During the month of April, we celebrate National Deaf History Month, which provides us the opportunity to recognize and celebrate contributions by Deaf, hard of hearing, and DeafBlind people.

Here are some links with information about two significant historical events that occurred during the month of April.

April 15, 1817: Establishment of American School for the Deaf in Hartford, CT as the first permanent public school for the deaf.

History & Cogswell Heritage House

The signing of Gallaudet University's charter by President Abraham Lincoln on April 8, 1864. 

The Described and Captioned Media Program provides thousands of free accessible streaming educational videos and ASL storytelling made possible through funding by the U. S. Department of Education and is administered by the NAD.  There are some quality and informative videos about Deaf History available from their website.  

Some of the videos from DCMP also spotlight many successful Deaf people in various careers.  If anyone needs assistance creating an account with DCMP, I will be happy to help!

The eye-catching colorful 16’ x 6' neon artwork on the window in front of the Massey Activity Center was created by Dr. Betty G. Miller, a Deaf artist who was known as the “Mother of De’VIA” (Deaf View Image Art), a genre that intentionally expresses the deaf experience through art. This neon artwork, titled “ASL…Past, Present, Future" was commissioned by the North Carolina Arts Council.  The information and story about the piece is located inside the lobby.  Read all about it!

ENCSD History

This is just a small snippet of information about Deaf History Month.  There's so much more information and they're included in two displays about Deaf History Month set up in the library (thank you Heather H. and Krystal!).  Everyone is welcome to stop by to browse and check them out!

Brenda Ulrich
School Library Media Coordinator