Segregation of Black Deaf Children in the United States

HISTORICAL SKETCH

Sandra White, a Gallaudet University employee of the Television, Film, and Photography department, undertook a project to gather information regarding black deaf history to produce a documentary film. She went through sources in the Gallaudet University Archives, locating information about black deaf history, particularly that in deaf schools. The main topic that she focused on is the history of segregation in deaf schools between black and non-black deaf students up to the desegregation movement in America during the 1950s. In gathering those documents, she wanted to support her research of desegregation of Kendall School for the Deaf in 1951. There was a trial involving the mother of Kenneth Alan Miller, a black deaf boy in Washington, D.C. The mother fought for Kenneth's right to attend Kendall School instead of sending him to the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in Philadelphia, where Kenneth attended for two years. Kendall School's policy at the time was to send all colored deaf students from the District of Columbia to the Maryland School for the Colored Blind and Deaf-mutes in Overlea, Maryland. Kenneth's mother brought D.C. board of Education to trial in the Supreme Court in 1952. The plaintiffs are the Millers and William (Billy) Matthews, a black deaf boy from D.C., and his mother, Miss Grace Jones. The trial ended with the verdict that ordered D.C. black deaf children to start attending Kendall School instead of the school in Overlea, Maryland.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

Papers related to the black deaf project by Sandy White fills this collection. Sandy White made photocopies of documents for her research and organized them into one collection. There is correspondence related to black deaf students' enrollment at Kendall School and Maryland School for Colored Blind and Deaf Mutes. Some copies of little paper families, including the Alabama Banner, Silent Worker, Just Once a Month, and The Buff and Blue are also present in the collection. Copies of schools for the deaf reports from schools that contained a separate program for the colored or Negro Deaf students are included. Transcripts of the videotaped interviews with Rubye Frye and Mary Phillips, former employees of the colored Maryland School are included as well. All this work went into the production of the documentary film titled "Class of 1952." Videotapes of interviews and the final copy of the documentary film are in a separate file of the Gallaudet University Archives. They are available upon request.

FOLDER LIST