VET/TAFE: Deaf Advocacy
Deaf advocacy, and advocacy on issues relevant to deaf people have had an interesting and sometimes very turbulent history in Australia. See below for some of the issues that have occupied our community and the ways we have gone about solving them.
Relevant Stories
The Mystery of John Fitzgerald’s Grave
John Fitzgerald appeared at the Old Bailey in London in September 1818, accused of “feloniously assaulting” a man in company with two others, and stealing from him a watch, three seals and a key. The court record says that “The prisoner being deaf and dumb, had the evidence communicated to him by an interpreter”. He…
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Mystery Film in the Tasmanian Archives
Mystery Film in the Tasmanian Archives Calling all lovers of Tasmanian Deaf History! The Tasmanian Archives has a film called “Deaf and Dumb”. It is one of those old, old 16mm black and white films, apparently created in 1972. Here is the record on the Archives catalogue: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Record/Archives/AB869-1-719 The Tasmanian Archives does not have a…
Learn MoreFirst Nations Deaf History
When building this website, we found a lack of respectfully documented history of First Nations deaf people amongst the written sources known to us. There are some scattered references which do not seem to us sufficient to represent what is probably a very rich and varied history. Deaf people have always existed in every community,…
Learn MoreRelevant Artefacts
Public letter to members of the Australian Association for the Advancement of the Deaf
A plea from Martha Overend Wilson, c1936.
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Deaf and Dumb, Angry Meeting
This article details the angry meeting held at 5 Elizabeth St Sydney following the dismissal of Herbert Hersee.
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Deaf and Dumb, New Society Formed
On 23 May the Sydney Morning Herald recorded the establishment of "a new society".
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1977 Meeting to Discuss Possible National Association
Considerable hestitation about whether or not to establish a national association.
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1983 Meeting to Discuss Possible National Association
In contrast to the meeting in 1977, the delegates at this meeting agreed to establish a national association of deaf people.
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Why Deaf People Must Write
A plea for deaf people to write and so to speak for themselves and make their own decisions.
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Samuel Showell Letter to the Editor
Letter on deaf education following reporting on the 1903 Congress.
Learn MoreFurther Readings
Carty, B. (2018). Managing their own affairs: The Australian Deaf community in the 1920s and 1930s. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press.
Carty, B. (2016). The “breakaways”: Deaf citizens’ groups in Australia in the 1920s and 1930s. In B. H. Greenwald & J. J. Murray (Eds.), In our own hands: Essays in deaf history 1780-1970 (pp. 211-238). Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press.
Thornton, D., Macready, S., & Levitzke-Gray, P. (2014). Written into history: The lives of Australian Deaf leaders. In K. Snoddon, Ed., Telling deaf lives: Agents of change (pp. 93-101). Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press.
Anderson, M. (2001). Daisy Muir: A remarkable influence in the Deaf community. Unpublished Master of Education Research Essay, La Trobe University, Melbourne.
Dillon, A. (2015). Negotiating two worlds through the media: Debates about deaf education and sign language from 1970 to 2000. Unpublished doctoral dissertation: University of South Australia, Adelaide.
Hoopmann, S. R. (2011). ‘We’re Deaf women! We’re sisters!’: Exploring the female Deaf voice through community and commensality. Unpublished Honours thesis, University of Adelaide.
Carty, B. (2016). The “breakaways”: Deaf citizens’ groups in Australia in the 1920s and 1930s. In B. H. Greenwald & J. J. Murray (Eds.), In our own hands: Essays in deaf history 1780-1970 (pp. 211-238). Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press.
Thornton, D., Macready, S., & Levitzke-Gray, P. (2014). Written into history: The lives of Australian Deaf leaders. In K. Snoddon, Ed., Telling deaf lives: Agents of change (pp. 93-101). Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press.
Anderson, M. (2001). Daisy Muir: A remarkable influence in the Deaf community. Unpublished Master of Education Research Essay, La Trobe University, Melbourne.
Dillon, A. (2015). Negotiating two worlds through the media: Debates about deaf education and sign language from 1970 to 2000. Unpublished doctoral dissertation: University of South Australia, Adelaide.
Hoopmann, S. R. (2011). ‘We’re Deaf women! We’re sisters!’: Exploring the female Deaf voice through community and commensality. Unpublished Honours thesis, University of Adelaide.
