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Deaf-related
Resources
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Deaf Biographies
A Selected Bibliography
The Gallaudet University Library contains a large amount of materials about deaf people
and about hearing people involved with the deaf world. This bibliography suggests some
books and other resources for finding information about those people. Only books and
other resources containing information about many deaf people are included in this list;
the Library has hundreds of books about specific deaf individuals, far too many to be
included here. Use ALADIN to find those books
about individual deaf people.
DATABASE
The best single place to begin is the Gallaudet University Library guide to deaf
biographies by Thomas R. Harrington, a computer database of over 4000 references
to biographies of deaf people and a few hearing people significant to the deaf. For
most persons, a very brief biographical outline is given, followed by references to
fuller information about that person in over two hundred books and/or periodicals.
An ethnicity index at the end indicates which of these people are known to belong to
certain minority groups. All the short biographies included in the "Books" section
below, plus hundreds more, are included in this database. This database is available
online. It can be reached through the Deaf-related resources section on the
Gallaudet University Library home page,
library.gallaudet.edu. Searches can be performed
by name, by occupation, and by nationality.
BOOKS
Braddock, Guilbert C. Notable deaf persons. Washington, DC: Gallaudet College
Alumni Association, 1975. (DEAF 920 B685n 1975; on reserve)
- A collection of nearly 100 brief profiles of deaf people from early times to the
1940s, originally published in The Frat magazine from 1937 to 1946.
Carroll, Cathryn, and Mather, Susan M. Movers & shakers: deaf people who changed
the world. San Diego, Calif.: DawnSignPress, 1997. (DEAF 920 M68 1997; on reserve)
- Profiles twenty-six deaf individuals who had an influence on history.
Goldstein, Martin M. Deaf Canadians: an insight. Calgary: M. Goldstein, 1989.
(DEAF 920 G64d 1990; on reserve)
- Contains stories on 22 present-day Canadians of all types, famous and not, from
all walks of life and backgrounds.
Goodstein, Astrid, and Walworth, Margaret. Interesting deaf Americans: reading and
writing exercises. Washington, DC: Gallaudet College, 1979. (DEAF 920 G66i 1979;
on reserve)
- Although this was written as a workbook for students to practice English language
reading and comprehension, it does contain 25 brief biographies of noted deaf Americans
and Canadians of the past and the present.
Holcomb, Mabs, and Wood, Sharon. Deaf women: a parade through the decades.
Berkeley, CA: DawnSignPress, 1989. (DEAF 920 H64d 1988; on reserve)
- Has very brief information on hundreds of deaf women, grouped into chapters by time
period or by field; sometimes a woman appears in more than one chapter. An eccentric
index refers you not to page numbers but only to the abbreviated name of the
chapter(s), so you have to first find the chapter, then scan it to find the person.
But for many deaf women, this is the only published information available.
Lang, Harry G., and Meath-Lang, Bonnie. Deaf persons in the arts and sciences: a
biographical dictionary. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1995. (DEAF 920 L35d
1995; on reserve)
- As the title suggests, this has biographical information on deaf scientists and
artists. Note that "artists" is loosely defined in this book, including not only
painters, sculptors, etc., but also actors and other performers, a couple of writers,
and even a beauty contest winner.
Moore, Matthew, and Panara, Robert. Great deaf Americans: the second edition.
Rochester, NY: Deaf Life Press, 1996. (DEAF 920 M66g 1996; on reserve)
- Seventy-seven short biographies of famous deaf Americans from 1785 to 1996.
Toole, Darlene K. Courageous deaf adults. Beaverton, Ore.: Dormac, 1980.
(DEAF 920 T55c 1980; on reserve)
- Stories, in simple English, on eight deaf Americans who had to face challeges in
order to succeed in their chosen careers.
Toole, Darlene. Living legends: six stories about successful deaf people.
Hillsboro, Ore.: Butte Publications, 1996. (DEAF 920 T66l 1996)
- Stories about present-day deaf people who have made a mark.
Toole, Darlene. Living legends II: six stories about successful deaf people.
Hillsboro, Ore.: Butte Publications, 1998. (DEAF 920 T66li 1998)
- A sequel to the previous book, featuring six more deaf people.
Toole, Darlene K. Successful deaf Americans. Beaverton, Ore.: Dormac, 1981.
(DEAF 920 T55s 1981; on reserve)
- Eight more stories in simple English of deaf people, mostly Americans.
Van Cleve, John, ed. Gallaudet encyclopedia of deaf people and deafness.
New York: McGraw-Hill, 1987. (DEAF 030 G3 1987; on reserve and in Ready Reference)
- Contains many articles, often with pictures, about deaf people in the U.S. and
around the world, mostly those of the past. Use the index to find the information
about a particular person, since not every person has a whole article about him or
her--sometimes the information is within another article on a different subject.
If you are looking for people by subject (composers, educators, inventors, etc.),
be aware that the index is often inconsistent, and you may need to look under other
words to find all the references. For example: Beethoven and Smetana were both
deafened composers. But in this index, Beethoven is listed as a composer while
Smetana is listed as a musician.
INDEXES
Higgins, Francis, and Harrington, Thomas R. Biographical index to the Deaf American
and Silent worker, 1948-1989. Unpublished, 1974?-1996. (In Ready Reference)
- This is an index to major articles about deaf people that were published in
the Silent worker (vol. 1, 1948 - vol.16, 1964) and Deaf American
(vol.17, 1964 - vol.39, 1989).
Index to deaf periodicals. 1995- . (Available online.)
- An ongoing project to create a computerized index to various popular deaf
peridocals that have never been indexed before. Many biographical articles can
be found in this index, among many other topics. Currently, it contains references
to articles from 5 periodicals. Although work on this index began in 1995, it
includes thousands of articles before that year, going back as far as 1948.
This database can be reached through the Deaf-related resources section
on the Gallaudet University Library home page,
http://library.gallaudet.edu.
Searches can be performed several different ways.
OTHER RESOURCES
WRLC Libraries Catalog in ALADIN
(the computerized catalog of books in the Washington Regional Library Consortium,
which includes Gallaudet).
- Many books have been written about individual deaf people, and some deaf people
have written their own autobiographies. Those books can be found by searching on
the person's name in the WRLC Libraries Catalog. Send your browser program
(Netscape or Internet Explorer) to the Gallaudet University Library home page,
http://library.gallaudet.edu. Click
on the ALADIN button at the lower left corner, then on WRLC Libraries
Catalogs on the left, then Search by: Keyword and type in the name of
the person you want. The last name should come first, and names of more than one
word must be enclosed in quote marks: for example, "Bragg Bernard". For some deaf
individuals, you may find references in ALADIN to manuscripts and other original
papers by or about that person in the Archives. If there are no published books
about the person you are looking for, use one of the other resources listed in
this paper.
Deaf biographical file. (In the Gallaudet University Archives, Merrill Learning
Center room LW70; open Mondays through Fridays except University holidays,
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.)
- This contains newspaper and magazine clippings, small pamphlets, pictures, and
other miscellaneous material in file folders. For some people, this may be the
only information available. Ask an Archives staff member for help in using this file.
* * * * * * * * * *
Revised by Tom Harrington
Reference and Instruction Librarian
October 2001
