It would be one of BEST lifetime gifts for ASL Rose: The purchasing of PB for the National Deaf Schools Museum, GSD Museum and ASL Rose Studio/Store! View the video and see one of reasons why we should have National Deaf Schools Museum…♥️
[Video Transcript]
Adonia: Hello, I’m here at Primary Building (or “PB” for short), one of GSD’s oldest buildings. So why am I here? Our goal is to buy this building – yes, that one – to make good use of it. Our purpose is to turn it into three divisions under one roof – National Deaf Schools Museum, GSD museum, and ASL Rose studio/store. I’ll focus a bit on Nation Deaf Schools Museum, to explain the reason why it is so important.
Adonia: So, there is a long list of reasons for that museum, but instead of discussing all of them, I’ll just pick one reason. The reason is: ASL stories! The stories are so important they deserved to be shared nationwide. They are usually shared from generation to generation. For example, today the movie industry rejected ASL stories, hearing people look down on them, forcing Deaf people to share their stories in secret or stay silent. We want to keep ASL stories alive. In National Deaf Schools Museum, we would share stories through videos on large monitors where people can see them.
Adonia: But what does that mean to share ASL stories? Won’t that seem so insignificant? No! There’s stories of good and bad experiences, sometimes really awful but sometimes also pretty neat too – to show what it was like to live in the past. Let me give you an example of an “awful” experience shared by a young Deaf man. He graduated from Nebraska School for the Deaf and became a teacher there. He taught for many years and was honored for his support of speaking ASL, reading, and writing. He continued teaching for some time until, suddenly, State of Nebraska passed a bill outlawing speaking in the sign language (ASL). Deaf people were required to learn to speak vocally – no signed language at all! This teacher protested, explaining and insisting on the importance of including signed languages along with reading and writing, but to no avail – and as a result he lost his job (fired) as a teacher. All because he supported speaking in ASL, writing and reading!
Adonia: But he did not give up. He continued being a leader and worked on speaking up and encouraging support for speaking ASL, writing, and reading. He eventually moved to Southern California where he established California School for the Deaf – Riverside. That was one of the stories. Another good story is how Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf (Faribault) came to exist because of the hearing parents whose daughter was Deaf. She was very young at the time when there were no school for the Deaf available in the state. Both parents took time to learn ASL so they can teach his daughter. Both parents decided to go around collecting petitions to push for a school for the Deaf to be established, which is MSAD. And they were successful and their daughter was able to attend that school and learn from there!
Adonia: There’s still another story, which was hidden but still amazing. A young graduate from Kentucky School for the Deaf was traveling in a steamboat, and the future Illinois senator was riding next to him. Somehow they started conversing with each other by writing notes to each other. The man from KY told the future senator how important it is to speak in signed language (ASL) and also how important it is to have a school for the Deaf. The man explained he had graduated from KY school for the Deaf and shared his experiences with his new friend. The other man was quite impressed with the Deaf man, noticing how well he could read and write, even if he did not speak vocally at all. The Deaf man encouraged the other man to establish the school for the Deaf in his state, and the future senator agreed. The Illinois School for the Deaf was established as a result of his chance meeting with the Deaf man from KY school for the Deaf who had such a big influence on him!
Adonia: Those stories I just told you – are they important? The answer is yes! Will they be available in the videos? Yeah, they’ll even be printed through media and distributed to all people to read, watch and learn about the Deaf history! Can you see why it is important to keep sharing and handing down the stories from generation to generation? Again, one reason is to establish National Deaf Schools Museum so we can keep the stories alive! Your donations are important and we appreciate them. Any amount are welcome! Some of you have shared this fundraiser event through social media – you are wonderful! Do keep sharing away! Thank you so much for your love, support and encouragement! Thanks!
Donate to purchase the PB for three spaces: the future National Deaf Schools Museum, the housing for GSD Museum and ASL Rose: https://www.facebook.com/donate/436509450618919/?fundraiser_source=external_url
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