A Deaf History of Martha's Vineyard
blog4history.com Posted on April 29, 2012
Martha’s Vineyard: A History of Deaf Equality on a Little Island
A Guest post by T.L. Council
The modern day incarnation of Martha’s Vineyard as a tourist resort is vastly different than what it originally was. From its earliest days, it was just a small, isolated village, filled with a friendly and vibrant people. The Vineyard is situated on Nantucket, a small island off the southern coast of Massachusetts. It was populated by English immigrants in the mid-17th century during a time when British settlement was going full force. What most people don’t know is that Martha’s Vineyard was a relatively isolated area, and that over time, the population could trace its origins to just a few families from a remote area of England. That isn’t even the most interesting aspect of the settlement, though. The greatest gift that Martha’s Vineyard has given the world is the fact that about one-half of the population was deaf until the mid-20th century. Why is this a gift to the world? It’s a simple reason, really. The inhabitants of this little hamlet could teach us modern folks a thing or two about how we treat those who are deaf and hard of hearing. In Martha’s Vineyard, the deaf were considered equals, not second-class citizens, as many hearing-impaired people today feel.
In 1985 Nora Groce published one of the most vivid and telling histories of the Vineyard. Her book, “Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language,” tells the story of the islanders, and how their culture evolved after settling the island. The language of the inhabitants in this small community was unlike any other that existed anywhere else. It was a mixture of spoken words, sign language, and gestures that created a fluid way of communicating. No one considered deafness a disability, which is contrary to how deafness has historically been viewed throughout the world. In fact, deafness didn’t even factor into the islanders’ treatment of their deaf neighbors.
Since the first deaf individual on the island was recorded in the town roster in 1738, the deaf population soared. Jonathan Lambert, who was the first deaf person on the island, had two children who were deaf. Intermarriage between first and second cousins was so widely accepted that by the time the 20th century rolled around, most inhabitants were somehow related to one another. Lambert’s own sister married her first cousin and gave birth to seven children. Of those seven, three were deaf.
As the deaf population grew on the island, people naturally picked up sign language. What’s interesting about this is that the attitude towards deafness was so profoundly different than what we’re used to seeing. Think about it. When you see two deaf individuals speaking together in sign language, how does that make you feel? Do you stare? Are you mesmerized? Are you even remotely disgusted? Some deaf grunt and make noises when they talk to each other because they obviously can’t hear themselves. In 2012, amazingly, there are still some people who believe that deaf individuals shouldn’t be permitted to drive. But 200 years ago at Martha’s Vineyard, there existed an egalitarian society where deafness was not only accepted, but embraced as nothing more than a genetic quirk, like the shape of your eyebrows, or hair color.
A common denominator between the geography of Martha’s Vineyard and the islanders’ origins is that both were isolated areas. The Kentish Weald, in Kent, England, was a remote area in the 16th and 17th centuries with an isolated gene pool. Those limited genes were passed on to the inhabitants of Martha’s Vineyard for the next few centuries with very few new genetic variations introduced. So, naturally, deafness become common, as families often found themselves with a high number of deaf children. If two hearing people were talking together, they often shifted fluidly between the spoken word and sign language out of habit. No one had to remember to include a deaf individual in a conversation because everyone knew how to communicate with one another.
In schools, hearing and deaf children alike learned how to read, write and perform arithmetic. No one was exempted from learning how to read because of poor hearing, and no one was given a pass on difficult subjects based on whether or not they could hear. This is drastically different than what deaf school children experience today, as many adults who attended deaf schools, and even mainstream schools, possess poor literacy, can barely spell, and often have little, if any, knowledge of American or world history.
In some states, deaf education teachers often don’t even know sign language, and so their students either get their information second hand from an interpreter or in some other way. If deaf kids are a part of a mainstream classroom where they’re the only hearing-impaired student in class, they can often fall behind their classmates because they need more time to communicate with the instructor.
What can Martha’s Vineyard teach us, as a society? What can it teach us as educators and parents? There’s always been a bit of controversy over the use of sign language among the deaf, but it truly is the best way for them to communicate and learn.
In the early 20th century, inhabitants who ventured off the island were often taken by surprise at the negative attitudes the Deaf on the Mainland experienced. They simply couldn’t fathom why someone with hearing loss would be treated any differently than a person with perfect hearing would. Their culture was ingrained with the idea that deafness was not an issue. However, by the time Nora Groce wrote her groundbreaking book in 1985, most of the native residents had moved off the island and the distinct blend of sign language and English has nearly been forgotten. The early inhabitants of Martha’s Vineyard proves that the deaf are not disabled. They are simply labeled that by mainstream society because of their difference in communication.
T.L. Council is a late-deafened adult who is also experienced in working with the Deaf. She is a published author and has written numerous articles about deafness, hearing loss, and civil rights issues. She also contributes to Degree Jungle, a resource for college students.
Martha’s Vineyard: A History of Deaf Equality on a Little Island
A Guest post by T.L. Council
The modern day incarnation of Martha’s Vineyard as a tourist resort is vastly different than what it originally was. From its earliest days, it was just a small, isolated village, filled with a friendly and vibrant people. The Vineyard is situated on Nantucket, a small island off the southern coast of Massachusetts. It was populated by English immigrants in the mid-17th century during a time when British settlement was going full force. What most people don’t know is that Martha’s Vineyard was a relatively isolated area, and that over time, the population could trace its origins to just a few families from a remote area of England. That isn’t even the most interesting aspect of the settlement, though. The greatest gift that Martha’s Vineyard has given the world is the fact that about one-half of the population was deaf until the mid-20th century. Why is this a gift to the world? It’s a simple reason, really. The inhabitants of this little hamlet could teach us modern folks a thing or two about how we treat those who are deaf and hard of hearing. In Martha’s Vineyard, the deaf were considered equals, not second-class citizens, as many hearing-impaired people today feel.
In 1985 Nora Groce published one of the most vivid and telling histories of the Vineyard. Her book, “Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language,” tells the story of the islanders, and how their culture evolved after settling the island. The language of the inhabitants in this small community was unlike any other that existed anywhere else. It was a mixture of spoken words, sign language, and gestures that created a fluid way of communicating. No one considered deafness a disability, which is contrary to how deafness has historically been viewed throughout the world. In fact, deafness didn’t even factor into the islanders’ treatment of their deaf neighbors.
Since the first deaf individual on the island was recorded in the town roster in 1738, the deaf population soared. Jonathan Lambert, who was the first deaf person on the island, had two children who were deaf. Intermarriage between first and second cousins was so widely accepted that by the time the 20th century rolled around, most inhabitants were somehow related to one another. Lambert’s own sister married her first cousin and gave birth to seven children. Of those seven, three were deaf.
As the deaf population grew on the island, people naturally picked up sign language. What’s interesting about this is that the attitude towards deafness was so profoundly different than what we’re used to seeing. Think about it. When you see two deaf individuals speaking together in sign language, how does that make you feel? Do you stare? Are you mesmerized? Are you even remotely disgusted? Some deaf grunt and make noises when they talk to each other because they obviously can’t hear themselves. In 2012, amazingly, there are still some people who believe that deaf individuals shouldn’t be permitted to drive. But 200 years ago at Martha’s Vineyard, there existed an egalitarian society where deafness was not only accepted, but embraced as nothing more than a genetic quirk, like the shape of your eyebrows, or hair color.
A common denominator between the geography of Martha’s Vineyard and the islanders’ origins is that both were isolated areas. The Kentish Weald, in Kent, England, was a remote area in the 16th and 17th centuries with an isolated gene pool. Those limited genes were passed on to the inhabitants of Martha’s Vineyard for the next few centuries with very few new genetic variations introduced. So, naturally, deafness become common, as families often found themselves with a high number of deaf children. If two hearing people were talking together, they often shifted fluidly between the spoken word and sign language out of habit. No one had to remember to include a deaf individual in a conversation because everyone knew how to communicate with one another.
In schools, hearing and deaf children alike learned how to read, write and perform arithmetic. No one was exempted from learning how to read because of poor hearing, and no one was given a pass on difficult subjects based on whether or not they could hear. This is drastically different than what deaf school children experience today, as many adults who attended deaf schools, and even mainstream schools, possess poor literacy, can barely spell, and often have little, if any, knowledge of American or world history.
In some states, deaf education teachers often don’t even know sign language, and so their students either get their information second hand from an interpreter or in some other way. If deaf kids are a part of a mainstream classroom where they’re the only hearing-impaired student in class, they can often fall behind their classmates because they need more time to communicate with the instructor.
What can Martha’s Vineyard teach us, as a society? What can it teach us as educators and parents? There’s always been a bit of controversy over the use of sign language among the deaf, but it truly is the best way for them to communicate and learn.
In the early 20th century, inhabitants who ventured off the island were often taken by surprise at the negative attitudes the Deaf on the Mainland experienced. They simply couldn’t fathom why someone with hearing loss would be treated any differently than a person with perfect hearing would. Their culture was ingrained with the idea that deafness was not an issue. However, by the time Nora Groce wrote her groundbreaking book in 1985, most of the native residents had moved off the island and the distinct blend of sign language and English has nearly been forgotten. The early inhabitants of Martha’s Vineyard proves that the deaf are not disabled. They are simply labeled that by mainstream society because of their difference in communication.
T.L. Council is a late-deafened adult who is also experienced in working with the Deaf. She is a published author and has written numerous articles about deafness, hearing loss, and civil rights issues. She also contributes to Degree Jungle, a resource for college students.
Gallaudet University
The following article regarding Gallaudet University from ASLU gives a brief background about the school. Enjoy!
Famous People in the History of American Sign Language
In the early 1800's, Dr. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet wanted to learn a manual language in order to teach an acquaintance of his, Alice Cogswell, how to communicate. He traveled to Europe and met Laurent Clerc at the National Institute for Deaf-Mutes. Together, they returned to the United States and founded the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. This was the only school dedicated to educating the Deaf. In the late 1800's, the school was renamed Gallaudet College to honor the family. In the late 1900's, the college became a university.
Helen Keller was born blind, deaf and mute. In 1887, her parents sought help in the form of a young teacher named Anne Sullivan. Ms. Sullivan's tireless help made it possible for Helen to learn ASL and to read Braille. Not willing to stop there, Helen would learn to overcome her last hurdle. She learned to speak and actually earned a living by orating before large audiences. Eventually she even addressed the U.S. Congress.
Can you discover what connection these individuals would have to Deaf History?
* Chuck Baird
* I. King Jordan
* Ludwig Van Beethoven
* Marlee Matlin
* Daniel Chester French
* I. King Jordan
* Ludwig Van Beethoven
* Marlee Matlin
* Daniel Chester French
Deaf History Month
The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) urges everyone to recognize and celebrate March 13 - April 15 as National Deaf History Month. This month includes three key moments in American History for the Deaf community: the March 13, 1988 Deaf President Now protest, the April 8, 1864 signing of the Gallaudet University charter by President Abraham Lincoln, and the April 15, 1817 establishment of American School for the Deaf in Hartford, CT as the first permanent public school for the deaf.
Each of these seminal events represents significant advancements for deaf and hard of hearing people in the United States. The establishment of the American School for the Deaf was the beginning of a long proud tradition of schools for the deaf in this country, which continues to this day. Preservation of these schools is of paramount importance to the community. Gallaudet University is a central icon within the community, representing the only university in the world that is solely for deaf and hard of hearing students. March 13 represents the day that the deaf community seized its fate during the Gallaudet University “Deaf President Now” movement when Gallaudet selected its first Deaf President. We declared that never again would we not be allowed to lead ourselves.
In 2006, the American Library Association (ALA) and the NAD announced that March 13 to April 15 is National Deaf History Month, thanks to the efforts of Alice Hagemeyer. The NAD, with her guidance, has consistently encouraged state and local deaf-related organizations to collaborate with local libraries, state governors, county executives and mayors to recognize this month.
"Please join us and celebrate the amazing achievements of our predecessors who advanced our civil, human, and linguistic rights throughout our country's history during Deaf History Month," said President Bobbie Beth Scoggins. "The NAD urges the United States government and states as well as local organizations and libraries to officially recognize Deaf History month to bring awareness and appreciation of deaf culture, heritage and American Sign Language to the general public.
The NAD continues to work with Ms. Hagemeyer and the ALA to ensure that there is a Proclamation of National Deaf History Month through the White House and/or the U.S. Congress.
Each of these seminal events represents significant advancements for deaf and hard of hearing people in the United States. The establishment of the American School for the Deaf was the beginning of a long proud tradition of schools for the deaf in this country, which continues to this day. Preservation of these schools is of paramount importance to the community. Gallaudet University is a central icon within the community, representing the only university in the world that is solely for deaf and hard of hearing students. March 13 represents the day that the deaf community seized its fate during the Gallaudet University “Deaf President Now” movement when Gallaudet selected its first Deaf President. We declared that never again would we not be allowed to lead ourselves.
In 2006, the American Library Association (ALA) and the NAD announced that March 13 to April 15 is National Deaf History Month, thanks to the efforts of Alice Hagemeyer. The NAD, with her guidance, has consistently encouraged state and local deaf-related organizations to collaborate with local libraries, state governors, county executives and mayors to recognize this month.
"Please join us and celebrate the amazing achievements of our predecessors who advanced our civil, human, and linguistic rights throughout our country's history during Deaf History Month," said President Bobbie Beth Scoggins. "The NAD urges the United States government and states as well as local organizations and libraries to officially recognize Deaf History month to bring awareness and appreciation of deaf culture, heritage and American Sign Language to the general public.
The NAD continues to work with Ms. Hagemeyer and the ALA to ensure that there is a Proclamation of National Deaf History Month through the White House and/or the U.S. Congress.
Use the following button to link to the article for this assignment:
Deaf Influence on Sports
HAND SIGNALS
Deaf History and the Birth of Umpiring Gestures in Baseball
Rebecca A.R. Edwards | Oct 24, 2018
The World Series of 1906 was a series of firsts. It was the first modern Subway Series, pitting the American League’s Chicago White Sox against the National League’s Chicago Cubs. It was also the first World Series appearance for both franchises. It marked the first appearance in the World Series for the Cubs’ famous infield of Tinker, Evers, and Chance. And it was a true classic, ending in a huge surprise upset, as the Cubs, the team with the best record in baseball at 116-36, were defeated by the White Sox, a team with a collective batting average so weak (.230) they were nicknamed the Hitless Wonders. They batted even more poorly, at .198, on their unlikely road to victory.
The 1906 World Series was the first Fall Classic in which the umpires used gestures to make calls. Wikimedia Commons
It was also the first World Series in which the umpires called the games with gestures. As the Chicago Tribune reported,
Fans who were fortunate enough to see the world’s series in this city last fall will recall that the din of rooting was so great it was impossible to hear an umpire’s decision. Umpire Johnstone, who worked behind the plate in the first game, had difficulty in making even the batteries understand his decisions. Next day, “Silk” O’Loughlin supplemented his clarion voice with his characteristic gestures, and his decisions were apparent to all. . . . Before the third game, both umpires were instructed to raise their right arms for strikes and their left arms for balls.[i]
Umpire Francis “Silk” O’Loughlin, we learn, employed his characteristic gestures to call the game. But most umpires did not gesture in 1906; in fact, umpires largely resisted the idea, arguing that it detracted from their dignity. O’Loughlin, it turns out, had only turned to the gestures that would become characteristic to his style of umpiring in desperation.
In April 1906, as the season was opening, he was scheduled to umpire a game in Washington, DC. But the Washington Post reported, “O’Loughlin sprained his larynx Tuesday . . . and had no voice today.” Still O’Loughlin took up his position and called the game. The Post continued, “Instead of calling the decisions, he employed ‘Dummy’ Hoy’s mute signal code, which certainly was a novelty for Silk.”[ii]
William Ellsworth “Dummy” Hoy was, and still is, the most famous deaf man ever to play major league baseball. He played centerfield from 1888 to 1902 for a variety of teams including the Washington Senators, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Chicago White Sox. In 1,796 major-league games, he amassed 2,044 hits, 248 doubles, 121 triples, and 40 home runs; scored 1,426 runs; stole 594 bases; had 274 career assists; had a career fielding percentage of .915; and had a career batting average of .287. His batting average exceeded the league average of .281. His combined on-base and slugging percentage of .759 exceeded the league average of .725.[iii]
Wherever he went, Hoy brought with him a signal system, so that he could know what the umpire’s call was. Hoy described it this way in 1900:
The act of lifting up the right hand by the [third base] coacher while I am at bat to denote that the umpire has called a strike on me and the raising of the left hand to denote that a ball has been called has come to be well understood by all the League players. The reason the right hand was originally chosen to denote a strike was because “the pitcher was all right” when he got the ball over the plate and because “he got left” when he sent the ball wide of the plate. I have often been told by frequenters of the game that they take considerable delight in watching the coacher signal balls and strikes to me, as by these signals they can know to a certainty what the umpire with a not too overstrong voice is saying.[iv]
It seems, faced with his own suddenly not too “overstrong” voice, that O’Loughlin adopted Dummy Hoy’s mute signal code for himself.
It is important that the Washington Post saw it that way too. For years, deaf baseball fans have argued that Dummy Hoy brought umpires’ signs, in particular the signs for balls and strikes, into the game. And for years, hearing baseball researchers have denied that this was true. Bill Deane, who served as the senior research associate at the National Baseball Library and Archive from 1986 to 1994, published his own view of the claim about Hoy in 2012. In his Baseball Myths: Debating, Debunking, and Disproving Tales from the Diamond, Deane argued that the deaf community’s version of events amounts to the promulgation of a “Hoy myth.” He concluded, “The consensus is that standardized umpires’ hand signals first appeared in the big leagues about 1906, give or take a year. And Dummy Hoy, who last played in the majors in 1902, had nothing to do with them.”
It turns out that Hoy had everything to do with them. Even baseball witnesses in 1906, the year that Deane himself points to, saw the signs, recognized them as Hoy’s, and attributed them to Hoy and not to O’Loughlin.
The truth of the matter is that the oral history and preserved knowledge of the deaf community had the story right the entire time. As working historians, we are trained sometimes to be skeptical of such stories—oral tradition gets details wrong, we say; received wisdom is sometimes more culturally revealing than it is historically accurate.
The Hoy case is a reminder that, as good as it is to uncover the reporting of a neutral party, that in and of itself does not make a story suddenly true. It was already true. The truth about Hoy’s most lasting contribution to the national pastime has been too long and too unfairly denied.
Deaf fans knew it all along. Hearing fans just weren’t listening.
[i] “Gestures to Tell Umpire’s Ruling,” Chicago Tribune, January 6, 1907.
[ii] “Nationals Lose Game,” Washington Post, April 19, 1906.
[iii] All statistics are from http://www.baseball-reference.com.
[iv] Hoy as quoted in the Sporting News, January 27, 1900.
Rebecca Edwards is a professor of history in the Department of History at the Rochester Institute of Technology, in Rochester, New York. Her book on the history of deaf ballplayers in major league baseball is forthcoming from MacFarland Press. She is a lifelong Red Sox fan.
Deaf History and the Birth of Umpiring Gestures in Baseball
Rebecca A.R. Edwards | Oct 24, 2018
The World Series of 1906 was a series of firsts. It was the first modern Subway Series, pitting the American League’s Chicago White Sox against the National League’s Chicago Cubs. It was also the first World Series appearance for both franchises. It marked the first appearance in the World Series for the Cubs’ famous infield of Tinker, Evers, and Chance. And it was a true classic, ending in a huge surprise upset, as the Cubs, the team with the best record in baseball at 116-36, were defeated by the White Sox, a team with a collective batting average so weak (.230) they were nicknamed the Hitless Wonders. They batted even more poorly, at .198, on their unlikely road to victory.
The 1906 World Series was the first Fall Classic in which the umpires used gestures to make calls. Wikimedia Commons
It was also the first World Series in which the umpires called the games with gestures. As the Chicago Tribune reported,
Fans who were fortunate enough to see the world’s series in this city last fall will recall that the din of rooting was so great it was impossible to hear an umpire’s decision. Umpire Johnstone, who worked behind the plate in the first game, had difficulty in making even the batteries understand his decisions. Next day, “Silk” O’Loughlin supplemented his clarion voice with his characteristic gestures, and his decisions were apparent to all. . . . Before the third game, both umpires were instructed to raise their right arms for strikes and their left arms for balls.[i]
Umpire Francis “Silk” O’Loughlin, we learn, employed his characteristic gestures to call the game. But most umpires did not gesture in 1906; in fact, umpires largely resisted the idea, arguing that it detracted from their dignity. O’Loughlin, it turns out, had only turned to the gestures that would become characteristic to his style of umpiring in desperation.
In April 1906, as the season was opening, he was scheduled to umpire a game in Washington, DC. But the Washington Post reported, “O’Loughlin sprained his larynx Tuesday . . . and had no voice today.” Still O’Loughlin took up his position and called the game. The Post continued, “Instead of calling the decisions, he employed ‘Dummy’ Hoy’s mute signal code, which certainly was a novelty for Silk.”[ii]
William Ellsworth “Dummy” Hoy was, and still is, the most famous deaf man ever to play major league baseball. He played centerfield from 1888 to 1902 for a variety of teams including the Washington Senators, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Chicago White Sox. In 1,796 major-league games, he amassed 2,044 hits, 248 doubles, 121 triples, and 40 home runs; scored 1,426 runs; stole 594 bases; had 274 career assists; had a career fielding percentage of .915; and had a career batting average of .287. His batting average exceeded the league average of .281. His combined on-base and slugging percentage of .759 exceeded the league average of .725.[iii]
Wherever he went, Hoy brought with him a signal system, so that he could know what the umpire’s call was. Hoy described it this way in 1900:
The act of lifting up the right hand by the [third base] coacher while I am at bat to denote that the umpire has called a strike on me and the raising of the left hand to denote that a ball has been called has come to be well understood by all the League players. The reason the right hand was originally chosen to denote a strike was because “the pitcher was all right” when he got the ball over the plate and because “he got left” when he sent the ball wide of the plate. I have often been told by frequenters of the game that they take considerable delight in watching the coacher signal balls and strikes to me, as by these signals they can know to a certainty what the umpire with a not too overstrong voice is saying.[iv]
It seems, faced with his own suddenly not too “overstrong” voice, that O’Loughlin adopted Dummy Hoy’s mute signal code for himself.
It is important that the Washington Post saw it that way too. For years, deaf baseball fans have argued that Dummy Hoy brought umpires’ signs, in particular the signs for balls and strikes, into the game. And for years, hearing baseball researchers have denied that this was true. Bill Deane, who served as the senior research associate at the National Baseball Library and Archive from 1986 to 1994, published his own view of the claim about Hoy in 2012. In his Baseball Myths: Debating, Debunking, and Disproving Tales from the Diamond, Deane argued that the deaf community’s version of events amounts to the promulgation of a “Hoy myth.” He concluded, “The consensus is that standardized umpires’ hand signals first appeared in the big leagues about 1906, give or take a year. And Dummy Hoy, who last played in the majors in 1902, had nothing to do with them.”
It turns out that Hoy had everything to do with them. Even baseball witnesses in 1906, the year that Deane himself points to, saw the signs, recognized them as Hoy’s, and attributed them to Hoy and not to O’Loughlin.
The truth of the matter is that the oral history and preserved knowledge of the deaf community had the story right the entire time. As working historians, we are trained sometimes to be skeptical of such stories—oral tradition gets details wrong, we say; received wisdom is sometimes more culturally revealing than it is historically accurate.
The Hoy case is a reminder that, as good as it is to uncover the reporting of a neutral party, that in and of itself does not make a story suddenly true. It was already true. The truth about Hoy’s most lasting contribution to the national pastime has been too long and too unfairly denied.
Deaf fans knew it all along. Hearing fans just weren’t listening.
[i] “Gestures to Tell Umpire’s Ruling,” Chicago Tribune, January 6, 1907.
[ii] “Nationals Lose Game,” Washington Post, April 19, 1906.
[iii] All statistics are from http://www.baseball-reference.com.
[iv] Hoy as quoted in the Sporting News, January 27, 1900.
Rebecca Edwards is a professor of history in the Department of History at the Rochester Institute of Technology, in Rochester, New York. Her book on the history of deaf ballplayers in major league baseball is forthcoming from MacFarland Press. She is a lifelong Red Sox fan.