Date/Time and Location

-

Deaf History Month celebrates the contributions and accomplishments the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. In 2022, based on the feedback from the NAD Deaf Culture and History Section (DCHS) and various stakeholders, including from organizations that represent marginalized communities within the Deaf Community, the NAD Board changed the recognition dates of Deaf History Month to April 1-30 (it was previously recognized from mid-March to mid-April). This change was done to ensure that the NAD was looking at the history of the Deaf community through a broader lens, one that encompassed the lived experiences of BIPOC Deaf People. 

Did you know...

  1. Plains Indian Sign Language used by Indigenous Deaf people was first documented by Spanish Settlers in the 1500s. It is now considered an endangered language due to American Sign Language being pushed heavily as the standard sign language in the United States.
  2. Alexander Bell (the inventor of the telephone) was heavily involved in and negatively influenced the educational system for Deaf children by pushing oralism (the suppression of sign language and the forced use of spoken english and lipreading by Deaf children). 
  3. There are five types of American Sign Language: American Sign (ASL), Black American Sign Language (BASL), Pidgin Signed English (PSE), Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL), and Signed Exact English (SEE).
  4. The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) prohibited Black membership for 40 years until 1965, a year after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed.
  5. The development of closed captions for the Deaf begins in the early 1970s; the first TV program to include captions is Julia Child's "The French Chef" in 1972. 
  6. The first White Deaf and Hard of Hearing School was founded in 1817 in Connecticut. 
  7. The first Black Deaf School was founded in 1839 in North Carolina and the Black Deaf community was segregated until after the 1960s.
  8. In 1982, Michael A. Chatoff became the first Deaf lawyer to argue before the United States Supreme Court.
  9. Gallaudet University didn't have a Deaf President of the University until 1988 after students protested for Deaf representation at the leadership level.