The George Sutherland Archives of Utah Valley University
Written by Jodi Becker Kinner
Published in 2023
Published in 2023
On October 18, 2012, Philippe Montalette, President of the Utah Association of the Deaf, Marilyn Call, Director of the Robert G. Sanderson Community Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and I toured the George Sutherland Archives at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Catherine Mclntyre, the archivist who has since retired, and her two colleagues, Aimee Bastarache and Brent Seavers, generously shared their knowledge, expertise, and passion with us. Since our visit, our Utah Deaf-related historical materials, including those listed below, have been donated to the George Sutherland Archives for digitalization for research and historic preservation.
Catherine Mclntyre
After a five-year wait, the George Sutherland Archives digitally scanned and posted the Utah Association of the Deaf Conventions scrapbook and minutes to digital collections in 2016. Catherine McIntyre, Archivist and Digitization Librarian of the George Sutherland Archives was instrumental in the project's success. None of this would have been possible without her effort and support.
Dr. Bryan Eldredge, Professor and Program Director of ASL and Deaf Studies, deserves recognition for collaborating with the Sutherland Archives to make this archival project a reality.
Dr. Bryan Eldredge, Professor and Program Director of ASL and Deaf Studies, deserves recognition for collaborating with the Sutherland Archives to make this archival project a reality.
Dr. Bryan Eldredge
Utah Association of the Deaf
Conventions Minutes Books, 1909-1952
Conventions Minutes Books, 1909-1952
Valerie G. Kinney, a long-serving UAD officer and member, safeguarded the two books containing minutes from the triennial and biennial of the Utah Association of the Deaf Conventions between 1909 and 1952.
The Utah Association of the Deaf Conventions Minutes, 1909-1952
Valerie entrusted those books to me to write about the history of the Utah Association of the Deaf. After completing the history of the Utah Association of the Deaf, we donated minutes books to the UVU Sutherland Archives.
Valerie G. Kinney, 2014
The Scrapbook of the
Utah Association of the Deaf Conventions, 1931-1984
Utah Association of the Deaf Conventions, 1931-1984
As a secretary for the organization, Georgia Henricks Walker, a 1930 graduate of the Utah School for the Deaf, is credited with collecting, preserving, and compiling the Utah Association of the Deaf conventions scrapbook from 1931 to 1984, which contains clippings from Utah newspapers related to Deaf people in Utah, UAD convention programs, and associated memorabilia.
Gerogia Henricks Walker's Utah Association of the Deaf conventions scrapbook, 1931-1984
Valerie G. Kinney later preserved the scrapbook. When I started working on the history of the Utah Association of the Deaf, she handed it to me to help me expand it. After completing the UAD history, we donated it to the UVU Sutherland Archives.
Gerogia Henricks Walker
The Large Scrapbook of the Utah Deaf Community, 1940s-1980s
Valerie G. Kinney maintained the large brown scrapbook collected by Dr. Robert G. Sanderson, a long-time Deaf leader in Utah, between the 1940s and the 1980s, which contains newspaper clippings of controversy between oral and sign language, activism of the Utah Association of the Deaf, and updates with the Utah School for the Deaf. The newspaper clippings were invaluable in filling in the historical gaps. We donated the scrapbook to the UVU Sutherland Archives after completing the "Deaf Education History in Utah" manuscript.
A Large Scrapbook of the Utah Deaf Community, 1940s-1980s
The UAD Bulletins, 1960s-1970s
While working on the Utah Deaf History, LaVern Petersen Burnett, a 1943 graduate of the Utah School for the Deaf and the wife of Joseph Ball Burnett, one of the Utah Deaf leaders, supplied her The UAD Bulletins from the 1960s to the 1970s.
The UAD Bulletin, Summer 1963, Vol 2 No 10
LaVern's contributions were extremely helpful in filling in the gaps as I worked through the history. After completing the Utah Deaf History, I donated The UAD Bulletins to the UVU Sutherland Archives.
LaVern Petersen Burnett, a 1943 Senior of the Utah School for the Deaf
Education of the Deaf in Utah:
A Comprehensive Study,
February 15, 1977
A Comprehensive Study,
February 15, 1977
Dr. Jay J. Campbell, then Deputy Superintendent of the Utah State Office of Education and an ally of the Utah Deaf community, completed his "Education of the Deaf in Utah: Comprehensive Study" on February 15, 1977, to help resolve the controversy between oral and sign language and presented it to the Utah State Board of Education on April 14, 1977, to share his findings as well as recommendations to improve the Utah School for the Deaff's education through more equitable evaluation and placement systems. The oral advocates, however, rejected it.
Dr. Jay J. Campbell's Comprehensive Study, February 15, 1977
As a result, Dr. Campbell's strategy came crumbling down. His two-year study, which recommended improving education through fair assessment and placement procedures, was buried and forgotten. His comprehensive study came to light thirty years later, in 2007, as a source of valuable information.
Dr. Jay J. Campbell. UAD Bulletin, June 1973
Dr. Campbell's book was brought out of the dust by my father-in-law, Kenneth L. Kinner, a 1954 alumnus of the Utah School for the Deaf and Deaf father of two Deaf children, Deanne and Duane. He gave me the book after I became fascinated by Utah's Deaf Education History. After wrapping up the Deaf Education History in Utah, I donated it to the UVU Sutherland Archives.
Kenneth L. Kinner
The Collection of Don Curtis Jacobs'
The Utah Eagle Magazines
The Utah Eagle Magazines
On May 19, 2016, I paid $50 to an unknown individual named Jeff Buhler for The Utah Eagle publications from the 1900s to the 1940s issued by the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind. He discovered and purchased the magazines at an estate sale. Jeff found my contact information on the Utah Deaf History website and asked if I wanted to buy those publications. Yes, I responded right away! I'm so grateful he bought them. Otherwise, they would be lost or thrown away. Don Curtis Jacobs, a 1942 graduate of the Utah School for the Deaf, owned those magazines. I donated his collection to the UVU Sutherland Archives.
Don Curtis Jacobs, The Utahan, 1942
Don Curtis Jacobs' Utah School for the Deaf Magazines
The Photo of the 1909
Utah Association of the Deaf Convention
Utah Association of the Deaf Convention
On August 1, 2022, a random person, Julie Lowry, emailed asking me if I wanted the original 1909 Utah Association of the Deaf photograph. I quickly replied, "Yes!" She stated that her neighborhood held a garage sale to help pay for their granddaughter's medical bills. There were several donations. She discovered this photo and said, "There was an old picture from the UT Deaf Association in one of the books." The date 1909 is inscribed (in pencil) on it. She did not know how the photo got into the yard or who had previously owned it. She bought it and mailed it to me. I'm eternally grateful to her for finding the over-100-year-old photograph!
The 1909 Utah Association of the Deaf Convention, Ogden, Utah
The Publications of the
Utah School for the Deaf
Utah School for the Deaf
For years, the publications "The Utahan," "Utahn," and "The Utah Eagle," produced by the Utah School for the Deaf, were displayed on the shelves in the lounge of the Robert G. Sanderson Community Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. They no longer had space for those publications after the renovation in 2023, so they gave those magazines to me with the intention of donating them to the UVU Sutherland Archives for digital and historical preservation.
One of the publications also included The UAD Bulletin "Utah Deaf People in Business and Industry...In the Space Age," published by the Utah Association of the Deaf in the summer of 1968. This bulletin provides information on career opportunities for Deaf Utah individuals in the 1960s.
The Utah Eagle was published by the Utah School for the Deaf from 1932 to 1978. These publications featured student-written stories, student news, deaf education research, school programs, classes, clubs, sports, and activities, among other things. The Utah School for the Deaf also published "Utahan" and "Utahn" yearbooks. Those publications, including The UAD Bulletin, Summer 1968, like Don Curtis Jacob's periodicals, were donated to the UVU Sutherland Archives on October 20, 2023.
One of the publications also included The UAD Bulletin "Utah Deaf People in Business and Industry...In the Space Age," published by the Utah Association of the Deaf in the summer of 1968. This bulletin provides information on career opportunities for Deaf Utah individuals in the 1960s.
The Utah Eagle was published by the Utah School for the Deaf from 1932 to 1978. These publications featured student-written stories, student news, deaf education research, school programs, classes, clubs, sports, and activities, among other things. The Utah School for the Deaf also published "Utahan" and "Utahn" yearbooks. Those publications, including The UAD Bulletin, Summer 1968, like Don Curtis Jacob's periodicals, were donated to the UVU Sutherland Archives on October 20, 2023.
The Utah School for the Deaf's periodicals, 2023
