Deaf History Month

Deaf History Month begins on March 13 and lasts until April 15. These dates were chosen to highlight three important events in deaf history:

13 March 1988: Irving King Jordan became the first deaf president of Gallaudet University after students protested the appointment of a hearing president

8 April 1864: President Abraham Lincoln signed the charter for the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and Blind (now Gallaudet University)

15 April 1817: the first permanent school for the deaf in the United States, the American School for the Deaf, was founded by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, Dr. Mason Cogswell, and Laurent Clerc

My 3rd-great-grandmother Angeline (Mayo) Binkley was hearing-impaired. In her Civil War widow's pension application, she stated that she had been "quite deaf" since her childhood and that  it was difficult for her to hear conversations unless the words were spoken very loudly.

Angeline Binkley, widow's pension application no. 120,126, certificate no. 166,029; service of Davidson Binkley (Pvt., Co. G, 128th Ill. Inf., Civil War); Case Files of Approved Pension Applications..., 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C. 

Statement of Angeline Binkley. Angeline Binkley, widow's pension application no. 120,126, certificate no. 166,029; service of Davidson Binkley (Pvt., Co. G, 128th Ill. Inf., Civil War); Case Files of Approved Pension Applications..., 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C. 

References
American School for the Deaf
Celebrate National Deaf History Month - Beginning March 13
Gallaudet University and President Abraham Lincoln
I. King Jordan
Observing Deaf History Month