Deaf History Month

Each year from March 13 to April 15 deaf people across the United States celebrate Deaf History Month. Deaf History Month is a time for deaf people to celebrate and remember the major events, the major accomplishments, and the influential people in the Deaf community of the United States.
Deaf History Month begins on March 13th. March 13th is the anniversary of when Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. named its first deaf president. Gallaudet University was established in 1864, but it wasn’t until 1988, 124 years later that Gallaudet University had its first deaf president. Gallaudet University is the only university in the world for deaf and hard of hearing people.
Deaf History Month concludes on April 15th. On April 15, 1817 the first school for the deaf, the American School for the Deaf, was opened in Hartford, CT. The American School for the Deaf is still open today.
These were two pivotal events in the history of deafness in the United States. Before the American School for the Deaf was opened, deaf children were either educated at home or not at all. Now they had a place to go for education. Since that time many schools for the deaf opened across the United States. Before 1988, only people who could hear were named president of Gallaudet. Deaf students and employees of the University deemed this unfair and began a weeklong protest that led to the naming of the first deaf president at Gallaudet. The students felt it was unfair for a hearing person to be making decisions about the education of deaf people. They felt that deaf people should be making the decisions that affect deaf people.
Over the years, there have been many people who have had a major impact on deaf people in the United States. One of those people was Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. He has been called the Father of Deaf Education. Thomas H. Gallaudet was born in 1787. In 1814 he met his neighbor girl, Alice Cogswell. Alice was deaf. Thomas took an interest in the little girl and began to work with her and teach her. Alice’s father persuaded Gallaudet to travel to Europe and learn about teaching deaf children. Gallaudet first went to England but none of the deaf school there were willing to share their teaching methods with him. He then traveled to Paris where he visited the Paris School for the Deaf. Here he learned about using sign language to teach deaf children. He also met a teacher named Laurent LeClerc. He convinced LeClerc to return the United States with him. On April 15, 1817 Gallaudet and LeClerc opened the first school for the deaf, the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, CT. This was the first school for the deaf in the United States. One of the first students to attend was Alice Cogswell. Over the years since it opened, the American School of the Deaf has educated thousands of deaf students.
This just one of many events and one of many people that Deaf people in the United States will remember and celebrate in the upcoming month.