Julie Brace was born on June 13, 1807. At the age of 17, the deafblind woman enrolled at the American School for the Deaf, in Hartford, Connecticut. The story of Julia Brace: Born in Hartford County, Connecticut. Became deaf-blind at age five from typhoid fever. Developed a home sign that she used with her parents. On June 11, 1825, she moved to the Hartford Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb (now called the American School for the Deaf). She learned tactile signing, depite being

Here are two videos filmed in 1954 at the UK's Royal School for Deaf Children in Margate.

On this date (June 1) in 1948 Bonnie Sloan was born in Tennessee. Bonnie would become the first deaf player in the NFL at the age of 25 when he ran onto the field when the St. Louis Cardinals took on the Philadelphia Eagles in 1973. His career only lasted one season because of a knee injury, but he made his mark. The 6-foot-5, 260-pounder came out of Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, where he was the first player to bench press 500 pounds. Sloan was an A

About 20 years before Helen Keller’s education, Laura Bridgman became first deaf-blind American to gain a significant education in the English language. The two were connected through Bridgman's friend Anne Sullivan who became Helen Keller's teacher and aide. Born in New Hampshire on Dec. 21, 1829, Bridgman lost her sight and hearing at two years of age to scarlet fever. She had limited communication skills until the director of the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown,

It was on this day (May 23) in 1862 that William Ellsworth Hoy was born. Known professionally as "Dummy" Hoy, he played in the major leagues for seven seasons, mostly for the Cincinnati Reds. Born on May 23, 1862, in Houcktown, Ohio, near Toledo. Hoy lost his hearing at the age of three due to meningitis. He graduated from the Ohio State School for the Deaf as class valedictorian in 1879. The school honored him with a plaque in March of 2023. WXYX-TV has a report on it here.

Frank Gallo Jr., born on May 16, 1947, in Lanham, Maryland, became the first deaf member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) in 1972. In 1990, Gallo became the first person to win both tournaments of the National Deaf Bowling Association. The rules were then changed to prevent professional bowlers from participating in these tournaments. Gallo was married on April 4, 2004, in Las Vegas, while bowling in the ABC Seniors Masters. He worked in computer programming with