Roy J. Stewart was born in Centerville, Michigan, on January 6, 1878. He became deaf after falling off a one-horse wagon at age nine. Stewart received his Bachelor’s degree from Gallaudet College in 1899. He became a statistician for the United States Census Bureau’s Alexander Graham Bell division after graduation. Stewart was very active in many organizations for the deaf, such as the Motion Picture Committee under National Association for the Deaf and Gallaudet Alumni Association. He was very involved in preserving sign language. In 1964, he was named Gallaudet’s alumnus of the year by the college’s Kappa Gamma Fraternity. He married Ellen Pearson, a 1917 Gallaudet graduate. Stewart died at 89 years old on March 29, 1967. Before his death, he was a frequent visitor to the campus and became known as “walking dictionary on Gallaudet College history.”