ane Norman was born in Covington, Virginia, and raised in Alexandria, Virginia. Her parents and younger sister are all deaf, and her younger sister, Fredericka, was also involved in Deaf Theater. Jane was educated in a mainstream environment until the age of 11. She was then transferred to the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind, where she attended for approximately five to six years, graduating in 1957. After completing her education at VSDB, she attended Gallaudet College for two years. She left and went to the Milo Bennett Linotype School in English, Indiana. She followed in her father’s footsteps and became a printer and a member of the International Typographical Union. This enabled her to support herself through school, both at Gallaudet and at New York University. She graduated from Gallaudet in 1968 with a major in English Literature. She then completed her Master’s degree in Educational Theatre at New York University. During her time at Gallaudet, she was Homecoming Queen and Kappa Gamma Queen. She also married Edward Wilk during her undergraduate years at Gallaudet and divorced after 17 months of marriage.

Norman’s career in the theatre started when she joined the National Theatre of the Deaf while at NYU. After two years of work with the NTD, she went on to San Francisco to start Newsign with co-newscaster Peter Wechsberg. She has won the Television Academy’s Governors Award, McQuade Award, 2 Emmys, recognition from President’s Committee, was a finalist for the National Academy of Arts and Sciences and has received the National Honor Award. She has accomplished many milestones in her career, including newscasting the Deaf Mosaic, Rainbow’s End, Newsign, and producing/directing/writing various stage productions.

In 2007, Norman began working on the creation of the National Deaf Life Museum, which opened in 2014 with her as its curator, and she remained director emerita of the museum after her retirement until her death in 2020.