Black History + Deaf History = Black Deaf History
"What started as a personal project has grown into a call for connection and collaboration. This is a place to honor the history, resilience, and presence of the Black Deaf community — beginning here in the DMV and growing outward."
"I feel like if we ignore who we are, then we have lost ourselves in society because society says it's wrong,"
Valeria McMillan, a sign language interpreter.
1861 - 1865
United States Civil War
1865 - 1877
Reconstruction Era
Black Codes / Jim Crow
1872 - 1879
Maryland School for the Colored Deaf and Blind
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92 S. Broadway Campus
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A committee from Maryland State Legislature visited the school and issued an edict requiring the school to change locations.
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1879 - 1907
Maryland School for the Colored Deaf and Blind
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648 Saratoga
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Campus relocated from 92 S. Broadway and reopened, but quickly outgrew the space.
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Between 1905 - 1907, the school administration began looking elsewhere to relocate.
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1896
Plessy v. Ferguson and the "separate but equal" doctrine
1905
Whatcoat Deaf Mission / Whatcoat Mission for Colored Deaf
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Founded by Rev. Daniel E. Moylan in Baltimore, Maryland,
1907 - 1956
Maryland School for the Colored Deaf and Blind
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1908 Taylor Ave/Overlea Campus
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Campus was founded, buildings constructed and students and staff moved over
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1906 - XXXX
Virginia State School for Colored Deaf and Blind Children
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Ratified in 1906
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Newport News / Hampton Campus Open (1909 - 1950*)
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News of Campus expansions published in newspapers
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First mentions plans (1945)
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Discussions about funding (1949)
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1914 - 1918
World War I
1939 - 1945
World War II
1940's
Whatcoat Deaf Mission & Christ United Methodist Church began sharing a building
1946
Washington Silent Club
1952
Miller v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia passes
1954
Brown v. Board of Education passed
1952 - 1954
Kendall School Division ll for the Negro Deaf
Feburary 1956
Newspaper article released about St. James Eiscopal Church in Portsmouth, VA Black Deaf congregation
1955
Whatcoat Deaf Mission & Christ United Methodist Church fully integrated
1955 - 1964
Civil Rights Movement
1963
March on Washington
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Black Deaf community members were involved in the march, interview with Willie Price
1964
Civil Rights Act of 1964
1977
The closure of the last segregated Black Deaf school in state of Louisiana
1980
Black Deaf Caucus (DC) & Black Deaf Advocates (DC) was founded
1982
National Black Deaf Advocates launched and Black Deaf Advocates (DC) became DC Area Black Deaf Advocates
Churches
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DC, Whatcoat Deaf Mission/ Whatcoat Mission for Colored Deaf
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DC, The Silent Mission at Shiloh Baptist Church
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MD, First Baptist Church of Glenarden
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VA, St. James Episcopal Church
Employment
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Cat’s Paw Rubber Soles Manufacturing [Plant] (1958)
Future of Black Deaf Spaces
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Black Deaf Senior Citizens of America (2013)
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Center for Black Deaf Studies (CBDS) (2020)
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Louise B. Miller Memorial Gardens and Pathways (N.D.)