Historic Progress

Closed captioning has now been around for a long time. This article looks at the history in brief, and includes my own contributions to closed captioning history.

The modern cochlear implant is the result of centuries of work.

A brief history of Gallaudet University, with links to more in-depth resources.

From laughable trumpets to sleek BTEs, hearing aids through the years.

How did sign language - any sign language - develop?

Article by an About Deafness contributor on the birth, life, and death of the Silent Network cable channel.

Before text pagers and email, there was the TTY.

The story of Caption Action, an early grassroots campaign to increase closed captioning on home video.

Deaf peddling used to be a common thing; thankfully it is not anymore.

In the Holocaust, deaf people were either killed or sterilized.

Back when the Kosovo war was raging in the Balkans, a deaf man was one of the victims - and his deafness was the reason he died.

What was life like for deaf people in the Great Depression of the '30s?

Did you know that deaf characters have been on television almost since television began?

The historic Deaf President Now movement.

When a group of deaf Mexicans was found enslaved, it was big news in the United States. Unfortunately, deaf slavery persists around the world and appears in the news from time to time.

Older deaf people may remember a time not too long ago, when deaf people were frequently misdiagnosed as retarded and institutionalized, with often disastrous consequences.

At one time, the deaf and hard of hearing community had a very respected newspaper, the Silent News.

In the 19th century, there was a place where it was just as normal to be deaf as it was to be hearing.

In the 19th century, the very mention of this event struck fear in the hearts of sign language users.

Back when public schools were segregated, schools for the deaf were no exception.

Searching the archives of LIFE Magazine turns up many interesting examples of deaf people.