Re: Deaf Culture Assignment

Francisco Goya (1746-1828) was a Spanish painter and printmaker who, as an adult, contracted cholera and a high fever that left him deaf. He found much success in his artistic career which included serving as the court painter to the Spanish royalty. After his illness and the French invasion of Spain in 1808, Goya's paintings took on a darker tone with illustrations of war, destruction and other scenes that exhibited a bleak representation of humanity. Today his work can be found in prestigious art museums around the world as well as a museum that bears his name in France.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_goya

Re: Deaf Culture Assignment

Connie Brisco is a well-known contemporary deaf author and former managing editor of the American Annals of the Deaf. She had mild hearing loss as a child which later progressed to a complete loss of hearing in her 20's. The majority of her adult life was spent without her hearing until she received a cochlear implant in 2003. Ms. Briscoe published her first novel in 1994. She has written seven books to date.

Re: Deaf Culture Assignment

Significant Scots
Walter Geikie



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GEIKIE, WALTER.—It has often been observed, that the Scottish national character abounds in contradictions. Poetical though it be, it has never produced a Milton; and in spite of all its wisdom and sagacity, it has not as yet exhibited a first-rate statesman. The same inconsistency is perceptible in the fine arts; so that, in spite of the imaginative and the humorous, by which that character is distinguished, Scotland has been barren of caricaturists. From the time of Hogarth to that of H. B., England has so plentifully abounded with such artists as to be eminently the land of caricature delineation; but Scotland, with all its shrewd observation, its perception of the ludicrous, and quiet love of fun, which constitute the chief elements in this department of pictorial art, has as yet produced no specimens of it except those of poor Walter Geikie—the very man, too, be it observed, from whom, on account of his physical disqualifications, productions of this kind were least to be expected.


Walter Geikie, whose droll and homely sketches are to be found upon the table of every Edinburgh drawing-room, was the son of Mr. Archibald Geikie, perfumer, and was born in Charles Street, George Square, Edinburgh, on the 9th November, 1795. Before he had completed his second year, he was attacked by a dangerous ear disease; and although he recovered, it was at the expense of being deaf and dumb for life. It was too much the fashion at this time in Scotland to consider dumbies as incapable of education, so that they were generally allowed to go at large, and vegetate as they best might; but happily, Walter was the son of a pious and intelligent father, who had a better sense of his paternal responsibility: he taught his bereaved boy the alphabet, so that the latter not only learned to read, but to understand what he read. Writing and arithmetic followed, in which Walter showed himself an apt scholar. When he had thus acquired the rudiments of education, it happened, fortunately for him, that Mr. Braidwood, the successful teacher of the deaf and dumb, was invited to Edinburgh, to open an institution there, and Geikie became one of his earliest pupils. In this new school the boy’s proficiency was so rapid that he was soon employed as a monitor. He showed also that he was no mere common-place learner, for he was in the practice of writing down extracts of the passages that best pleased him in the authors whose works he perused. While he was thus storing his mind with knowledge, and qualifying himself, notwithstanding his defects, for a life of usefulness, his path was determined.


While yet a child, he had been in the practice of cutting out representations of the objects that struck him on paper; afterwards he had attempted to portray them with chalk on floors and walls; and rising higher still in pictorial art, he at length betook himself to the use of the pencil. He did not, however, satisfy himself, like other young sketchers, with merely copying the pictures of others: instead of this, he would be satisfied with nothing short of the original object; and therefore he often roamed about the suburbs of Edinburgh, or among the fields, transferring into his note-book whatever most pleased his fancy. This was the form of language in which he found he could best express himself, and therefore it is not to be wondered at that he should cultivate it so carefully. At the age of fourteen he was sent to learn drawing by regular rule, under Mr. Patrick Gibson, and such was his progress, that in 1812 he was admitted a pupil of the Academy of Drawing, established for the encouragement of Scottish manufactures, where he had for his preceptor Mr. Graham, the teacher of Allan and Wilkie.


By this course of training the future profession of Walter Geikie was confirmed. He was to be an artist; and it remained to be seen in what department his excellence was to consist. It was not certainly in painting, for he soon discovered that his attempts in oil were decidedly inferior to those of others in warmth and harmony of colouring; and although his "Itinerant Fiddlers," "All Hallow Fair," and the "Grassmarket," now in the collection at Hopetoun House, were the best specimens of his painting in oil, they scarcely exceed the efforts of a mere fourth-rate artist. It was in sketching that he best succeeded, while the subjects of his preference were not the beautiful or the sublime, but the homely and the ludicrous. He would rather sketch a pig-sty than a palace, and an odd face had more attraction in his eyes than all the ideal beauty of the Venus de Medicis. It was upon this predilection that he acted. He hunted about in quest of singular visages, at which, with his ready pencil, he would take a flying shot as he passed along the street; and as such commodities are by no means scarce in Edinburgh, his collection was soon both rich and various. This kind of sportsmanship, however, was not without its dangers, for those who were best fitted for the artist’s purposes were generally the least disposed to have their effigies perpetuated. One amusing incident of this kind is related by his biographer. Geikie had become desperately enamoured of the turned-up nose, rhinoceros upper lip, and pot-belly of a porter of the Grass-market, and longed to appropriate them in such a way as not to impoverish their lawful owner. But the porter, who had seen his hungry look, and suspected his purpose, had continued to dodge him, until one day he found himself all but fixed upon the artist’s paper. Enraged at the discovery, he stormed, swore, and threatened; but Geikie, who was in ecstasy with his rich attitudes, and could not hear the threats, continued the drawing, until he saw his model rushing upon him like a maddened bull in the arena. He took to his heels, but was so hotly pursued that he had to take refuge in a common stair; and the porter, thinking that his tormentor was housed, resolved to await his coming forth. Geikie, in the meantime, who was watching every movement through a dingy window in the stair, contrived to finish his sketch, and crown it with the last touch. But how to get out when his work was finished! This seemed beyond the power of strategy, for there stood his merciless enemy on the watch; and there he remained for hours. Some lucky chance at last called away the bearer of burdens, and Geikie stole from his concealment when he found the coast clear. He had caught the porter, and saved his own bones. The fastidious object of his sketch forms a conspicuous figure in the group of the "Street Auctioneer."


The mirthful spirit of the artist, which drew him so powerfully to congenial subjects, was not confined to drawing; it found vent also in buoyant mimicry, in which he could act the droll characters of his daily search, as well as draw them. In this way, though deprived of the power of utterance, he could deliver jokes that set the company in a roar. It is gratifying also to add, that with all this mirthfulness there was a soundness of moral principle and depth of religious feeling within him that aimed at nobler ends than the harmless amusement of society. From infancy he had received a religious education, and it was all the more endeared to him, perhaps, from the difficulty which he must have found in acquiring those spiritual ideas of which he saw so few visible symbols. Sacred and sincere, indeed, must be the devotion of the deaf and dumb! He was also eager to impart what he had learned, and therefore, with two friends under the same bereavement as himself, he established a religious meeting of the deaf and dumb, to whom, on the Sabbaths, he preached and expounded by signs. After Geikle’s death this interesting congregation was kept up by a worthy successor, who, we believe, still continues the good work which the artist so laudably commenced. After an uninterrupted course of good health, a short illness of a few days occurred, under which Geikie died, on the 1st of August, 1837. He was buried in the Greyfriars’ church-yard. Of his productions it is unnecessary to enter into farther analysis, as these, ninety-four in number, illustrative of Scottish character and scenery, have been published in one volume, and are familiarly known to almost every class. They are also accompanied with explanations, and a biographical introduction by Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, from which the foregoing facts have been chiefly derived.

Re: Deaf Culture Assignment

ca. 575-550 BC Deaf son (name unknown) of Croesus, king of Lydia; first recorded deaf person in history. Croesus' other son, Athys, was hearing and had his name preserved for posterity. Mentioned in Book I of Herodotus' History, and in the Cyropaedia by Xenophon. (Some other sources say Croesus had only one son, deaf, named Athys, but this seems to be incorrect.) In Lydian-Greek mythology, Croesus consulted an oracle about his deaf and mute son, and was told the son would first speak only on "an unhappy day". The legend goes on to say that when Croesus was later defeated in a battle, his life was saved when his deaf son suddenly spoke to request his father's life be spared, although Croesus lost his empire.
100 BC?-44 BC In Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar (1599), Antonius is talking to Caesar, and Caesar tells him, "Come on my right hand, for this [left] ear is deaf" (act I, scene 2). However, this seems to be "artistic license" by Shakespeare, as there is no ancient Roman account of Julius Caesar having a hearing impairment.
1st century AD Quintus Pedius, born-deaf grandson of a Roman consul by the same name. First deaf person in history known by name, he was a noted painter of his time. Mentioned in book 35, chapter 4 of Pliny the Elder's Natural History.
ca. 30 AD According to Mark 7:32-37 in the Christian Bible, Jesus cured an unnamed deaf man who also had a speech impediment.
76-138 AD According to contemporary court descriptions, Hadrian, emperor of Rome, was so "deaf" (i.e., hard of hearing) that he had to cup his hand behind his ear, even while riding into battle.
ca. 259 AD Deaf son, name not preserved, of Suinin, the tenth Emperor of Japan. The traditional date is about 29 BC, but historians regard 259 AD to be more nearly correct. Different stories have the son's deafness "cured" either by a shock or by a magic spell.
fl. 685 AD According to the Venerable Bede, St. John of Beverley taught the "Dumb Boy of Hexham" (in the Kingdom of Northumberland, part of modern-day England) to speak the letters of the alphabet and a few words. If true, then the boy was possibly the earliest deaf person to have been taught.
10th century AD John the Deaf (also known as Jean le Surdus and John the Physician of Chartres) was teacher of Droco and of Roscellinus during the "Age of Alcuin" in the "Carolignian Renaissance". Considered by scholars to be the founder of nominalism, a branch of philosophy. It is not certain that he actually was deaf: "Le Surdus" ("The Deaf") may have been a family name rather than an actual description.
fl. 1130 Andres the Deaf, son of Sigurd of Austrat, is mentioned in passing in the medieval Norse saga Heimskringla, by Snorri Sturlson, volume 8. Nothing else is known of him.
fl. 1171 The "Dumb Pilgrim of Canterbury", an unidentified deaf pilgrim visiting the shrine of St. Thomas á Becket at Canterbury, England, is said to have had his hearing and speech miraculously restored.
13th century Ali Shah Kar. Although "kar" means "deaf", it is not certain this man was actually deaf. "Kar" may just have been a surname, or he may just have been what we now call hard of hearing. He led a revolt against a sultan in what is now part of India, took possession of the city of Badrakut, and made it capital of his kingdom. The sultan's military commander counterattacked and captured Kar. The sultan pardoned Kar and exiled him to the city of Ghazna. Later, Kar broke his promise to stay away and returned home, whereupon the sultan had him arrested and executed. Mentioned in The Travels of Ibn Battuta, vol.3, p.727-728.
1253-1257 Princess Katherine Plantagent was born to King Henry III of England. She was frail and often sick; her deafness was discovered at about age 2 but may have been congenital. She died at Windsor Castle and is buried in an alcove in the ambulatory of Westminster Abbey, though her tomb is now missing its identifying inscription.
1255?-1306 John of Paris (also known as John the Deaf, John Quidort, Jean le Sourd, Johannes de Soardis, Surdus, and Monoculus). Born in Paris, he was a Dominican monk known for his work in philosophy, theology, and political theory. He earned his master's degree when over 50 years of age.
15th century? Filippo Viotti was a young Italian peasant who was visited by a miraculous appearance of the Virgin Mary. This is commemorated in an altarpiece painting by Moretto da Brescia (also known as Alessandro Bonvicino), Apparition of the Virgin to the Deaf-Mute Filippo Viotti (painted 1533-1534), in the sanctuary of the church at Paitone, Italy.
fl. 1426 John Audelay, a British poet and priest. Nothing is known of his life beyond what appears in the manuscripts of his poems. He was blind, deaf and often ill. A published collection of his poems bears the date 1426, and at some time he was first priest to Lord Strange (1397-1449). His 55 poems all have religious themes. (The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (2000), retrieved 24 March 2004 from www.xreferplus.com/entry/768290)
1426-1486 Princess Jean (also known as Joanna) was a daughter of King James I of Scotland and Queen Jane Beaufort. She was born deaf and reportedly used sign language, even in public. Betrothed at age 13 to her cousin, James Douglas, third Earl of Angus, in an arranged marriage, but he died before the wedding. Sent to France in 1445 for education at a nunnery. In 1457, wedded in another arranged marriage to James Douglas, 4th Lord Dalkeith and Earl of Morton, she becoming the Countess of Morton. Buried with her husband in the Morton Monument tomb at St. Nicolas Buccleauch Parish Church, Dalkeith, near Edinburgh. Jean's effigy on the Morton Monument is said to be the world's oldest image of a known deaf person. (Deaf Lives

Re: Deaf Culture Assignment

Around 1796, Ludwig van Beethoven began to lose his hearing. He suffered a severe form of tinnitus, a "ringing" in his ears that made it hard for him to perceive and appreciate music; he also avoided conversation. The cause of Beethoven's deafness is unknown, but it has variously been attributed to syphilis, lead poisoning, typhus, auto-immune disorder (such as systemic lupus erythematosus), and even his habit of immersing his head in cold water to stay awake. The explanation, from the autopsy of the time, is that he had a "distended inner ear" which developed lesions over time. Because of the high levels of lead found in samples of Beethoven's hair, that hypothesis has been extensively analyzed. While the likelihood of lead poisoning is very high, the deafness associated with it seldom takes the form that Beethoven exhibited.

Re: Deaf Culture Assignment

Evelyn Glennie.
Dame Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie (1965- ), a Scottish percussionist. Profoundly deaf since age 12, but she doesn't let that stop her; she lets other parts of her body "hear" for her -- like playing barefoot to feel the percussive rhythms.

I. King Jordan.
Irving King Jordan (1943- ), first deaf president of Gallaudet University. Became president as a result of the "Deaf President Now" movement, replacing Elizabeth Zinser, who only served one week due to the student protest.

Re: Deaf Culture Assignment

In 1967, the National Theatre of the Deaf was founded with grant money from the US Dept of Health, Education and Welfare. This stage provided space for Deaf artists to explore acting abiliities, entertain, and bring awareness of sign language and Deaf culture to a hearing world. The troupe has performed all over the world, won a Tony Award in 1977 for theatrical excellence, and has been a springboard for the careers of many Deaf actors--including Linda Bove a.k.a. Linda the Librarian on Sesame Street and cofounder of Deaf West Theatre, a theatre group in Los Angeles.

Re: Deaf Culture Assignment

Louis Frisino - Born deaf in 1934, Frisino grew up with a love for art, attending the Maryland School for the Deaf in Frederick, Md. After graduation, he attended the Maryland Institute College of Art. From there, he went on to work as a commercial artist at the News American but made his reputation in the deaf community as a creative artist.

Re: Deaf Culture Assignment

The outcome of Gallaudet University's Non-Deaf President:

The board of trustees, recognizing that Fernandes would be unable to lead effectively without support from the University community, terminated Fernandes' appointment in late October 2006.

In early December 2006, Dr. Robert Davila, who has prior college administration experience from running the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, was selected as the "interim" president (now just president) of Gallaudet University. Stephen Weiner, who had been one of the presidential candidates, was selected as the new provost.

Re: Deaf Culture Assignment-discrimination to a whole new level

Wow, Wow, Wow, so facsinating. Tyler I should get double points for historic dates and names ;)

When schools were segregated years ago, schools for the deaf jumped on the wagon. For over 100 years, black deaf children attended separate educational programs, housed either on separate campuses or in separate buildings on the same campus as the school for the deaf. This separation led to the development of a black dialect of American Sign Language, similar in nature to "black English."

When schools for the deaf became integrated, these separate buildings and campuses were either closed or incorporated into the rest of the school. Over time, the black dialect of ASL died out as the black deaf children were no longer separated from the white deaf children. Fortunately, the memories of this experience have been preserved in books such as "Sounds Like Home".

This segregation was encouraged by the National Association of the Deaf, which in 1904 recommended the establishment of separate schools for black deaf children.

This segregation meant that black deaf teachers were able to get jobs teaching in the separate programs. The programs produced the first black deaf teachers, Julius Carrett and Amanda Johnson, both of whom graduated from the North Carolina program for black deaf, and H.L. Johns, who was a graduate of the Maryland program for black deaf. All three were hired by the Texas Institute for Deaf, Dumb and Blind Colored Youth.

What follows is a listing of some of the segregated schools,

* Alabama - School for Negro Deaf-Mutes and Blind (1891).
* District of Columbia - The Kendall School at Gallaudet did not take in black deaf students until 1952, when ordered to by a court (before that the deaf black students attended school in Maryland). The story of the fight to get Kendall to take in DC black deaf students was documented in the film "Class of '52." Kendall then set up a separate building, but the segregation was brief as in 1954 the historic Supreme Court ruling on integration meant that Kendall had to become integrated. The History Through Deaf Eyes exhibit has a photo of black deaf Kendall students.
* Florida - Florida Institute for the Blind, Deaf and Dumb Colored Department (1895).
* Georgia - Georgia School for the Negro Deaf (1882).

Re: Deaf Culture Assignment

Fans of 1970s TV, comic book fans, and those who are deaf or hard of hearing people may remember Lou Ferrigno's performance as the Incredible Hulk. This hard of hearing former sheet metal worker and bodybuilder became an instant role model for deaf and hard of hearing youth. Winner of major bodybuilding titles when only in his early twenties, Ferrigno is mentioned in Jack Gannon's Deaf Heritage, which has a large photo of him as the Hulk.

Ferrigno was motivated to become a bodybuilder as a teenager by an experience all too common to hearing impaired youth of the 1970s -- he was teased by peers for being hard of hearing. I can remember reading newspaper articles about him in the 1970s, where he talked about having been called "Deaf Louie." His bodybuilding led to his memorable role as the Hulk.

Lou Ferrigno's Acting Career
However, his acting experience includes far more than just his role as the Hulk. For example, Lou Ferrigno has played Hercules. His filmography lists almost 30 TV and film appearances.
Ferrigno has a cameo in the 2008 "Hulk" movie, playing a security guard. USA Today featured an article titled "Lou Ferrigno looks back, and luckily not in anger" (June 16, 2008) in which he was interviewed about his current role and past experiences as the Hulk.

One of the hardest-working deaf and African-American actors in Hollywood is C.J. Jones, whose career spans the seventies through the present time.


Who Is C.J. Jones?

Born hearing to deaf parents and deafened at seven from spinal meningitis, Jones is a 1972 data processing graduate from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. However, he has done anything but work in data processing since his graduation, choosing instead to make his career in theater and film. And what a career it has been. Even before college, he was acting and directing plays.

C.J. Jones' Acting, Writing, and Directing Resume

To date, C.J. Jones' resume includes:

A stint with the National Theatre of the Deaf (which won him a Tony award).
Appearances on "Sesame Street," and in an early deaf children's television program, "Rainbow's End."
Guest appearances on the programs "A Different World" and "In Living Color."
His own comedy routine, "The Living Cartoon."
Host of a video series for deaf children, the "Happy Hands Kids Club."
Directed and appeared in a stage production of "Children of a Lesser God."
Appearances on programs that aired on the old Silent Network deaf cable channel.
The writing of plays, including one based on his own father's life.
"The Ride," a short film in which he plays a deaf hitchhiker.

Re: Deaf Culture Assignment CODA

Fletcher, the second of four children, was born in Birmingham, Alabama, the daughter of Estelle Caldwell and Reverend Robert Capers Fletcher, who was an Episcopal priest from Arab, Alabama. Both of her parents were deaf and worked with the deaf and hard-of-hearing.[1] Fletcher's father founded more than 40 churches for the deaf in Alabama.[2] Fletcher and her siblings, Roberta, John and Georgianna,[2] were all born without any hearing loss;[3] she was taught to speak by a hearing aunt, who also introduced her to acting. After attending the University of North Carolina, she traveled to Los Angeles, California, where she found work as a secretary by day and took acting lessons by night.

Re: Deaf Culture Assignment

Deaf peddling usually involved deaf people selling alphabet cards on the street. Many deaf people turned to deaf peddling starting around the 1870s, because of inability to find suitable employment. Peddling peaked in the early 1950s as deaf people who had been employed during the war years lost their jobs. The image of deaf people was so badly damaged by deaf peddling that it took a concerted fight by the National Association of the Deaf and other deaf organizations, to bring an end to it. This activity was one that shamed the American deaf community and hurt the image of deaf people for years. Today, there are laws against deaf peddling.