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A Deaf Variety of the Human Race
Assimilation through Spoken English
Language and identity in the 1800s: Deaf students denied use of sign language
Oral Education as Emancipation
Oral schools form on the principle of “pure oralism”
Oral Training in “Signing Schools”
Signers and supporters defend sign language
The Influence of Alexander Graham Bell
The Struggle between Natural and Normal
Wired for sound: Listening equipment in the classroom
Women in the classroom: After the Civil War
GU
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National Deaf Life Museum
Exhibits
History Through Deaf Eyes
Language and Identity
Increasing immigration in the late 1800s caused many Americans to fear ethnic, racial, and linguistic diversity. The patchwork of immigrant communities crowded into growing industrial cities threatened some Americans’ sense of national identity.
Calls for immigration restrictions, limits on the employment of foreigners, and the banning of languages other than English in schools were common.
In schools for deaf children, classes were increasingly taught without signing and oral training was stressed. Deaf adults and children were discouraged from using sign language in public.
Gallaudet University Archives
New York School for the Deaf, White Plains
Formation of a Community
Community Building
Awareness, Access and Change