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Frequently Asked Questions:

The Little Paper Family

More generally, the LPF is usually defined as the group of those newspapers and magazines published by the various state residential schools for the deaf and written and edited mostly or entirely by deaf persons. Although not formally part of the LPF Editorial Association, some national or regional deaf periodicals not affiliated with a school, such as the Deaf-Mutes' Journal or the original Silent Worker, are also usually considered part of the LPF.

The LPF began with the first residential school periodical that appeared in 1849, and went through a "golden age" during the rest of the 19th Century and into the first part of the 20th Century, up through about World War II. The LPF is important as a historical record of deaf people and deaf culture during that period. Periodicals that started after World War II are not considered part of the traditional LPF, though descendents of some LPF publications are still being published today.

Because the LPF Editorial Association lost its original membership roster over a century ago, and never collected dues or did other activities requiring any kind of registration, there is no "official" list of LPF members. The following list of LPF publications has been constructed by surveying Gallaudet University's collection of deaf periodicals, by copying titles that came up in various articles about the LPF in the American Annals of the Deaf, and by noting LPF references to each other (for example, they commonly copied articles from each other, giving credit to the original source).

There are not really as many LPF periodicals as this list makes it appear-most are entered in this list multiple times, once under each title variation, and each entry includes a list of the other title variations, so the real number is less than one-fourth as much as it appears to be.

There is no index to any of these LPF publications. No one ever bothered to make an index. The only way to find articles in them is to search them, page by page.

Please note, too, that this is not a complete list of all deaf school periodicals. There are a number of other deaf school periodicals that do not fall into the scope of this list-for example, newsletters for parents and alumni bulletins, as well as periodicals that began publication after World War II.

The following article is a history of the Little Paper Family:

• Reed, Richard D. "The Little Paper Family: A Rich Heritage and a Promising Future", in Turk, Frank R., ed., A Kaleidoscope of Deaf America, Silver Spring, MD, National Association of the Deaf, 1989, p.48-53.

Alabama Banner, 1949-1957 [Alabama School for Negro Deaf]
Alabama Messenger, 1889-1981 [Alabama School for the Deaf]

formerly Wisconsin Deaf-Mute Times, 1883-1887

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Prepared by Tom Harrington
Reference and Instruction Librarian
September 2001

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