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    Baltimore's Deaf Heritage
    Baltimore's Deaf Heritage
    Baltimore's Deaf Heritage
    Ebook196 pages47 minutes

    Baltimore's Deaf Heritage

    By Kathleen Brockway

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    About this ebook

    The booming job market and beautifully designed city of Baltimore attracted many families and individuals to the area in the 19th century. Several of these transplants would become prominent figures in the Deaf community. George W. Veditz, an early American Sign Language filmmaker and former president of the National Association of the Deaf; Rev. Daniel E. Moylan, founder of the oldest operational Methodist church for the deaf; and George Michael Dummy Leitner, a professional baseball player, all influenced Baltimore s growing deaf population. Through vintage photographs of successful organizations and sports teams, including the Silent Oriole Club, Christ Church of the Deaf, the Jewish Deaf Society of Baltimore, the Silent Clover Society, and the National Fraternal Society for the Deaf, Baltimore s Deaf Heritage illustrates the evolution of Baltimore s Deaf community and its prominent leaders.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateJun 9, 2014
    ISBN9781439645598
    Baltimore's Deaf Heritage
    Author

    Kathleen Brockway

    Kathleen Brockway, the deaf author, is an advocate for digital and historical preservation. DAD provided tremendous support. DAD and Kathleen, inspired by the stories of the deaf heritage in metro Detroit, were determined to share them in this book with the public.

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      Book preview

      Baltimore's Deaf Heritage - Kathleen Brockway

      (YSC).

      INTRODUCTION

      In 1879, at the urging of family friends, James Sullivan Wells (48) and his family—his three small children Clarissa, Fannie, and Helen and his wife, Fannie F. DeLespine Wells—decided to move to Baltimore, which was a new place for them away from their native New York City. By then, the Deaf community in Baltimore was starting to boom, and Deaf Baltimoreans were beginning to spend time together and worship together. Soon after Wells’s arrival, he and his close family friend William Barry drew many into a group that attracted George W. Veditz, Frank and George Leitner, and many others. All became fast friends and leaders in the community, establishing events, organizations, and activities. Wells was the beginning of a three-generation family of Deaf leaders, which joined others to work together to fight for Deaf driving rights, Deaf political rights, and more. Some lived on farms, and some lived in row houses in the busy city.

      Religions were varied in the Deaf community. Nonetheless, they all got together on a frequent basis, even on occasions like Easter Sunday church services, either outdoors or indoors. Getting together created a comfort zone, and they celebrated events in sign language. Deaf Jewish individuals did not always get together at the temple; instead, they hosted parties for the Deaf. In the 1800s and 1900s, the temples and other churches were difficult to attend due to the lack of interpreters and resources.

      Education was important to every parent of a deaf child. Only one local school accepted deaf children under age five of all religions, the Catholic School in Baltimore. Some others received private tutoring. Schools were split in signing and oral methods, leaving it up to parents to make decisions about where to place their children. Some were sent to MSD, an all-state-expenses school that children traveled to by horse coach, train, or vehicle. Traveling to MSD was considered a long trip, so children had to stay and live on the campus, seeing their families infrequently during their school years. There was also an oral school in Baltimore that forbade sign language. Some grew up attending that school and went on to their local high schools, which did not have any interpreters. The Black Deaf community at the time had very limited choices, as students could only attend the Kendall School in Washington, DC, or the Maryland School for Deaf Colored Youths in Baltimore. Some may have not been educated at all, and worked only with their families. At the time, the Kendall School was known to teach orally. Some students paid tuition fees, while others were covered by the state if they got the government’s permission. One of the first black Deaf teachers in America, Harry Leonard Johns, was from Baltimore. He taught at the Texas School for the Deaf (TSD) before returning to Baltimore, joining his deaf brother Leonard Carroll Johns in a large family on the Ostend Street.

      Organizations were already starting to form by 1884. Some were set for a purpose, such as socializing, reunions, religion, political groups to fight for Deaf rights, and many more. In the 1800s and 1900s, the annual reunion cookout was a popular activity, and attendees enjoyed participating in the games and winning prizes. Games included baseball, horseshoes, and others. Groups rode the ferry together from the Maryland mainland to Bay Ridge for the cookout and swim at the beach. A bridge was built to Bay Ridge in the late 1950s.

      Baseball, boxing, football, and soccer were popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s at the Deaf schools. Later, in the late 1900s, softball games were established so Deaf teams could enjoy the challenge of playing against hearing teams. Some had to pay out of their own pockets or raise money to play. In the mid-1900s, deaf adults started to form city basketball teams to play against Gallaudet or MSD. Many teams did not practice in those days; they just went to the games, warmed up, and played. For the Black Deaf community, popular activities included attending social clubs at volunteers’ homes and going bowling in their best outfits. Many in the Black Deaf community could not afford certain things, including taking pictures to remember fun activities. However, Methodist Deaf Church, which later became Christ Deaf Church, welcomed them to join for worshipping.

      Often, families with deaf children were split between signing and oral communication methods. Some parents forbade their deaf children to communicate by signing. Gestures were often used in limited communication if signing was not permitted. A few did manage to learn finger spelling or some signs to stay close with their Deaf siblings. In the 1900s, the city of Baltimore became more willing to listen and adapt to Deaf rights, such as allowing independent Deaf driving. Much appreciated in the fight for rights was the assistance of children of

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