The Deafpride, Inc., Records
Scope and Contents
This collection covers a broad cross-section of Deafpride’s functions, from its founding in 1972 to its eventual termination. This includes extensive minutes from Deafpride’s board of directors and executive committee.
Much of the rest of the collection is dedicated to workshops, seminars, and other events organized by Deafpride, as well as by other groups that Deafpride collaborated with, including the District of Columbia government and local universities and hospitals. While few of these events have full minutes or session reports, most include agendas and/or programs describing the issues discussed.
Some correspondence is present in the collection, it is mostly incomplete, covering some of Deafpride’s exchanges with other nonprofit groups, as well as grant proposals, mostly to the District and federal governments. Most correspondence is from later in Deafpride’s history, from the 1980s and early 1990s.
While this collection includes a wide variety of photographs from the Deafpride offices and events, most of them are not labeled or organized. There is a smaller but better-organized collection of slides from Deafpride events in the 70s and 80s.
The collection also includes a variety of papers that originally belonged to Deafpride founding president Ann Wilson but are not specifically related to Deafpride. Most of these come from parent-teacher and policy committees at Kendall School during the early to mid 1970s, when Ms. Wilson’s child was a student there.
Dates
- Creation: 1969 - 1996
Biographical / Historical
Deafpride was founded in 1972 by three women. Barbara Kannapell was a deaf educator and linguist. Ann Wilson was the hearing mother of a deaf child and had created a group called Parents for Deafpride, for black parents of the deaf who had been discriminated against. Eileen Paul, who brought them together, was a writer and teacher who had worked with minority groups and social organizations across the country.
The discussions between the three women led to an expansion of Wilson’s original Parents for Deafpride concept, and the creation of a new group: Deafpride, Inc. Deafpride’s goal was to serve as an advocate for the deaf residents of the District of Columbia, especially black, Latino, poor, and other minority deaf who were being underserved by the support structure then available.
Among Deafpride’s initiatives were:
Project Access, which worked to make the health care system more accessible for the deaf, especially deaf mothers and young children.
Project AIDS, created during the 1980s AIDS crisis to educate the deaf about HIV prevention and treatment.
Project: A Second Chance, which helped deaf people access alcohol, drug, and other substance abuse programs.
Project Justice, which was intended to help the deaf who became involved with the legal system to understand their rights, as well as train interpreters to function in courtrooms and other legal settings.
During the 1970s, the group also helped poorer deaf families to obtain assistive technologies, such as TTYs and television caption decoders, at reduced cost. Deafpride also served as a central clearinghouse and training resource for reliable interpreters. The group also ran workshops on sign language and deaf communication and culture for schools, corporations, government agencies, and other groups that required training in interacting with the deaf.
Deafpride was also active in advocacy for the deaf, especially minority deaf, within Washington, DC. The group collaborated extensively with the mayor’s office and government, and with other institutions in the District, such as Gallaudet and Howard University.
At the end of 1994, financial difficulties led Deafpride to lay off all its staff.
Extent
12 Linear Feet (23 document cases, 1 artifact box, 4 display boards)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Records from Deafpride, Inc., a nonprofit group dedicated to advocacy for the deaf in the District of Columbia, especially poor and minority deaf. Includes board minutes, workshop records, correspondence, newsletters, photographs and slides, and grant proposals.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Papers donated to Gallaudet University by Deafpride, Inc., in 1997.
- Title
- The Deafpride, Inc., Records
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Shea, Christopher
- Date
- Original creation October 2013. ArchivesSpace version created February 9, 2024.
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Gallaudet University Archives Repository