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Answer the post using the following materials “History behind DPN.” Accessed January 10, 2020. https://www.gallaudet.edu/about/history-and-traditions/deaf-president-now/the-issues/history-behind-dpn. 1. What is Deaf History and why is it important? 2. Why is it important to make education accessible to Deaf children? How do we go about doing that? 3. What is the history behind Deaf President Now (DPN)? 4. Why is Deaf and Disability at conflict with each other? 5. How can Deaf/hearing impaired history be redefined? JEAN LINDQUIST BERGEY AND JACK R. G A N N O N Deaf History Goes Public Abstract The authors offer their personal reflections on changes in public presentations of Deaf history that have occurred since the 1981 pub lication of Jack R. Gannon’s Deaf Heritage: A Narrative History of Deaf America. This rear-view-mirror perspective on the move into public discourse touches on progress, protest, and navigation through the politics of sharing Deaf life. I n t h e 35 years since Deaf Heritage: A Narrative History of Deaf America was published much has changed in terms of the research on and presentation of Deaf history. Written with the support of Gallau- det College (now University) and published at the request of and by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), the book was initially intended to chronicle the formation and development of the organiza tion. As work progressed, the book’s chapters expanded to incorporate a history of Deaf America. At that time, few people had documented Deaf narratives. Now, stories of Deaf people as individuals and as a cultural and linguistic community are receiving greater attention and analysis. Reservoirs of our history, whether they be the Gallaudet University Archives, records held by schools for deaf students, publi cations such as the “Little Paper Family” network of newspapers, or Jean Lindquist Bergey is associate director of the Center for Deaf Documentary Studies at Gallaudet University, coauthor (with Jack R. Gannon and Douglas C. Baynton) of Through D ea f Eyes: A Photographic History o f an American Community, and a long-time collaborator with Jack Gannon. Jack R. Gannon, Gallaudet class of 1959, is the author of five books, including D eaf Heritage: A Narrative History o f D eaf America; The Week the World Heard Gallaudet; and World Federation o f the Deaf: A History. He curated Gallaudet University’s History through D eaf Eyes exhibition and is currently editing stories that chronicle his personal Deaf experiences. 117 S i g n L a n gu a ge St u d i e s Vo l . 17 N o . 1 Fall 2016 n 8 | S i g n L a n gu ag e St u d i e s family photo and film collections, have begun to be seen as valuable resources. A growing list of books has expanded our understanding of the lives of Deaf people and made postsecondary academic course- work in Deaf history possible. Each scholar has added to the historical foundation, on which others can build. In 1981, when Deaf Heritage was first published, little public history had been shared. Societal perceptions of deaf people were more often based on pathological views, and community membership was not part of the medical model. In American Sign Language, the sentiment that one is seen as “one big ear” is signed as a frame around the ear. This framing of the ear indicates the reduction of a whole person to one physical trait. Efforts to reach the public were in part a reaction to this discounting of the depth and breadth of the Deaf experience and also an attempt to set straight the historical record. Public consciousness of the Deaf experience was pushed forward by many factors, including the Deaf President Now movement in 1988, political action related to passage of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, increased availability of American Sign Language class es, and widespread use of sign language interpreters. The entertain ment industry began to show a number of deaf characters in a more complex light with plots beyond portrayals of victims and miracle cures. Although there had been public events, festivals, small exhib its, and a few documentary films on deaf lives, most were produced within and for the Deaf community. In 1995 work began on the History through Deaf Eyes project, which aimed to share Deaf life with the broadest possible audience and in cluded an exhibition that traveled to twelve cities, a broadcast docu mentary, a book, a poster set, and a website. Each product title was a variation on the “Deaf Eyes” theme, inspired by the 1910 “people of the eye” quote from NAD president George Veditz. When you create a cultural history that promises to reach a wide audience, one thing is sure to happen: People care. Backlash against public presentation of the Deaf linguistic community was fierce. It stemmed from the enduring oral vs. sign language controversy over ways to educate deaf children. Hundreds of letters of protest arrived at the Smith sonian Institution, with whom the collaboration began, imploring Deaf History Goes Public | 119 them to shift the focus of the exhibition away from cultural history. This should not have been a surprise, though the sheer force of the response was overwhelming. A dedicated group of people, including twenty-three advisors with diverse deaf perspectives and museum/ public history expertise, struggled with how to present a community story to a wide audience. Grappling with the meaning of “inclusive” in public presentations, the team strived to avoid polarization while not diluting community history.The exhibition concept moved from one organized by language, identity, and struggle to a story rooted in a chronological U.S. history. By necessity, it became conceptually safe. Bracing for public outcry once the exhibition began to tour, we marveled that it never came. The 2001-2006 touring exhibition led to a film, Through Deaf Eyes, produced in 2007 by WETA, Washington, DC, and Florentine Films/ Hott Productions in association with Gallaudet University. While the exhibition reached hundreds of thousands of people, the film reached millions. Public programs in libraries and schools encouraged the use of the film to prompt discussions. Broadcast on most PBS stations and in several countries, Through Deaf Eyes was also selected to be part of the American Documentary Showcase, a program supported by the U.S. Department of State, which shares films with embassies around the world and hosts events with local communities. Public history is by nature political. Any time you select images to put on a wall, edit a film, or write a book, you must leave out much of the story, and each decision influences the visitor, viewer, or reader, affecting the body politic. These most public of formats—exhibitions and films—can change the way nondeaf (hearing) people see Deaf people. It can be a transformative moment when visitors understand that Deaf people are a strand of the human experience. Broadening the American story prompts recalibration of who we are as a nation. Working on public Deaf history, the exhibition planning team learned many lessons, some of them the hard way. We learned that the most helpful question is, why should I care? When you are ready to explain why anyone should care about the story you hope to tell, then you have something to share. We learned that some people will cherry-pick the points they want to stress and create their own version 120 | S i g n L a n gu a ge St u d i e s of history, often for public presentation. Too often arguments are put forth based on opinions about historical events rather than researched facts, sometimes with the intention of influencing current social issues. We learned that the Deaf community, like all communities, is constantly changing and reinventing itself, and a degree of historical amnesia occasionally sets in, one that shows Deaf people as oppressed but forgets instances of Deaf oppression. History, and in particular public history, calls on us to remember things that we may not want to remember. Deaf history documentation forces examination of the ways the community, which was not immune to the discrimination of the past, has changed. Sustained customs and traditions became cultural practice designed to subordinate women, persons of color, and anyone who represented difference or challenged the status quo. Bringing inequities to the surface via historical research and presen tation compels communities to find the humility to change; there is a social-justice component to documenting Deaf stories. Historical work cannot be cultural cheerleading; it must confront the past. Yet within that confrontation and complicated narrative, it is possible to find joy in the recognition of a remarkable and resilient community story. Tremendous change is occurring in the ways historic research is conducted and shared. Digital formats offer different means of access to content. New searchable primary sources and data-mining mecha nisms speed the research process in ways that were unimaginable 35 years ago. Interactive websites can showcase historic research using embedded film to share American Sign Language stories.The capacity for reaching broad audiences expands, as does our literal and figurative bandwidth for cultural learning. Change has also occurred in the way people work together. Col laboration between academic disciplines is not only possible but also increasingly seen as desirable. Interdisciplinary studies—the pulling together of people with diverse expertise who can easily share infor mation across campus or around the world—is a fundamental change and one much needed for multilayered research projects. When work began on Deaf Heritage decades ago, this was not feasible. Finally, a major change is the rise of Deaf researchers, both aca demically trained and community based (and often both labels fit). Deaf History Goes Public | 121 Deaf perspectives are being heard, and Deaf leadership is seen as essen tial to any project. Deaf history is a portal into the American experi ence, and Deaf people are making major contributions to the dialogue. There is much historical research on the Deaf community yet to do, and the ways to do it are changing. Tap recent technologies, gather facts, and become an intense researcher. Try to get beyond “me, too” history and walls of fame. Acknowledge ambiguity even if you can not embrace it