The United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) was established in 1953 as a cabinet-level department operating until 1979 when two separate departments were formed: the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services.

In 1959, H.E.W. worked together with the Deaf Community to establish a Captioned Films program for the deaf, authorized by Congress and operated under Public Law 85 -905. This program’s goal was to enable Deaf persons to be exposed to motion pictures: educational, cultural, or entertaining, and as a medium to limit “social and cultural isolation.” The appointed chief to this program was John A. Gough, an educator and advocated for the Deaf Community. His initial scope for the program soon broadened. He advocated extending the captioning capabilities to the classroom. Within a few years, educational and training videotapes included captioning, giving deaf students and workers visual representations.