 Hello, and welcome to San Francisco, the heart of the Bay Area. The Bay Area is comprised of many diverse cultural groups. One of these is the deaf community. It is through their eyes that we'll take a look at the broader culture of deaf Americans. We have asked several people within this community to share their views and experiences. Let's watch. In recent years, there have been a lot of changes in the deaf community. In the past, deaf people generally went to events exclusively for the deaf. Deaf clubs, bowling tournaments, now we're everywhere participating in public events. With sign language interpreters, things are accessible, and that's great. I have noticed a change over the years. Deaf people didn't used to travel as much. They didn't meet people from other countries and other towns. But nowadays, everybody knows everybody. Travel has broadened their outlook. It's benefited the deaf community. I think moving to San Francisco really helped me. At first, I was overwhelmed hearing people actually knew American sign language and recognized it as a language in its own right. Seeing this, it helped my pride grow more than ever before. I cherish my language in all that it means. It's important. I go to deaf clubs regularly, and I love going there. One reason I go is to play poker. Whenever there's a group of deaf people playing cards, I'll join them. But to play with hearing people, I don't trust them. If hearing people wanted to, they could cheat by whispering back and forth. I'm afraid of that, so I just won't play with them. But I feel safe with deaf players. I've been playing a good old 20 to 25 years, and I love deaf people. They've been good friends. When you play cards, you make a lot of friends. Parents should love their deaf kids, not pity them. Parents should be able to sign, and the kids should have TTYs so they can call their friends, their brothers or sisters, whoever. But the most important thing is love. Parents have to make sure that they include their deaf children. Hearing families tend to leave them out, but they should love them whether their kids are deaf or hearing. I can't understand why parents always shut them out. They need to be a part of the family too. What I don't like is that there are all these hearing people and just a few deaf people around. What I want is a whole lot of deaf people all over the place. Have everybody deaf in San Francisco. More deaf people are participating in political organizations now. We're moving on. In the past, we stayed within our community. With our growing pride and self-awareness, we can step out into the world. We're deaf, that's all. We don't feel inferior anymore. I'm Freda Norman, your host. Come join me in an exploration of deaf culture. By examining one culture, analyzing and comparing it to other cultures, we can gain a better understanding of others and of ourselves. In this four-part series, we will survey American deaf culture. But first, we need to explain what we mean by deaf people. A common misconception is that deaf people are simply individuals who cannot hear. Our four programs, however, look at deaf people as members of a cultural group. A group who share the same language, American Sign Language or ASL, who share the same experience, and who have a common heritage. But before we move on, let me tell you what we'll be exploring in this first program, Deaf Heritage, which is signed this way. In this program, you will be meeting deaf people who are a part of our history. With the advantage of their varied perspectives, we will see where we have come from, where we are now, and glimpse where we are headed. But the heritage of deaf Americans cannot be explored or the deaf experience understood without looking at the origins of American Sign Language, the foundation of our culture. Ben Bahan is an American Sign Language researcher, an instructor and noted storyteller. He will highlight some of the significant events in the evolution of ASL and explain its pivotal role in shaping the culture of deaf people. It is the year 1816, one year ago, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet left America to seek new ways to teach the deaf, while in France, he met Laurent Claire, a deaf teacher who has agreed to sail with him to America. En route to America, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clairek began tutoring each other. Gallaudet taught Clairek English and Clairek taught Gallaudet French Sign Language. As they began to understand each other's language, they formulated a new sign system. They adapted the French system to the English language by assigning French signs to English words, adhering strictly to English structure. By the time they arrived, they had a workable system. In 1817, they established the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. On the first day, they greeted the students, thinking their task would be to teach them sign language. But to their surprise, they found the students already had their own signs. So the French signs and the students' own were used daily. From this interaction, American sign language began to emerge. In the classroom, Gallaudet and Clairek continued teaching their system, emphasizing English language structure. The students became quite proficient. But once outside the classroom, they reverted to using their own signs. Eventually, they incorporated the French signs, and the combination led to the early form of ASL. The contrast between communications used inside and outside the classroom still exists. For instruction, many different systems were created and introduced. For example, Gallaudet was dissatisfied with fingerspelling the alphabet and tried to think of a way to improve it. His idea was to demonstrate the letters of individual expressions, each letter corresponding to an expression. A, an expression of awe, B, boldness, C, curiosity, and so on. This system was discarded. But what if we had kept it, saying, hello, my name is, would look something like this? Fortunately, that's one system we didn't keep. By 1880, teachers of the deaf in Europe began to teach students to read lips and speak. This method, called oralism, began to replace sign language. During the 1880s, an international conference of educators of the deaf proclaimed that the ability to speak and lip-read was paramount to the education of deaf children. They believed deaf people all over the world should learn these skills exclusively and declared that all educational institutions for the deaf should adopt this oral philosophy. The oral method swept through Europe. Prior to this, few American schools had practiced an oral approach. In the next two decades, oralism spread across the United States. The National Association of the Deaf, NAD, took note of this growth. Recognizing the possibility of losing part of their heritage, members of the NAD actively sought ways to preserve sign language. They made a series of films. One such film, made in 1913, The Preservation of Sign Language, documents an eloquent speech by NAD President George W. Vaditz. He comes to a promising conclusion, which I would like to share with you now. As long as we have deaf people on Earth, we will have sign language. And as long as we have our films, we will be able to preserve our beautiful signs in their historic purity. I hope that we all will love and protect our beautiful sign language as it is the noblest gift God has given to the deaf. Yet, oralism continued to flourish from that time. During the 1960s, linguist William Stokey took an interest in American sign language and noted that it differed greatly from English. Linguists began to study ASL more closely. After further analysis, he concluded American sign language is a language complete with its own rules of grammar and syntax. Stokey's findings were widely publicized, initiating formal recognition of ASL as a true language, independent of English. Previously, ASL had been viewed as broken English. This notion began to change throughout the 1960s. Teachers who formally supported oralism began to realize the oral approach was successful for some deaf students, but not for all. The use of signs in the classroom gradually increased. However, in spite of research validating ASL as a language in its own right, educators continued to develop new English-based sign systems. This is still the case. ASL has not been fully accepted in the classroom, but history has shown, despite all attempts to introduce new communication systems, the use of ASL continues, which can only mean as long as we have deaf people, we will have American sign language. It's truly amazing. People meet, interact, and spark the events which shape our history. It would be impossible to compile all of a people's history into a single work, but one book does come close to revealing the wide range of deaf people's accomplishments. That book is Deaf Heritage, written by Jack Gannon. Mr. Gannon was approached by the National Association of the Deaf, the NAD, and asked to write a history of deaf people in America. He was granted a leave of absence from his position as director of alumni publicity at Gallaudet College in Washington, D.C. Gallaudet College is the only liberal arts college for the deaf in the world. Mr. Gannon went on to produce what is considered the most comprehensive history of deaf people in America to date. But let's put that aside for the moment. And first, let's meet Bay Area resident Ella May Lentz. She's an American sign language instructor and an ASL poet. During Mr. Gannon's recent visit here, she approached him and asked him to talk about his work. I'll let her tell you the rest. Jack Gannon is well-known and has lectured in many parts of the country. He is frequently asked to speak about the history of deaf people and about his extensive treatment of this subject in his book, Deaf Heritage. He recently traveled to California to present a lecture. After his presentation, I approached him and asked if he would talk about his work. He agreed. But before we go to the interview, let's first take a look through his book. Well, Ella, I was impressed with what so many deaf people did that I don't think I could really single out any one person. No, I just couldn't do that. I think, maybe, I would give the most credit to deaf teachers because they're the ones who started it all. If it were not for those deaf instructors who challenged, helped educate deaf children and provided them with inspiration, I don't think many deaf people would have succeeded as well as they did. I am deaf myself. I'm part of that life. I know the people. I've lived with the people. I had deaf teachers. So I am part of that history and I feel it very deeply. I think that was a great advantage if I had to write a history about some other group of people. I don't think I could. Yes, it was difficult to find information focusing on blacks, women, and other minority groups. And you must realize that my book has just scratched the surface. I left out a lot of prominent, successful deaf people. It was really impossible to include everyone. But I hope that my book will be considered a beginning. I hope that it will encourage and stimulate many other people to pick up where I left off and to carry on from there. History is a living thing. People tend to think history is the past. True. It is a part of the past, but it is ongoing. What we are doing now, today at this moment, is history and we are always making history. We must continue to record and preserve the deaf experience. Imagine the feeling of looking through a book that for the first time shows you your people's history. Now we'll be talking to people who played significant roles in the making of that history. One person who certainly qualifies as a significant figure in the deaf community is Dr. Byron Benton Burns, or as he's referred to in our community as BBV. Dr. Burns has worked to improve the lives of deaf people through his efforts as president of the National Association of the Deaf. He served as president for almost 20 years. He edited the California news for 27 years and was also active in the publishing of the Resurrected Silent Worker Magazine, which is known today as the Deaf American Magazine. We asked Julian Singleton, known to us as Buddy Singleton, to interview Dr. Burns. Mr. Singleton is a deaf educator and former chairman of the San Francisco Convention of the National Association of the Deaf. Mr. Singleton interviewed Dr. Burns during a fireside chat at BBV's home. The National Association of the Deaf has been a major advocate for deaf rights. As a result, we now have many laws protecting our rights. What issues did the NAD face and what actions did it take? Well, the trouble is most people haven't meant to discriminate against us. The public simply has not been aware of what deaf people could do, their capabilities. They cannot believe that we deaf people can do everything they can and probably more. NAD's publicity office has concentrated on this problem, which has helped. This department has done much to educate the public through editorials and publications, trying to teach the truth about deaf people. In the past, employers have been afraid to hire deaf employees because of their misconceptions about deaf people. They haven't meant any harm. They just didn't know about us. There is one fight. I'm happy we don't have to worry about these days. But a long time ago, before my time, it was quite a problem. Just when automobiles were starting to become popular, even though there were many new drivers, people pageled at the idea of deaf drivers. They thought, what? Deaf drivers? That's unsafe. Deaf people can't drive cars. But later, as automobiles became commonplace, deaf people like everyone else bought cars, but they couldn't get a driver's license. The state legislature and motor vehicle boards thought this would be just awful. We can't allow deaf people to drive cars. When I came into office for my term as president, NAD had begun to resolve this problem. I hope, I really hope, we are never faced with this problem again. Still, maintaining our publicity efforts is important because if we don't, people will forget about us and the next generation will once again say, deaf people are incapable. So you see, we still have more work to do. One of Dr. Burns' longtime friends is Harry Jacobs. As a matter of fact, Harry Jacobs was the first business manager of the Silent Worker magazine. Dr. Burns and Harry Jacobs go back a long way together as collaborators actively helping the growth of the deaf community. Although Mr. Jacobs is active in many projects, his main interest is sports. Sports in the deaf world have long served as a unifying force. Mr. Jacobs realizing this encouraged its growth and became a leader of the American Athletic Association of the Deaf, the AAAD, a national organization. He was also founding president of the Northwest Athletic Association of the Deaf and continued as its president for many years. Coming up next, Harry Jacobs. Because hearing people greatly outnumber deaf people, the deaf have less of a chance to compete in the Olympic Games. That's why the AAAD established separate games patterned after the Olympics. The games are basically the same with slight variations in the rules. The competitions are held every four years. They're a growing success and are becoming internationally more popular. These events function as a way to keep people in touch, introduce new friends, and in doing so enrich their lives. Competitive sports have improved their way of life by creating a sense of pride and prestige. Sports are exciting. They have also given sponsoring deaf clubs wider recognition. I'd like to thank everyone who participated in the creation of this program. Seeing all of this has made me proud to be a part of Deaf culture. In this first of four programs, we have provided you with a glimpse of Deaf heritage and talked to some of the people who helped shape it. In closing, here are some of the members of our Deaf community expressing their feelings about their future. As awareness of Deaf culture spreads, more people view us in a positive way, which affects how we view ourselves. Now, when we come together, we can meet with a greater understanding of each other. With the increasing awareness of Deaf people, the general population will accept the Deaf and treat them equally. And all these technological advancements, I know they will benefit the Deaf community eventually. I predict that there will be more and more Deaf leaders, more Deaf people involved in school boards and in organizations or projects that affect their lives. I predict that in the far future, maybe by the year 2000, we will have a Deaf congressman. And I predict that in the future, the president of Gallaudet College will be Deaf. I used to sign exact English when I would go out in public. People could understand me. Forget that. So now, I use American Sign Language, ASL, and some people can still understand me. I've got a good idea. I think I'll go into a hiding place and make a new ASL. Then when I'm out in public signing, people won't be able to understand me. How's that? One fear I have is the possibility that so-called experts from the outside will come in with the attitude, all those poor Deaf people, how awful, and find a way to make us hearing. I hope that never happens. If it did, we would lose our beautiful Deaf culture and language. Even if most Deaf people did become hearing, I'd never change. I'll die Deaf.