UTAH DEAF HISTORY
1912 Utah Association of the Deaf Convention at the Utah School for the Deaf. The UAD Bulletin, Summer 1963
"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift, that's why they call it the present."
~Eleanor Roosevelt~
~Eleanor Roosevelt~
Utah School for the Deaf, Ogden, Utah
The "Utah Deaf History" website was launched in 2012 because history is such a valuable resource in our state. Decades of rich Deaf history and cultural heritage are preserved in the Utah's Deaf history collection, which would have been lost if it hadn't been for our commitment to preserving history. The goal of this website is to preserve UAD Bulletin issues, Utah Eagle magazines, and other Utah Deaf historical materials. Future generations will be able to learn and benefit from this intriguing narrative as the demographics of the Utah Deaf community continues to change and evolve through time.
When we look at Utah's Deaf history, we can see that our local community has a rich history that is the total opposite of the Deaf community as a whole. The historical uniqueness of Utah, for example, includes the following:
Utah has a long list of firsts to its name. Furthermore, we have a number of well-known Deaf community leaders whose efforts must be preserved and remembered.
Since 2006, I've been gathering, compiling, and writing Utah Deaf History. I am the sole owner and operator of this website.
When we look at Utah's Deaf history, we can see that our local community has a rich history that is the total opposite of the Deaf community as a whole. The historical uniqueness of Utah, for example, includes the following:
- The Deaf LDS Church is a large organized religious community with its own church building which was established in 1917, in Ogden, Utah and a unique deaf-friendly designed church structure in Salt Lake City, Utah, which was built in 1977.
- In 1909, the Utah Association of the Deaf (UAD) was established at the Utah School for the Deaf in Ogden, Utah. The first Deaf president of the Utah Association of the Deaf was a woman named Elizabeth DeLong – this is significant because women did not get the right to vote for a decade until the passing of the 19th amendment in 1920 (this amendment only applies to *white* women.) Deaf women members were not allowed to vote in the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) election until 1965, and women of color were not granted the ability to vote until later in the twentieth century. Elizabeth was also the first Deaf woman to lead a NAD state chapter association in the United States. On a side note, Utah women became the first women in modern American history to be allowed to vote in 1870. Seraph Young Ford, a schoolteacher, became the first woman to vote in the United States on February 14, 1870. Twenty-six years later, in 1896, Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon, the first female state senator in the United States. In 1965, a year after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law, our local notable Deaf leader, Dr. Robert G. Sanderson, NAD president from 1964 to 1968, permitted Deaf women members to vote and Black Deaf individuals to join and vote.
- The Utah School for the Deaf (USD) was founded in 1884 in Salt Lake City and relocated to Ogden, Utah in 1896 after Utah became a state. USD pioneered the Dual Track Program/Mainstreaming method in 1962, as well as the rare 2005 merging of a charter school, Jean Massieu School of the Deaf (JMS), with the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind. In 1998, the Utah State Board of Education accepted JMS as one of the first two charter schools in the state. JMS was founded a year later, in 1999.
- From 1962 to 1992, the Utah Deaf community and UAD officers worked for 40 years to make our community center a permanent reality. From the beginning, Deaf individuals were involved in the architectural planning. The Utah Community Center for the Deaf opened a new facility in Taylorsville, Utah, in 1992, that was created exclusively for the state's Deaf community. On October 4, 2003, Dr. Robert G. Sanderson, a leader in Utah's Deaf community, was honored with a large renaming ceremony. The Sanderson Community Center the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is the only state-funded Deaf agency that provides acceptable accessibility and communication services.
- In 1968, the Utah Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf became Utah's first interpreting service for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. The Utah Association for the Deaf (UAD) produced the first interpreter training program, as well as the first testing and certification procedures in Utah, in collaboration with the UAD. Beth Ann Stewart Campbell, a Utah native, CODA, and former director of the Utah Community Center for the Deaf, was the first nationally RID certified interpreter in both Utah and the United States in 1965. Utah was the first state to pass SB 41, the interpreter certification statute, in 1994.
- Sorenson Communications, Inc., a Salt Lake City, Utah-based company, was the first VRS provider to produce a videophone for Deaf people in 2003.
- The Utah Association of the Deaf was the first to break with tradition by changing its name from "of" to "for" in 1963, and it is likely the last to return to "of" in 2012.
- The Utah Association of the Deaf urged state legislators to pass Utah Code House Bill (HB) 60, which changed the word "hearing impaired" to "deaf and hard of hearing" in state law. Utah Governor Gary Hebert signed HB 60 into law on March 17, 2017, marking the culmination of the effort. Governor Herbert signed House Bill 60 into law on April 11th, 2017. Utah is the first state in the United States to achieve this goal.
Utah has a long list of firsts to its name. Furthermore, we have a number of well-known Deaf community leaders whose efforts must be preserved and remembered.
Since 2006, I've been gathering, compiling, and writing Utah Deaf History. I am the sole owner and operator of this website.
1909 Utah Association of the Deaf Convention
A BIG LOSS IN DEAF HISTORY
1931 Utah Association of the Deaf Convention
I'd like to show viewers Barry Strassler’s A Big Loss in Deaf History" because I don't want this to happen our Utah's rich Deaf history as the state's demography transforms in the future.
DeafDigest editor Barry Strassler shares the story of a Deaf man he knew who was a self-taught Deaf historian. He never went to college, but he has always been fascinated by Deaf history. He would conduct his study in Gallaudet University's library and the Library of Congress, and record his findings in notebooks. He kept several books on deaf history, as well as his journals, at home. He never told anyone about his discoveries, preferring to keep them to himself.
No one knew about this enormous treasure when he died. It vanished since he lived alone, with no close friends or family members. "A horrible waste in Deaf history," Barry remarked. DeafDigest Gold - November 18, 2012 - Barry Strassler, Editor
The rich history of the Utah Deaf community can now be accessed by anybody for historical preservation and genealogy/research reasons, thanks to digitization.
“Utah has always been a forerunner in promoting the history of the state's Deaf community," according to Virginia C. Borggaard (2012), author of "Celebrating A Rich Heritage 1901 - 2001" As a result, we're committed to continuing to promote and preserve Utah's Deaf history.
Thank you for stopping by; I hope you find the site entertaining, educational, and informative!
Cheers!
Jodi Becker Kinner
DeafDigest editor Barry Strassler shares the story of a Deaf man he knew who was a self-taught Deaf historian. He never went to college, but he has always been fascinated by Deaf history. He would conduct his study in Gallaudet University's library and the Library of Congress, and record his findings in notebooks. He kept several books on deaf history, as well as his journals, at home. He never told anyone about his discoveries, preferring to keep them to himself.
No one knew about this enormous treasure when he died. It vanished since he lived alone, with no close friends or family members. "A horrible waste in Deaf history," Barry remarked. DeafDigest Gold - November 18, 2012 - Barry Strassler, Editor
The rich history of the Utah Deaf community can now be accessed by anybody for historical preservation and genealogy/research reasons, thanks to digitization.
“Utah has always been a forerunner in promoting the history of the state's Deaf community," according to Virginia C. Borggaard (2012), author of "Celebrating A Rich Heritage 1901 - 2001" As a result, we're committed to continuing to promote and preserve Utah's Deaf history.
Thank you for stopping by; I hope you find the site entertaining, educational, and informative!
Cheers!
Jodi Becker Kinner
Copyright © Jodi Becker Kinner, 2012 - 2021. All rights reserved. No part of this website may be reproduced or published without the express consent of the author. If you have additional information about Utah Deaf history, or photos/materials that you would like share, please contact Jodi B. Kinner via email at jodibeckerkinner@gmail.com