From pity to pride : growing up deaf in the Old South / Hannah Joyner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Joyner, Hannah.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Deaf people--Southern States--History--19th century.

Deaf people.

Deaf people--Education--Southern States--History--19th century.

Deaf people--Southern States--Social conditions.

Social conditions.

Deaf people--Education.

History.

Southern States--Social conditions--19th century.

Southern States.

Physical Description:

xii, 210 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Gallaudet University Press, [2004]

Summary:

From Pity to Pride examines the experiences of a group of wealthy young men raised in the old South who eventually would have ruled over this closely regimented world had they not been deaf. Instead, the promise of status was gone, replaced by pity. In this unique and fascinating history, Hannah Joyner depicts the circumstances of these so-called victims of a terrible "misfortune." She delineates the ways in which the cultural rhetoric of paternalism and dependency in the South codified a stringent system of oppression and hierarchy that left little room for self-determination for Deaf southerners. From Pity to Pride reveals how some of these elite Deaf people rejected their family's and society's belief that being deaf was a permanent liability. As they came to adulthood, they joined together with other Deaf Americans, both southern and northern, to form communities of understanding, self-worth, and independence.

Contents:

Introduction: As a Prisoner Escaped, a Sick Man Cured 1

Part I. Responses to Deafness 7

1. The Peculiar Misfortune 9

2. Forget That They Are Objects of Pity 21

3. Glad Tidings of Release to the Prisoners of Silence 36

4. Guide His Hand 44

Part II. The Early Years of Deaf Education 63

5. An Education of the Lips at the Expense of the Mind 69

6. Think in Words 77

7. With the Eyes to Hear and the Hands to Speak 92

Part III. Self-Reliance and a Sense of Community 103

8. The Dignity and Honor of Human Nature 107

9. The Peculiar Institutions 120

10. This Unnatural and Fratricidal Strife 131.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 161-205) and index.

ISBN:

1563682702

OCLC:

54543949