St. Mary's School for Deaf Girls, 1846-2016.
Panel
3B: History, Origins and Digital Histories
Abstract
Deaf history is a study of a people hitherto almost always written about by others, a historiographical fact reflected in both primary and secondary sources. This was often because people termed ‘deaf and dumb’ (to use an archaic, and now offensive, phrase) were often uneducated, or did not have the opportunity to express themselves in written form. It is only in recent years that historians both Deaf and hearing have been able to write from the perspective of Deaf people themselves. Thanks to public domain digitization of sources, this has been made much easier to the lay person as well as professional historians. The Irish Deaf History Archives is a by-product of this process, with such digitized sources made readily available on an online file-sharing platform, where people can gain access to digitized sources of information relating to Deaf history. Newspaper articles, government reports, and other sources are made available to anyone who requests access. Access to Deaf history is made much easier as a result, and people who would otherwise not have had access to such material benefitting and learning. The issue of Deaf people’s fluency in written English language is also addressed; Irish Deaf History Archives volunteers have translated some of the digitized material into Irish Sign Language ‘vlogs’, meaning Irish Deaf people have access to both the original digitized source and the ISL translations on the Irish Deaf History Archives Facebook group, as well as a dedicated YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/IrishDeafArchives/videos. St. Mary's Deaf Heritage Group have availed of IDHA material, as well as original non-digitized primary and secondary sources, to produce a book covering the history of St. Mary's School for Deaf Girls between 1846 and 2016. The Irish Deaf History Archives has thus already proved its value to people who want to research specific areas within Irish Deaf History. The Archives are also of value to historians specialising in other areas within Irish history, such as institutions, education, local history, lunatic asylums, and the history of deviance, among others.
St. Mary's School for Deaf Girls, 1846-2016.
Deaf history is a study of a people hitherto almost always written about by others, a historiographical fact reflected in both primary and secondary sources. This was often because people termed ‘deaf and dumb’ (to use an archaic, and now offensive, phrase) were often uneducated, or did not have the opportunity to express themselves in written form. It is only in recent years that historians both Deaf and hearing have been able to write from the perspective of Deaf people themselves. Thanks to public domain digitization of sources, this has been made much easier to the lay person as well as professional historians. The Irish Deaf History Archives is a by-product of this process, with such digitized sources made readily available on an online file-sharing platform, where people can gain access to digitized sources of information relating to Deaf history. Newspaper articles, government reports, and other sources are made available to anyone who requests access. Access to Deaf history is made much easier as a result, and people who would otherwise not have had access to such material benefitting and learning. The issue of Deaf people’s fluency in written English language is also addressed; Irish Deaf History Archives volunteers have translated some of the digitized material into Irish Sign Language ‘vlogs’, meaning Irish Deaf people have access to both the original digitized source and the ISL translations on the Irish Deaf History Archives Facebook group, as well as a dedicated YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/IrishDeafArchives/videos. St. Mary's Deaf Heritage Group have availed of IDHA material, as well as original non-digitized primary and secondary sources, to produce a book covering the history of St. Mary's School for Deaf Girls between 1846 and 2016. The Irish Deaf History Archives has thus already proved its value to people who want to research specific areas within Irish Deaf History. The Archives are also of value to historians specialising in other areas within Irish history, such as institutions, education, local history, lunatic asylums, and the history of deviance, among others.