Louis M. Balfour, a life long Deaf researcher of the history of Deaf education and peddling, was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1908. At a young age, Louis moved first to Philadelphia with his parents and siblings, then to Pittsburg and finally, to Chicago in 1916. He was educated in Chicago until the family again moved to Richmond, Virginia in 1922. Louis had a Deaf sister and they both began attendance at the Virginia School for the Deaf in Staunton in the fall of 1922. Louis was active in the school where he participated as a member of the Boy Scouts. He learned printing as a trade at the school. Following his graduation in 1930, he resided in Richmond area where he worked as a paperhanger with his father and uncle. He also worked as a house painter. He worked in Richmond from 1932 – 1942, with an exception in 1941 where he worked in Washington, DC for two months as a painter in one of the Senate Office Buildings.

Louis attended the first Boy Scout Jamboree in 1930 where he met many Boy Scout members from all over the world and began correspondence with them. He continued to be active with the Boy Scout until his marriage to Mildred White, a graduate of the North Carolina School for the Deaf, on December 24, 1938 in Richmond. Louis and Mildred had a daughter, Josephine, who was born in 1940. During World War II, jobs were limited which forced Mildred and Josephine to relocate to Winston-Salem, North Carolina where they lived with Mildred’s parents while Louis searched for employment in the District of Columbia area.

From 1942 to 1944, Louis worked as a printer at the various newspapers plants in the DC area. Louis worked in a printing office at the Army Map Service in Washington, DC from 1944 to 1948. The family moved to the DC area soon after Louis got a secure job. Louis became a member of the Columbia Typographical Union #101 in 1946. After 1948, he worked at the Washington Times-Herald, The Washington Post and Washington Evening Star where he held the position for 19 years until retiring in 1974.

Louis and Mildred had three more children after Josephine: Robert, Latane, and Patricia. They resided in Chevy Chase, Maryland for many years. Louis spent his spare time visiting and researching at various historical societies and libraries. He collected copies of historical information on Deaf education and the families of Bolling, Braidwood, Gallaudet, Cogswell, and Clerc. He spent much of his time researching Deaf peddling and Deaf peddlers. Louis was a member of various organizations: Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf, Gallaudet University Alumni Association, Convention of American Instructors of the Deaf, the Connecticut Historical Society, and the Virginia Historical Society.