UK Hosts National Exhibit On Deaf History

UK HOSTS NATIONAL EXHIBIT
ON DEAF HISTORY

The "History Through Deaf Eyes" opens Oct. 1 at the Rasdall Gallery in the UK Student Center and runs through Nov. 3.

Sept. 20, 2001 (Lexington, Ky.) -- The University of Kentucky and the Kentucky School for the Deaf in Danville will host in October a national exhibit that chronicles nearly 200 years of U.S. deaf history. "History Through Deaf Eyes" features photographs, objects, replicas, text and an interactive DVD that highlight the little known history of deaf Americans.

A section specific to Kentucky's deaf heritage is part of the exhibit, which allows its host to specialize an area of the exhibit.

The exhibit was organized by Gallaudet University, a college for the deaf and hard-of-hearing in Washington, D.C.

This is the second showing of the exhibit, which has been seen only in Hartford, Conn., at the American School for the Deaf. The American School, a privately funded institution created in 1820, is the first U.S. school for the deaf.

The UK showing is co-hosted by the Kentucky School for the Deaf, the first publicly funded school for the deaf in the United States, which opened in 1823, and served as a model for public schools for the deaf. Harvey Corson, superintendent of the Kentucky School for the Deaf, served as a consultant to Gallaudet in creating the exhibition.

"History Through Deaf Eyes" will open Oct. 1 with a special event from 3 to 5 p.m. in the UK Student Center Great Hall. The exhibit will be open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday through Nov. 3 in the Rasdall Gallery, adjacent to the Great Hall. The gallery may be opened by appointment for groups by calling (859) 257-5781.

A lecture series is planned for Thursday evenings during the exhibit, and the gallery will be open extended hours during a lecture event.

Following the UK showing, the exhibit will travel to William Woods University in Fulton, Mo. In 2002, the exhibit will be seen in Philadelphia; Rochester, N.Y.; and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

"History Through Deaf Eyes" was made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and support from The Motorola Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, SBC Foundation and the BFGoodrich Foundation.