National Deaf Awareness Month is celebrated every September to honor the culture, history, and achievements of the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community. This month also highlights global language rights, including the International Day of Sign Languages on September 23. We are fortunate to count Gallaudet University among our consortial partners. It was the first school for the advanced education of the deaf and hard of hearing in the world and remains the only higher education institution in which all programs and services are specifically designed to accommodate deaf and hard of hearing students.
The campus was designed by renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted in 1866 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. And because September is also the beginning of the college and professional football seasons, it’s also important to mention that the Gallaudet football team invented the huddle. According to the university website, “in 1894, the Gallaudet football team was playing against another deaf team. Paul Hubbard, the quarterback, didn’t want to risk the other team seeing him use American Sign Language (ASL) to explain the play to his teammates, so he asked them to form a tight circle formation, now known as a huddle.”
This month, we encourage everyone to celebrate Deaf culture by exploring the rich history of ASL, learning basic signs, or discovering the vibrant work of Deaf creators and advocates.
- Tammy Hennig and Aaron Krebeck
