About the National Deaf Life Museum

The Museum committee and staff have developed plans for future exhibitions, but we are always open to your ideas. Feel free to approach anyone on the Museum Committee to share your vision of an exhibition or new ways to reach an audience. The Office of the Provost supports the National Deaf Life Museum.

Mission Statement

The National Deaf Life Museum at Gallaudet University promotes and interprets the rich and complex deaf experience through exhibits and programming on campus and online.

Vision Statement

• Advance the educational mission of Gallaudet University by providing opportunities for shared research and academic collaboration.
• Exhibit artifacts and ideas that inform, inspire, and challenge common understandings of deaf life from cultural, linguistic, and sensory perspectives.
• Create public programming serving the campus, the neighborhood surrounding Gallaudet University, diverse Washington, DC constituencies, and local, national, and international audiences.
• Provide national leadership on public presentations of deaf history and contemporary life of the deaf community.

Role of the Museum

A museum provides an unparalleled venue for sharing cultural information, history, and stories through the artifacts it exhibits, the films it screens, the artwork it displays, and the personal experiences it shares.

The National Deaf Life Museum will present an evolving cultural community’s heritage and trace the University’s historic roots and the community. By promoting the open exchange of ideas about what it means to be deaf – and conversely, what it means to be heard – with the local, national, and international communities, the museum will inspire examination of community identities. As a place of historic, linguistic, and cultural scholarship, the museum will also serve the University and its visitors as an accessible resource on deaf life and artistic expression.