Chicago State University - Emblem Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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The Deaf Oral Department The Deaf Oral Department in the Chicago Teachers College was organized in the year 1906 with Miss Mary McCowen as head of the department. It is a one-year graduate course and scholarships of 300 each are offered by friends of the department. The classes for the deaf in the Parker Practice School furnish opportunity for practice work to students taking this course. There are at present nine such classes, and in them one may see all the steps in the process from the little children just beginning to learn the names of things to the larger children who are doing acceptable grammar grade work, using speech as the means of communication. Students who have visited these classes for the first time through curiosity will surely, if interested in psychological problems, wish to go again to observe the processes in the gradual development of mind, which are here made so clear. Past and Present of the Deaf The first record we have of a deaf person being instructed is mentioned by Bede in 685. The opinion which was generally held b)- people in early times is well expressed in the couplet of Lucretius: To instruct the deaf no art could ever reach. No care improve them, and no wisdom teach. As a result, the deaf who escaped the destruction which in some countries was meted out to all who were discovered to be defective were left entirely without education, utterh ' neglected by their families and often made to work beside the oxen in the fields. Pedro de Ponce (14 Cent.) is the first recorded to have taught speech to a deaf person. The first school to teach the deaf orally was established in Leipsic, Germany, by Heinicke, in 1778. The oral method has since been called the German method. The first school for the deaf in the United States, established at Hartford, Connecticut, in 1817, was not, however, a speech school, as it was impossible for teachers to study at Edinburgh, then the only English-speaking oral school, because of the exorbitant terms asked for tuition. In the Hartford school, manual training was incorporated as part of the curriculum. This was the first instance of manual training being taught in a school. All state schools for the deaf established afterwards adopted this work as part of the regular school course, and it has since gradually spread into the schools for hearing children. The boys were also taught various trades, as carpentry, cabinetmaking and tailoring, while the girls became skilled in sewing and housework. Other schools were founded not long after in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Since then, schools for the deaf have been established in almost every state in the union. The first class for deaf children in the Chicago Public Schools was started in 1875 by Mr. Philip Emery. The sign language and manual alphabet were used for many j-ears. In 1896 an oral class was opened in the Yale School at the request of some of the parents, and was conducted by a teacher from Miss McCowen ' s private school, which had been in operation in Chicago since 1883. At the present time there are twent)--nine oral classes in twelve different public schools in the city, and a training class for teachers of the deaf in the Chicago Teachers College. By using the oral method, as we do in the Parker Practice School, the children come in touch with hearing people. Those who graduate from the eighth grade with a good knowl- 1.5

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M is also for Miss McLoughlin; Frances is a dear, And we all bless the day When first she came here. M stands for Miss McNulty; She is quite bright, And whatever she says Is sure to be right. M stands for A ' liss Martin, Beloved by all; She is cheerful, good-natured, And not one inch too tall. M stands for Miss Milner, Who taught us to sew. As well as to make hats And a bright ribbon bow. M is also for Miss Murphy, Who some day will be A great prima donna: Just wait and see. S stands for Miss Short, But the name ' s misapplied, For she lacks neither Beauty, nor brains, nor size. V stands for Miss Van Goens, A pretty, wee miss Who ' s as sweet and as cheerful As any could wish. W is for Miss Watson, Who is last but not least, And ever seems ready To join in a feast. H. A. stands for Household Arts, The science that we love; Long ma) ' it rank All other sciences above. M. C. G. Household Arts Class History The fall of 191 1 was particularly notable, for with it began a new work at the Chicago Teachers College. A few entered the first day, but many felt not only the novelty but also the real benefits of such work and soon entered the rank and file of the Household Arts Class. Twenty-four mighty young people began to work out their salvation. And ere the first year was over a startling revelation came to them. Household Arts meant not only a thorough knowledge of cookery and sewing, but just as truthfully did it include psychology, physiology, anatomy, bacteriology, sanitation, English, history, and mathe- matics. So real did this fact become that three of our number woke up one day to find that it would be impossible to graduate in two years, because of a failure to learn one of these. In. short. Household Arts came to mean a kind of industrious industry where the little group of twenty-four took pleasure trips to see a half cow cut up, or to hear lectures on milk. There was more pleasure in the lessons given in the dining-room — lessons in serving, where one group would prepare a well-balanced luncheon for the other, or probably for the instructors. During the first year, one of these was given for the latter purpose, and in the second year, there were two group luncheons and two given for the instructors. So, as Mr. Owen says, the motto of the class grew to be hospitality. The second year was particularly interesting. Applied theory in the schoolroom became the daily topic of conversation. Chemistry opened new fields for discovery and exploration. Even the faculty became interested in an especially peculiar odor which pervaded the school, i. e., pineapple ester. History gave an insight into prices, the tariff, and other laws affecting products in which we were interested. Bacteriology had its trial but merely struggled through one semester. And then came sanitation, with a trip to the plumber to see the fixtures. Once only did we lay aside these weighty problems — when we organized the class. Our president, Frances McLoughlin, was well chosen, and the rest of the officers quickly fell into line. As to the future, we know not what it shall be, but judging from the past, the class is just beginnin ' ' ' why the Household Arts Club shall not be an importan . iuca- tion in the schools. failure. Irene Fra!

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edge of language and speech reading, go into the high schools with hearing children. To-day we have several such in the city of Chicago. We are apt to think of deaf children as almost hopeless, but, in spite of this heavy handi- cap, many become skilled in a trade, some enter occupations, and a few take up advanced study, while practically all become self-supporting citizens. Miss McCowen writes in the Bi-AIonthly, December, 1910, Deaf graduates of Uni- versities and Technical Schools are now not at all uncommon, and are filling positions of trust and responsibility in all parts of the country. . . . Under present conditions many of the deaf become expert craftsmen, and rise to positions of authority in their chosen calling. There are deaf printers, deaf chemists, deaf foremen in factories, deaf directors of more or less intricate commercial enterprises, deaf inventors, artists, engravers, sculptors, architects, contractors, lawyers, bankers, etc. Indeed, few occupations are now closed to the deaf except as they are closed to the hearing man who lacks the intelligence necessary for success in those particular lines of work. Who Is It? Have you heard him hem and sigh ' Bout the moral situation. This, his ever daily cry In Education, Education. Pessimist? A lover of beauty, A fanatic on style. With all this and more She is certainly worth while. Have you had her Dickey Bird, Dickey Bird, Busy as a bee. Come into the library And pay your little fee. Have you e ' er don With a smile and a nod And a gay little sally She pins up some notices The classes to rally. Who? Don ' t start a music lesson With a little bit of Lit; Begin with the music And stick right to it. Whose advice?