By the Numbers: Deaf History and Culture

Stats on the intersection of Deaf history and libraries

March 1, 2021

Deaf actor Linda Bove played Linda the Librarian on Sesame Street for 31 years. Photo illustration: YouTube (screenshot); ©R. Gino Santa Maria/Adobe Stock (television)
Deaf actor Linda Bove played Linda the Librarian on Sesame Street for 31 years. Photo illustration: YouTube (screenshot); ©R. Gino Santa Maria/Adobe Stock (television)

15
Number of years National Deaf History Month has been celebrated. In 2006, the American Library Association (ALA) and National Association of the Deaf announced the month would be observed March 13–April 15.

1817
Year the first permanent public school for Deaf students in the Western Hemisphere—now known as the American School for the Deaf—was established in Hartford, Connecticut, by educators Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc and physician Mason Fitch Cogswell.

1864
Year US President Abraham Lincoln signed a charter authorizing the board of directors of the Columbia Institution (now Gallaudet University) to grant college degrees to Deaf students. Gallaudet is currently the world’s only institution of higher education specifically for the Deaf and hard of hearing.

466 million
Number of people worldwide with disabling hearing loss. Approximately 34 million are children.

90%
Percentage of Deaf children who are born to hearing parents.

12,750
Number of books, media programs, and assistive communication devices in the Library Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing collection administered by Nashville (Tenn.) Public Library.

1976
Year that Gallaudet alum Alice L. Hagemeyer became DC Public Library’s first full-time librarian for the Deaf community. Hagemeyer went on to create the system’s Red Notebook (a resource that brought awareness to the existing products, programs, and services the library provided for the Deaf community) and cofound the group Friends of Libraries for Deaf Action in 1986.

21
Number of active chapters of the National Black Deaf Advocates, an advocacy organization of more than 300 members that promotes the leadership development, economic and educational opportunities, social equality, and general health and welfare of Black Deaf and hard of hearing people.

31
Number of years award-winning Deaf actor Linda Bove played Linda the Librarian on Sesame Street, the longest-running television role for a Deaf person.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Mayra Castrejón-Hernandez performs at Milwaukee Public Library’s first Deaf StorySlam event in September 2019. Photo: Pat A. Robinson Photos/Milwaukee Public Library

Signing Stories

New narrative series features Deaf artists and their experiences

Disability rights advocate Haben Girma (and her guide dog Milo) on stage at the Public Library Association 2020 Conference in Nashville February 28. (Photo: Laura Kinser/Kinser Studios)

‘Opportunity for Innovation’

Disability rights advocate Haben Girma shares message of inclusion at PLA2020