Title
Recognizing Deaf History Month in Philadelphia by honoring the valuable societal contributions by the hearing impaired and deaf community.
Body
WHEREAS, The celebration of a Deaf History Month in the United States was first established in 1988. The dates of March 13 -April 15 were chosen to align with historic events in the deaf community. On March 13, 1988, Gallaudet University, the only university in the world exclusively for deaf students, selected their first deaf president, Thomas Gallaudet, a native of Philadelphia; and on April 8, 1864, President Lincoln signed a charter that allowed degrees to be granted to deaf students; and on April 15, 1817, The American School for the Deaf, the first school for the deaf in the America, was established in Hartford, CT; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia has played a significant role in the history of the deaf community in America. On April 12, 1820, the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, the third oldest school for the deaf, was founded in Philadelphia. The school operated in Mt. Airy between 1892 and 1984 then moved to its current location in Germantown; and
WHEREAS, Notable graduates of the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf include: John Carlin, a prominent artist, and the first Deaf person to receive an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Gallaudet University; Lillian Hoshauer and April Nelson, who in 1972, helped found the Deaf-Hearing Communication Center in Philadelphia. The Center promotes communication access and cultural awareness and is the first full American Sign Language interpreting referral agency in the United States; and
WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Society for the Advancement of the Deaf, with a chapter in Greater Philadelphia, was founded in 1881 as an organization promoting the rights of Deaf Pennsylvanians. Furthermore, the first ordained deaf pastor, Pastor Henry Syle, lead the All Souls Church for the Deaf of Philadelphia, established in 1888; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUN...
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