Little Paper Family: Deaf students turn to newspapers and magazines

History Through Deaf Eyes – Little Paper Family

Deaf students turned out newspapers and magazines in school print shops across the country. The papers kept students, faculty, and alumni informed about school events and brought important issues before parents and state legislators.

Schools exchanged papers in an informal network known as the “little paper family,” and this exchange helped foster a sense of national community. Experience on the school paper also helped some students find jobs in the newspaper business.

Gallaudet University Archives

National Publications such as The Silent Worker helped deaf people stay informed and connected. Produced for many years at the New Jersey School of the Deaf, it was the first nationally distributed publication of the National Association of the Deaf.

The paper offered practical and political news in articles covering deaf rights, accessibility issues, and success stories.

The Silent Worker, Volume 41, No. 1

Gallaudet University Archives

The Oregon Outlook was one of the newspapers in the “little paper family” network. It was published by students at the Oregon School for the Deaf.

The Oregon Outlook, Volume 96, No. 4

Oregon School for the Deaf