayers 240-777-6507

Searching for Laurent Clerc

Deaf Culture Resources

A few weeks ago I was presenting at a conference in Mystic, Connecticut, so I took the opportunity to drive up to Hartford for the day and follow the Hartford Deaf History trail.  I am an enthusiastic student of Deaf history, so I was excited to see the places I had read about for myself.

(For those who may not know: Hartford, Connecticut is where the first permanent school for the deaf was founded in 1817 and where American Sign Language was born.  Read more at the American School for the Deaf’s website.)

First stop on my tour: Laurent Clerc’s grave.  Laurent Clerc, the brilliant Frenchman who gave up the worldly joys of Paris to come to America with Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and establish a school for deaf children.  Laurent Clerc, the first Deaf teacher in the United States.  Laurent Clerc, without whom ASL and Deaf Culture as we know it surely would not have been possible.

I arrived at Hartford’s Spring Grove cemetery on an unseasonably cold and blustery April day, to find the office closed and no clues to point to where the great man’s grave was in the huge cemetery.  No worries, I thought, the internet will help.

Except that every description of Clerc’s burial place lists the cemetery and nothing else.  Fortunately, there was one picture of the gravesite that happened to show the fence beyond – a useful clue!  Armed with that photo and feeling rather like Dan and Amy Cahill in The 39 Clues, I set off to hunt down the spot. Half an hour later, I found it.

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Now, being a librarian by training, I have to leave some breadcrumbs for other folks.  So here it is:

How to Find Laurent Clerc’s Grave

1) Enter Spring Grove Cemetery at 8035 Main Street, Hartford, CT.  (It is next to a church and the entrance is set back from the street a bit, so easy to miss!)

2) Go down the center road once you get inside the cemetery.

3) Veer to the right.

4) When you see the “Section 1” sign, pull over and park:

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5) Look to your right. You will see a tree and a monument.  The fenced-in area behind the tall monument is the Clerc family plot:

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Unfortunately you cannot approach the grave very closely because the Clerc plot is entirely fenced-in.  The graves of Clerc and his wife Eliza have been given new headstones in recent years, but there are other old stones in the plot that are impossible to read from the other side of the fence.

When I finally found it, I stood outside the fence and signed a message of thanks to Laurent Clerc for all he had done and all the lives he had impacted.  I know that ASL has changed a lot since his time, but I like to think that, wherever he is, he understood.