Deaf America Reads
July 4th – Independence Day
Happy 238th birthday, America! Happy 20th anniversary, Library Friends Section (LFS) of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), in which mission is to promote library access and quality resources for the deaf diversity of America!
Yes, today America is a federal constitutional republic containing 56 unique, distinct jurisdictions, each with its own cultures, traditions, laws and the like – 50 states, DC, two commonwealths and three territories.
Build it, they will come! Deaf Culture Digital Library in all parts of America 2
On July 4, 1816, America celebrated its 40th birth anniversary a month before Laurent Clerc from France arrived in America with Thomas H. Gallaudet on August 9, 1816.
Clerc, the first deaf visionary leader in the field of American education, and the two others (T.H. Gallaudet and Dr. Mason Fitch Cogswell) co-founded American School for the Deaf on April 15, 1817 in Hartford, CT. It was the first kind of the school in America; it used public funds – an idea for the hearing and also for the blind to do the same in the late 1830s!
*A poster (8.5” x 11”) “Deaf America Reads” designed by Lois Hoover, Deaf artist, for the National Literary Society of the Deaf, is included in the FOLDA KIT: Laurent Clerc and Gallaudet University. This kit is a fundraiser by Gallaudet Class of 1957 for Gallaudet Archives. The cost is 25 dollars each packet (folder) which also includes two other posters (Laurent Clerc and Abbé l’Épée) by Jean Boutcher, Deaf artist. And for the packet with a binder and 20 sheet protectors and plus one complimentary poster of George W. Veditz by Deaf artist, Nancy Rourke, the cost is 45 dollars. If interested to purchase either item: packet only or packet with the binder, sheets and extra poster, please add $5 for shipping. Make checks payable to Library for Deaf Action and mail to FOLDA, 2930 Craiglawn Road, Silver Spring, MD 20904-1816.. This FOLDA Kit will also be sold at the LFS booth this week during the NAD conference. It is a limited edition – only 500. First come, first served.
2 On May 15, 2014, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed the historical bill into law – Deaf Culture Digital Library (DCDL) – which requires the Division of Library Development and Services (DLSD) of the MD State Dept of Education to establish as the primary information center on deaf resources for library customers and staff in the state of Maryland http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2014RS/bills/hb/hb0653f.pdf
Submitted by Alice L. Hagemeyer, FOLDA President and the Creator of the two Series: I Made America Great and Bridging Deaf Cultures Email: [email protected]
Alice is one of the 15 Gallaudet Visionary leaders honored during the Gallaudet’s year- long celebration of its 150th anniversary, from Sept 2013 to Nov 2014.
http://www.gallaudet.edu/150/celebrate/visionary_leaders/alice_hagemeyer.html
Please share this with others. If you wish, you may purchase the FOLDA KIT as a donation to your local public and school library In this case, please let us know so that we will put such libraries on our FOLDA list for receiving a free subscription to FOLDA E-NEWS.
Keep our America Strong! And more power to Deaf Americans for a better awareness about our great American history.
Gallaudet University on its 150th anniversary! Support your library! Anywhere in America. Your local community! And globally!
Alice L. Hagemeyer
Email: [email protected]