Research at
Gallaudet University
2005 - 2006

The Education of Black Deaf Americans in the 20th Century: Policy Implications for Administrators in Residential Schools for the Deaf

Status: Completed Begin date: October, 2002 End date: Jan 2005

Description

This project combined oral history, in-depth interviewing, and reviews of artifacts and documents in a qualitative study of the history of three residential schools for the Deaf, one in North Carolina, one in Alabama, and one in the District of Columbia. Prior to desegregation, all three of these schools once exclusively served Black Deaf students. The investigator focused primarily on the crucial years in the 1950s and 1960s when federal legislation required an end to racial segregation. All participants in the study agreed that regarding the impact of policy and laws desegregation of Deaf residential schools was a positive turning point in the history of Deaf education. Desegregation resulted in the advancement and progress of Black, Deaf, and hard of hearing Americans in society.

Investigators