Baltimore's Deaf Heritage
5/5
()
About this ebook
Kathleen Brockway
Kathleen Brockway, the deaf author, is an advocate for digital and historical preservation. DAD provided tremendous support. DAD and Kathleen, inspired by the stories of the deaf heritage in metro Detroit, were determined to share them in this book with the public.
Related to Baltimore's Deaf Heritage
Related ebooks
The Last Deaf Club in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSupporting Deaf Culture Whilst Looking for a Cure: Conflicting Responses to Deafness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeaf Diaspora: The Third Wave of Deaf Ministry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeafchurch 21: Vision for a New Generation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeaf Lit Extravaganza Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Moving Miss Peggy: A Story of Dementia, Courage and Consolation Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Deaf in the USSR: Marginality, Community, and Soviet Identity, 1917-1991 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsQueer Hands of God Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHoly Bible English Version for the Deaf, New Testament Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDon’T Talk with Your Mouth Full: 100 Tips to Sign Language Sanity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Book of Isaias: A Child of Hispanic Immigrants Seeks His Own America Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Don't Just "Sign..". Communicate!: A Student's Guide to the Deaf Experience Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSigning the Body Poetic: Essays on American Sign Language Literature Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Trials of Radclyffe Hall Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Church for All Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Short Stories in Spanish for Beginners Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Boys Who Woke Up Early Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Sociolinguistics of the Deaf Community Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlone I Made the Signs of My Way Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Nutcracker and the Mouse-King Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Sound of Silence: Growing Up Hearing with Deaf Parents Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No Safe Space: My Journey From Little Black Boy to Black Gay Man in America: The Genesis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThat's the Way It Was: Stories of Struggle, Survival and Self-Respect in Twentieth-Century Black St. Louis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSuffolk Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAfrican Americans of Davidson County Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Jewish Community of South Philadelphia Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Upper Tanana Dene: People of This Land Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Life of a Native American Indian Child - US History Books | Children's American History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWomen of Achievement: Written for the Fireside Schools Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
United States Travel For You
A Haunted Road Atlas: Sinister Stops, Dangerous Destinations, and True Crime Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Solace of Open Spaces: Essays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer: An Edgar Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dakota: A Spiritual Geography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One Man's Wilderness, 50th Anniversary Edition: An Alaskan Odyssey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fodor's Bucket List USA: From the Epic to the Eccentric, 500+ Ultimate Experiences Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings50 Great American Places: Essential Historic Sites Across the U.S. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Magical Power of the Saints: Evocation and Candle Rituals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Forest Walking: Discovering the Trees and Woodlands of North America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fodor's New Orleans Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Huckleberry Finn Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fodor's Best Road Trips in the USA: 50 Epic Trips Across All 50 States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lake Superior Rocks & Minerals Field Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow To Be Alone: an 800-mile hike on the Arizona Trail Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Deepest South of All: True Stories from Natchez, Mississippi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsConnecticut Witch Trials: The First Panic in the New World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Looking for Alaska Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fodor’s Alaska Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Assassination Vacation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Side of Disney Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Solomon's Builders: Freemasons, Founding Fathers and the Secrets of Washington D.C. Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Fodor's The Complete Guide to the National Parks of the West: with the Best Scenic Road Trips Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBirds of Florida Field Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAnne Rice's Unauthorized French Quarter Tour: Anne Rice Unauthorized Tours Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Reviews for Baltimore's Deaf Heritage
1 rating0 reviews
Book preview
Baltimore's Deaf Heritage - Kathleen Brockway
(YSC).
INTRODUCTION
In 1879, at the urging of family friends, James Sullivan Wells (48) and his family—his three small children Clarissa, Fannie, and Helen and his wife, Fannie F. DeLespine Wells—decided to move to Baltimore, which was a new place for them away from their native New York City. By then, the Deaf community in Baltimore was starting to boom, and Deaf Baltimoreans were beginning to spend time together and worship together. Soon after Wells’s arrival, he and his close family friend William Barry drew many into a group that attracted George W. Veditz, Frank and George Leitner, and many others. All became fast friends and leaders in the community, establishing events, organizations, and activities. Wells was the beginning of a three-generation family of Deaf leaders, which joined others to work together to fight for Deaf driving rights, Deaf political rights, and more. Some lived on farms, and some lived in row houses in the busy city.
Religions were varied in the Deaf community. Nonetheless, they all got together on a frequent basis, even on occasions like Easter Sunday church services, either outdoors or indoors. Getting together created a comfort zone, and they celebrated events in sign language. Deaf Jewish individuals did not always get together at the temple; instead, they hosted parties for the Deaf. In the 1800s and 1900s, the temples and other churches were difficult to attend due to the lack of interpreters and resources.
Education was important to every parent of a deaf child. Only one local school accepted deaf children under age five of all religions, the Catholic School in Baltimore. Some others received private tutoring. Schools were split in signing and oral methods, leaving it up to parents to make decisions about where to place their children. Some were sent to MSD, an all-state-expenses school that children traveled to by horse coach, train, or vehicle. Traveling to MSD was considered a long trip, so children had to stay and live on the campus, seeing their families infrequently during their school years. There was also an oral school in Baltimore that forbade sign language. Some grew up attending that school and went on to their local high schools, which did not have any interpreters. The Black Deaf community at the time had very limited choices, as students could only attend the Kendall School in Washington, DC, or the Maryland School for Deaf Colored Youths in Baltimore. Some may have not been educated at all, and worked only with their families. At the time, the Kendall School was known to teach orally. Some students paid tuition fees, while others were covered by the state if they got the government’s permission. One of the first black Deaf teachers in America, Harry Leonard Johns, was from Baltimore. He taught at the Texas School for the Deaf (TSD) before returning to Baltimore, joining his deaf brother Leonard Carroll Johns in a large family on the Ostend Street.
Organizations were already starting to form by 1884. Some were set for a purpose, such as socializing, reunions, religion, political groups to fight for Deaf rights, and many more. In the 1800s and 1900s, the annual reunion cookout was a popular activity, and attendees enjoyed participating in the games and winning prizes. Games included baseball, horseshoes, and others. Groups rode the ferry together from the Maryland mainland to Bay Ridge for the cookout and swim at the beach. A bridge was built to Bay Ridge in the late 1950s.
Baseball, boxing, football, and soccer were popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s at the Deaf schools. Later, in the late 1900s, softball games were established so Deaf teams could enjoy the challenge of playing against hearing teams. Some had to pay out of their own pockets or raise money to play. In the mid-1900s, deaf adults started to form city basketball teams to play against Gallaudet or MSD. Many teams did not practice in those days; they just went to the games, warmed up, and played. For the Black Deaf community, popular activities included attending social clubs at volunteers’ homes and going bowling in their best outfits. Many in the Black Deaf community could not afford certain things, including taking pictures to remember fun activities. However, Methodist Deaf Church, which later became Christ Deaf Church, welcomed them to join for worshipping.
Often, families with deaf children were split between signing and oral communication methods. Some parents forbade their deaf children to communicate by signing. Gestures were often used in limited communication if signing was not permitted. A few did manage to learn finger spelling or some signs to stay close with their Deaf siblings. In the 1900s, the city of Baltimore became more willing to listen and adapt to Deaf rights, such as allowing independent Deaf driving. Much appreciated in the fight for rights was the assistance of children of