What is Deaf Folklore?; Deaf Theater: Kaleidoscope JUN 27 1981

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[[background noise]]

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Speaker 1: --it's ready.

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Speaker 1: I'd like to make an announcement that we will have a workshop called 'What is Deaf Folklore?' We will begin in about five minutes here, in the blue and white tent.
[SILENCE]

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Speaker 2: Well, in one minute we'll start the workshop entitled 'What is Deaf Folklore?' [[inaudible talking in background]]

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Speaker 1: I'm ready.

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Speaker 1: Oh good morning everybody. Welcome to the 15th Annual Smithsonian Folk Festival-- [[inaudible side conversation]] And welcome to our tent of folklore of the deaf.

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Speaker 1: Now we'd like to give a workshop entitled 'What is Deaf Folklore?' We'll be talking about social life at the social clubs for the deaf in the United States and later we'll talk about school life.

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Speaker 1: The participants will share their experiences with you and I'd like to tell you a little bit about some folklore.

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Speaker 1: First, you know that folklore is defined as traditional beliefs, legends, stories, jokes, and other things that are passed on from person to person, usually by word of mouth, in a hearing society.

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Speaker 1: But, we are in a deaf community and so perhaps we could say, quote, by-- passed on by signs of hand.

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Speaker 1: There are over two hundred social clubs for the deaf in the United States, and they'll be talking about their experiences, one or more of these clubs for the deaf all over the country.

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Speaker 1: We'll be interviewing them and after this interview you may bring up any questions you like.

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Speaker 1: Let's begin with, say, um, I'd like to have each one introduce themselves, tell where they work, and then we'll begin the questioning.

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Steve Jones: Good morning, my name is Steve Jones. I work at Washington Post, I grew up in Baltimore and I moved to Washington D.C about, uh, ten years ago. I first learned sign language when I started working at the Post

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Steve Jones: There's about, maybe, 100 printers there that are deaf, so when I went to work there I had a choice of uh, not talking to anyone really, or learning sign language. So I learned sign language. It was uh, a little bit unusual uh, to work with uh a lot of deaf people around. Uh people in front of me, people on both sides of me, people behind me, and they're gesturing, waving, something wrong? They're waving and gesturing and I have no idea what they're talking about.

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Steve Jones: A lot of hearing people get a little paranoid when deaf people are talking sign language around them. For some reason they think that they're talking about the hearing person. Uh, hearing people maybe think they're more interesting than they really are, because deaf people usually don't care what the person next to them is doing. Uh.

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Steve Jones: One thing I noticed about the deaf community, about what you could call part of the folklore of the community, is that as concerns work most people don't get to work until it's time to go to work. The deaf people I've worked with will show up a half an hour or 45 minutes early to talk to their friends who work on other shifts and to catch up on all the gossip. It's uh sort of like a social gathering before and after work.

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[SILENCE]

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Lily Burke: You want me to stand?
Speaker 1: Sure, you can stand.
Lily Burke: My name is Lily Burke, and I am from Greenbelt Maryland and work for the government. I originally was from New York. Uh I grew up in a deaf family and I grew up in a deaf world.

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Jan Dilap: [Jan de Lap] My name is Jan Dilap [Jan de Lap], I grew up up in Wisconsin. I went to the deaf school. Deaf residential school. My mother and, my mother's deaf,

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Jan Dilap: [Jan de Lap] moved here to go to Gallaudet and presently I'm working at the Washington Post as a printer.
[SILENCE]

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Libby Hatway: [Hathaway] My name is Libby Hatway [Hathaway]. From uh in Maryland. Both my parents are deaf. I graduated from the Maryland school for the deaf in Frederick, Maryland. And I've done some various odd jobs such as teaching sign language, part time actress, working for restaurants... Presently I'm working for Studio 101.

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Dick Moore: My name is Dick Moore. I've lived here for 10 years.

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Dick Moore: My original hometown is in Kentucky. My parents are deaf also. I work for the Washington Post as a printer.

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Speaker 2: I'd like for you to tell about your school experiences - what school did you go to? Was it a residential school? Day school? I forgot that, right.

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Speaker 2: I went to an oral school, but uh, used sign language at home. The school I had to be very patient and try to use the oral method that was in New York.

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Speaker 2: What about you Dick?

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Dick Moore: My school in Kentucky was a Kentucky school for the deaf. And I lived in and at the school most of the time. My school was almost like a military academy. It was a wonderful experience.

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Speaker 2: Alright, the audience might like to know about your experiences in deaf clubs. Can you explain to us what it looks like inside the deaf club? Can you tell us something?

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Speaker 2: Something famous you know they always have a stairs going up to the second floor. The clubs are always on the second floor. I like to say that um, you see the performance from tales of a club room that would explain everything. Yes why don't you explain it a little bit something?

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The four of us here that were in that play... oh not me

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Speaker 2: Many deaf people responded to that play very well. Most of the time I see deaf people go to plays and then they forget all about it.

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Speaker 2: They enjoyed it and then they... it was at Gallaudet. Gallaudet gives many performances and there's many others all over the place that give uh performances. Response is so-so.

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Speaker 2: I want to brag but our play was really wow. It was um, lot of ovations uh from the audience, because the play and uh the deaf, everyday deaf life, in the deaf club related to them so well. And they really enjoyed it.

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Speaker 2: Let me explain to you what she's talking about. We have a theatre called Tales from a Clubroom. And it was based on social life in a deaf club house and the deaf people inside. It was given last year in Ohio, and then in other different states. And some of them may not be familiar with what you were talking about. So would you play maybe what it looks like in the club?

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Speaker 2: Well as I said. You usually always go up one flight of stairs to get up to the club, wherever it is. We always rent an area space and it's usually on top of some commercial building in a large town. Will be a lot of folding chairs.

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Speaker 2: Some card tables. There'll probably be a bar. With a refrigerator. Small stove, maybe to cook some small things. There'll be a TV in the corner. Maybe every Friday or every Sunday night we'll have captioned films.

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Speaker 2: Usually you'll find anywhere between 30, 50, maybe 100 deaf people that are there over the weekend. You come in, maybe there'll... you need a key to get in. Some is uh doorbell, and someone will open the door and let you in.

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Speaker 2: You sit around. You'll see your friends. A lot of hellos.

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Speaker 1: Yes I could add something. Remember they were playing cards.
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 1: Many people find uh the deaf club. You'll see many pictures all over the walls like: bowling tournaments, fishing awards, uh, past and present presidents from years ago to present.

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Speaker 1: And then they always played cards: poker, or guts, or tell funny jokes.

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Speaker 1: Umm, clubs have sports such as basketball, softball. We do have contact with many clubs around the country. For our sporting tournaments. Can you tell us uh, when we'll have the next tournament?

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Speaker 1: Well I have a softball tournament in fact today and tonight I have a big social uh event. People will be getting together. Many people will come from all over the eastern states down to it.

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Speaker 1: I guess there'll be about 10 different teams being played in the tournament. Lily?

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Speaker 1: Uh, Steve, can you tell us your first experience in a social club? Something a little like this.

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Speaker 2: Probably my first and strongest impression of the social club, the deaf club was the loud music. There was always a jukebox and it's always turned up to maximum volume.

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Speaker 2: Some people have more hearing difficulties than others. They're varying degrees of hearing impairment.

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Speaker 2: Some people can hear fairly well, some can hear just a little bit. Some can't hear at all, but they still can feel the vibrations of the music through the floor.

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Speaker 2: So can I - hahaha - also through my ears, and my stomach, and the tips of my fingers and everything

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Speaker 1: Cause they really do turn it all the way up. It's a little odd when the music stops, all sound stops because there's no conversation that you can hear. No audible conversation.

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[SILENCE]

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Speaker 2: Anything else you'd like to add Lily?

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Speaker 1: Talking about the clubs, you know the deaf clubs, you know hearing people also have clubs too so it's just something similar. It's nothing... you know what I mean?

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Speaker 1: A social gathering to meet other deaf people. Sometimes you may not have plans on Saturday night, so you'll go down to the club to meet and talk, keep up with what the news is, you know like what they're saying.

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Speaker 1: Yes I'd like to point out that um, people do not communicate so much with their hearing.

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[SILENCE]

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Speaker 1: Deaf people do communicate with their uh coworkers writing, sometimes signing. It's not as comfortable as the way hearing people communicate with their coworkers during the week, so there's more encouragement for them, motivation to go down to the deaf clubs on the weekend to speak comfortably with people who do use the language of signs.

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Speaker 1: Would you like to tell us something about the entertainment, uh dance, ummm, anything special? You may have some experiences.

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Speaker 1: Well often we do present various shows that are visual programs. Uhh, like during Christmas events um, Halloween perhaps. We'll have big events uh during these times, and many people enjoy these.

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Speaker 2: I grew up so called in a deaf club. My mother was deaf and I went to the club with mom. Talked with the people there. All the uh, adults of course were older than

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Speaker 1: Remember a long time ago there were no teletypes: - "TTYs" devices that we could use to type through the telephone line to talk to another deaf person or a hearing person whoever did have another machine like that at the other end.

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Speaker 1: Type our messages back and forth I guess that came out just what, 15 years ago?

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Speaker 2: Yes, I'd say about that.

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Speaker 1: Before that there was no contact. You'd have to go to the deaf friend's home. If they're not home, shucks. Now you can call and say - "Will you be home? Fine I'd like to come over."

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Speaker 1: In the past there were no captioned films. So, deaf clubs were very important, social part of our lives where we could come together, keep up with the contact, pass around what news had been happening during the week. Lily?

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Speaker 1: Social clubs not only, but we also had religious groups: church groups, civic groups for civic minded people, college groups, and um, state association.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes you would uh, they would meet at the clubs for these events.

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Speaker 1: Alright. I understand that uh, when you go to other states and meet a deaf person in a club you feel as a stranger to them, or can you explain how your experiences have been? Do they welcome you or how do they deal with you?

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Speaker 1: Dick? Well I feel as a friend when I go to another club all over the country. For example I went to California I did not know many deaf people there.

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Speaker 1: But it was easy to make new friends. Always find uh, a new friend. By going to the deaf club anywhere in any state.

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Speaker 1: Lily yes I started going to deaf clubs when I was 19 years old. Although my parents are very active in clubs. Like my dad was the president of deaf club

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Speaker 1: It was very active children events like Easter socials, Christmas socials, Halloween, and so forth.

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Speaker 1: So we decided to do some traveling, and we would stop at each deaf club. I, I might have felt, felt a little strange for the first few minutes. Introduce myself from Baltimore and they say "Oh yeah I know this person in Baltimore" and then we'd just start talking as if we had known them for months and months.

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Speaker 1: It was a very, it's always a very warm feeling.
[SILENCE]

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Speaker 1: How did you feel as a hearing person coming into a deaf club? Did people kinda look at you funny as a hearing person? Jan's asking Steve.

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Speaker 2: No, not at all. When I first started learning sign language and becoming involved with deaf friends, everybody was very patient with my very limited skill in speaking sign language. They really went out of their way to help me, teach me new signs, and make me feel welcome.

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Speaker 2: If you uh, go into the club, people are very friendly. The bartenders are great. Uh, to say, same as visiting a deaf person's home. The hospitality is quote: typical old southern hospitality.

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Speaker 2: Uh, you're invited to sit down. "Can I get you something to drink? Uh would you like some cake? Some coffee?" Something like this. They're very friendly and warm people.

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Speaker 2: And as a hearing person, there wasn't any uh, feeling that I felt, any sort of isolation, because I was perfectly welcome, and they were, seemed grateful and appreciative that I was trying to learn their sign language since they couldn't learn to speak my language.

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Speaker 1: I have another thing Lily sang. You know the meanings are very important clubs. Making plans for the next events. You know, we have elections for officers. Meetings like that, and

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Speaker 1: You know some of the clubs all over the country will have their own club houses and are very proud of it. They don't depend on the government. They didn't get anything like in Europe you're dependent on the government to give money, but in uh the States here we're very independent people.

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Speaker 1: And it's a lot of responsibility, a lot of work, a lot of patience through the different events, getting money. To pay for the club house.

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Speaker 1: Some rent she as says says like the second flight of the, going up the second flight of the stairs and so forth. But some have very nice clubhouses and are very proud of their own places.

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Speaker 1: Yes, speaking of social life such as in schools. We'd like for you to share with them your experiences. Would anyone like to open this part up? Say what it's like in this residential school?

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Speaker 1: Yes Jan? You know each state I suppose has at least one state residential school for the deaf. Many small communities or large towns maybe there'll be uh, 10 or 2 or 5 or 6 deaf children. And they'll be all brought centralized to uh the residential school. And uh, how old you are may depend on the different experiences that you have when you go.

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Speaker 1: I happened to be born in the same schoo - in the same town where the residential school is. And I remember the first day that I was sent to school. My mom went with me. We walked down, we went down there to the school. It so happened, I had a little bit older deaf cousin. A girl who lived in the same uh residential school.

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Speaker 1: She said "Come and visit the cousin." I said: "Fine." And went down and I saw many, many deaf kids just like me, I thought that was wonderful to play with.

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Speaker 1: And while I was playing, my mother took off. *laughing in the background* So it was time for lunch and I said: "Where's my mother?" No no, you mean stay here. No no no, no no, I must go home.

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Speaker 1: No I'm not staying here. So I was a little confused, upset.

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Speaker 1: In the dorm the kids slept in large rooms with the beds lined right up. Maybe 10, 12, and then another row in the same place. All nice clean white sheets with iron frame

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Speaker 1: And I was sent there in the little girl, to where the little girl's dorm was. And I started crying, I want my cousin with me, I don't want to be alone.

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Speaker 1: So the house mother went over to ask if my cousin would move from her, the older dorm, to the little kiddies uh dorm for one night. And of course my cousin did not like that. I have to sleep in the little girl's room? Ugh.

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Speaker 1: Anyway she was there in the next bed and I was looking around, it was dark, so such a strange place and went to sleep in the morning. Early, before they turned the lights on, kids started waking up and started playing, throwing things, the pillows were flying, OH this is fun.

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Speaker 1: But I did have mixed emotions for the first year or so. Sometimes it was fun, sometimes I wanted to be home, but gradually I started to enjoy my life at the residential school.

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Speaker 2: Thanks
Speaker 1: What about you Dick? What about your residential life at the deaf school? Can you share that with us?

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Speaker 1: Yes, uh, we also would get up early in the morning, but we'd have to clean our beds and keep them nice and neat, and straight. If a supervisor would see it messed up would rip the whole bed up and make us start over. I'd have to do it again and make it right nice and neat and we'd have to line up in a nice straight line to go to eat and then we'd go on off to school for the day.

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Speaker 1: And then after school we'd play sports for the afternoon.

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Speaker 1: We had to keep our dorms clean I remember that always cleaning and mopping every day.

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Speaker 1: Libby, you're talking about your schools, I remember when I went into school I was 8. I was rather late because I'd come over from Europe.

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Speaker 1: And I was scared, very scared. It was a new experience for me to go into a school. And all these clothes we had to bring. And uh, everybody was so good to me. All these different languages were coming and trying to figure out communication.

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Speaker 1: After a while I really loved it. As I look back all this group it was like she said, you know all the beds and everything we share the different problems, we shared our create

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Speaker 1: As I grew up I still remember them and I still have good friends where I would go to New York I always go back and visit them, and we still keep good relations. And I think it was because of our experiences at the school.

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Speaker 1: The day program, now that's a little different. The residential school I remember all these things. At night time you may not be able to get to sleep so, they would try to help us go to sleep by you know, rubbing our arm or my friend would try to help, and then if not we'd try to sign in the dark at night.

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Speaker 1: Run to the bathroom where we could talk where the light was on. We had so many good times at the school.

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Speaker 1: Libby? I remember staying at the school during the week. Then I'd go home every weekend. I remember going at the first time to the school it was with my grandmother and I saw many different deaf children.

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Speaker 1: Begin to play, and my grandmother disappeared. "Where's my grandmother?" The house person said: "No you stay here." And I started to cry, and I decided I don't like this school, because I wasn't, I would not be living with my friends, I mean my family.

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Speaker 1: I'd be with all these strangers. Then after several weeks, I got used to it, but I still wanted to go home. The first year was kind of mixed, but after that I really loved the school.

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Speaker 1: And I really do appreciate it because it trained us in many different ways, like how to brush our teeth right, dressing properly, how to make our beds very very neat.

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Speaker 1: You had to have those corners just right, and that pillow had to be just fluffed right and tucked in. If it was messed up, they'd pull the whole thing off and *chuckling* do it over again!

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Speaker 1: Yeah I'd just get in straight lines. Boys would be in one line, girls in another going to dinner. It would be separate when we eat. We'd go back to the dorm before the school would start, these lines would, we'd be in straight lines.

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Speaker 1: Cleaning and mopping, that was part of it. The sweeping and we had to have turns and cleaning the bathrooms. I'll never forget one experience when I was a little more grown up I had to clean my room every day.

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Speaker 1: Before going to school which began at 8. You get up, get dressed, I didn't feel like cleaning the floor so I decided to just, just mop, just right around the bed and just kept on walking with the uh, flashlight.

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Speaker 1: The supervisor would look under and saw all the dust under the bed. I had to go back in and do it all over. But it was fun at school.

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Speaker 1: Very good. What kind of games did you learn from the school?

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Speaker 1: Can you give us example of some of the games? Uh, Jan?

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Speaker 1: In the fall, there'd be uh, the boys would have to do the uh, lawn, get all the leaves all piled up and they'd leave them to be picked up the next day.

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Speaker 1: We'd come in and we'd make big houses out of them. The leaves, we'd make uh in rows and then burrow it out and we'd say, well this is the living room, and then we'd make another row over here and say that's the bedroom, make another wall on the other side.

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Speaker 1: And then uh, we'd uh, clean out a little area so we could use for the door way, and then we'd say: uh now well this is the livingroom. Now you can't just step over that you have to go through where the door is. And we'd play house that way.

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Speaker 1: Talk and play. Sometimes we'd play Indians and cowboys. Or some other times we'd just jump in the middle of a big pile, where we'd have a very large grounds and have very large piles of these leaves that had been raked up. We'd love to play in that.

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Speaker 2: Lily? My, in my day when I was in school, ahem, we were in the middle of New York City and they had like you were talking about leaves, and things, we didn't have any. It, that was an older school.

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Speaker 2: Um, my friends would be talking, you know, and we'd be talking like about strange pals and like different uh buildings would be all around us, and the school was in the center.

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Speaker 2: We really had a lot of fun there. There wasn't any leaves and things like that, but we'd play games. You know deaf people would be very creative with their games.

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Speaker 2: We'd be playing tag, and swinging and everything. It was really fun. And you could see the people from the apartment buildings looking down at our school. Looking down and we were, you know, they would throw us candy sometimes. You know and we'd be down there holding our hands out for candy and

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Speaker 2: I'd like to get some information from you on the kinds of games like um, deer hunter, elephant game, other things.

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Speaker 2: Oh I know, I have one game. Another game, um, "bear." we had this big basement, and in the middle of it, I dunno what it was this column, it probably had some machine inside it or something I dunno, but we never knew what it was.

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Speaker 2: But we had to walk around it and there was a large doorway. And maybe like on Saturday afternoons when we didn't have anything to do we'd say, do you want to play bear? Do you want to play bear?

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Speaker 2: And we'd have to play quiet because the supervisor didn't like the game and she'd always stop us. So we'd all run down into the basement and the girls would stand here, and the other girl would be behind the column so I couldn't see her.

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Speaker 2: So the lights would go out and it would be real dark. And you're supposed to run like through the doorway, and you'd be safe. But if you're tagged, you're out!

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Speaker 2: So it'd be real dark and we'd be going around the column like this back and forth, back and forth, and we'd be... I always screamed, I was always screaming. And then later the supervisor would hear, and here she'd come. "Get out, get out, get out."

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Speaker 2: And she'd be screaming and we'd be running. Um, one more information on games before we close. What's that stairs game? You explain it.

00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:40.000
Speaker 2: Uh, okay like one two three four... B. Five ten, fifteen, B. Like you'd have to um, make a circle. And you'd go: one two three four five, you're out. You're supposed to say B. We did a lot of games like that.

00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:59.970
Speaker 2: Um, tag, deer hunter, like uh, you make two columns, and one group decides if you're going to be a deer, or another man decides will be a gun. Another group will be a gun, or a

00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:15.000
Speaker 2: If I say shoot, you can't shoot a man, so you're out. So you're supposed to be a deer. So you get points like that until you win and so forth. It's really a lot of creativity in games.

00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:26.000
Speaker 2: Also we had um, to make up stories from AB, the ABC, the alphabet. And numbers too, number games.

00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:39.000
Speaker 2: These meaning that... this ABC story and the number games will be given at 2 o'clock this afternoon. You can see uh, something entitled, sign-folklore.

00:29:39.000 --> 00:29:54.000
Speaker 2: It's storytelling. Now it's time for you, the audience to ask questions before we close here. Does anyone have any questions? To ask the participants?

00:29:54.000 --> 00:30:16.000
*Indistinct questions from audience*

00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:42.000
Speaker 2: Sign language in America is pretty much consistent, standard. But we do have some local differences, like dialect. Like your sign it might be, like Oregon, what's your sign? Orange? And this is my sign for orange. And here's another sign for orange. Orange... do you know one? Orange. Ok.

00:30:42.000 --> 00:31:02.900
Speaker 2: There's just little differences from Texas, you know. There's just a few like that. But pretty much it's standard. In Europe, it's different though. They have a different sign language there. In different countries it's different, but really there's no problem in communicating. Is there any more questions?

00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:28.000
Speaker 2: I think English and French. A combination of both, they, their signs are a little different. When they're talking English, then they do the same sign language as we do. Like, many people from Ga... come from Gall... come to Gallaudet so I think it's almost the same.

00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:31.000
Speaker 2: More questions?

00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:39.000
*indistinct questions from audience*

00:31:39.000 --> 00:31:44.000
Speaker 2: No comment - Libby says *ahem*

00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:59.000
Speaker 2: I don't really think it's exact English myself. I use ASL, and it's a little difficult for me to change it into exact English. It, it's different to me.

00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:02.000
Speaker 2: Another one?

00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:07.000
*indistinct questions from audience*

00:32:07.000 --> 00:32:21.000
Speaker 2: Yes, yes. You can see for yourself. Like I was saying yesterday afternoon, when I was little, not, not many people knew about deaf people. And they said: *gasp* "You can't hear? Oh my god."

00:32:21.000 --> 00:32:35.000
Speaker 2: Nowadays it's so different. You know I feel like I was born too early! Nowadays deaf awareness is spread out like: sign language classes are all over, it's a fad! And people are becoming interested!

00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:47.000
Speaker 2: We still have problems yes, but more and more awareness now definitely. It's true, you weren't born, it's not too late anyway.

00:32:47.000 --> 00:32:57.000
Speaker 2: Deafness is not contagious. *laughing from audience* Don't be scared, but sign language is contagious! And I hope you catch it.

00:32:57.000 --> 00:33:00.000
*clapping from audience*

00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:21.000
Speaker 2: I'd like to add that I went to different public restaurants and other places, and I was very surprised to see waitresses and waiters signing to me and other deaf friends of mine. Uh, sometimes, some police men will know sign language, and they make, that makes us feel like a first class citizen.

00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:26.380
Speaker 2: And that's through deaf awareness programs all over this country.

00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:30.000
Speaker 2: Ah, another question?

00:33:30.000 --> 00:34:12.000
*Indistinct questions from the audience*

00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:33.000
Speaker 2: I think education in that way, it's different. Educators think that way. Deaf children, when they learn ASL, that's their native tongue. They learn to sign, they express themselves better. And signed English, to use in school is fine.

00:34:33.000 --> 00:34:47.000
Speaker 2: But it's important for those deaf children to express, to be able to express themselves through ASL. And if the teachers say: "No no no" they're going to hold it all in and become frustrated. That's the same with oralism.

00:34:47.000 --> 00:35:01.000
Speaker 2: And I feel that it's good, but in the school, teaching for reading and writing yes, but you can't say no, don't, don't use ASL. It's, it's confusing to the children also.

00:35:01.000 --> 00:35:03.000
Speaker 2: One more question.

00:35:03.000 --> 00:35:11.000
*Indistinct questions from the audience*

00:35:11.000 --> 00:35:33.000
Speaker 2: Ooooh, ooh, ooh, oh there's so many books. Uh, you can find more information if you get the program booklet of this festival. You can see the listing of references and you can find all really good books there on information on sign language. And other information on deaf cultures.

00:35:33.000 --> 00:35:38.900
Speaker 2: If you get a program booklet from some place, I dunno, some, in one of the tins here.

00:35:42.000 --> 00:36:01.000
Speaker 2: May I add to that? Um, sign language is a very visual language. You don't really learn it from a book alone. Book, a book will help you, but you need someone to see it and help you with it.

00:36:01.000 --> 00:36:22.000
Speaker 2: There are a lot of information like sign language books on the market now and outdated ones. And there are several new books coming up, so you have to go with the new books that are coming up. Like yesterday I just learned that we have a new dictionary. A new sign for dictionary.

00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:29.000
Speaker 2: The sign, I never knew that. That's, you know, the, a few of the old books are outdated so you have to make sure that you look for the newer ones.

00:36:29.000 --> 00:36:49.000
Speaker 2: We do have updated books entitled, um, well in the program books that you find on the festival grounds. I want to thank you very much for bringing your questions, and I would like you to help me thank the participants.

00:36:49.000 --> 00:36:58.000
*audience clapping and indistinct chatter*

00:36:58.000 --> 00:37:15.000
Speaker 2: Now I'd like to make an announcement. Um, for our deaf visitors I would like you to come to the collection area to make video tapes of your stories and experiences for our archives after this.

00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:34.000
Speaker 2: If you can go to the collection area right behind you there. Also I'd like to suggest that your children might want to go to the other tent across the way here. They have a special program entitled through the hearing, hearing hor... listening horn.

00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:43.520
Speaker 2: There's dancers and performers will give skits on deaf awareness for your children, and that. Your children may enjoy that

00:37:45.000 --> 00:38:09.000
Speaker 2: To understand about sign language in other programs. If you would like to know more about the deaf culture and the folklore, we'll have a book written by a deaf man entitled: Jack Gannon. The title of the book is - Deaf Heritage. By Jack Gannon.

00:38:09.000 --> 00:38:27.000
Speaker 2: And you can buy one of those books um at the crafts selling tent. We have a teletype demonstration in the next tent to see how deaf people can communicate through the telephone.

00:38:27.000 --> 00:38:41.000
Speaker 2: And also, you can see our models, see how deaf people get up every morning. How do they get up? Through alarm clocks? You can see the models, different kinds of models in the other tent also.

00:38:41.000 --> 00:38:59.000
Speaker 2: And last, at 12 noon, here in this tent, we will be having a traditional deaf theatre, no no no no no, stories, skits, we, we switched them. It's sign folklore. Sign lore.

00:38:59.000 --> 00:39:15.000
Speaker 2: Ok, excuse me. At 12, we'll have signing lore, and storytelling, and you can see uh, typical skits that are given in the deaf clubs, so if you'd like to come here at 12 noon.

00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:22.000
Speaker 2: Thank you very much.

00:39:22.000 --> 00:39:36.000
Speaker 2: I dunno, if you're interested, please write a letter to um, the Smithsonian Folk Festival. Thank you very much. Oh wait a minute, wait a minute. One more one more.

00:39:36.000 --> 00:40:26.400
[SILENCE]

00:40:47.000 --> 00:41:03.000
Speaker 1: Deaf theatre given in about two minutes. Come to watch deaf performers giving skits, jokes, and sign lore and other things. Everybody will enjoy this.

00:41:03.000 --> 00:41:13.000
Speaker 1: In two minutes. *indistinct chatter*

00:41:13.000 --> 00:42:19.000
[SILENCE]

00:42:19.000 --> 00:42:46.000
Speaker 1: The 15th annual Smithsonian Folk Life Festival. Welcome to our folklore of deaf program. We'll be presenting some uh exciting performances entitled: Traditional Deaf Theatre, Jan Dilap [Jan DeLap], and Studio 101.

00:42:46.000 --> 00:42:49.430
Speaker 1: We all present her topic: Deaf Kaleidoscope.

00:42:53.000 --> 00:43:00.000
Speaker 1: Jan Dilap.[Jan DeLap]

00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:17.000
Speaker 1: Welcome. Uh, for today there has been a change. Uh the last three days we did the theatre first and then the sign folklore second show. Today we have made a reverse. Alright?

00:43:17.000 --> 00:43:34.000
Speaker 1: Oh yes I forgot, fine. We'd like to share with you the things that we can do with our hands. Signing, finger spelling. I hope that many of you know some finger spelling.

00:43:34.000 --> 00:43:43.000
Speaker 1: How many of you are deaf here? Ok, how many are hearing?

00:43:43.000 --> 00:43:51.000
Speaker 1: How many of you know sign finger spelling? Good, very good. I see more and more of this every day.

00:43:51.000 --> 00:44:02.000
Speaker 1: What is, if you don't know what finger spelling is, look along the sides of the tent. And I hope that maybe if you have some time look around, you might be able to finger spell your name. That would be nice.

00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:09.000
Speaker 1: And one other important sign that you must know is this.

00:44:09.000 --> 00:44:20.000
Speaker 1: What does that mean? It all incorporates the idea: I love you. I, L, and then the Y, symbolizing: I love you.

00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:32.000
Speaker 1: Before we begin, I'm sure that many of you are saying to yourself: I don't know signs, I'll watch.

00:44:32.000 --> 00:44:46.000
Speaker 1: But I'm sure that you really do know more signs than you thought. Signs are a language of their own, but also there are many, many, many, gestures commonly used by you hearing people.

00:44:46.000 --> 00:44:55.310
Speaker 1: Whether you're hearing or deaf. That one for example, you know that, how about that?

00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:12.000
Speaker 1: These are simple things like that, that you know. Body language also is important. The deaf will watch the body language and perhaps understand pretty much of what's going on.

00:45:12.000 --> 00:45:21.000
Speaker 1: Lemme show you a little something like this that happens between a deaf man and a hearing man at a bus stop.

00:45:21.000 --> 00:45:33.000
Speaker 1: How they respond to each other. Before I go ahead, first I will have my people come up here and let you take a good look at them.

00:45:33.000 --> 00:45:40.000
[SILENCE]

00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:52.000
Speaker 1: This is Steve Jones, Dick Moore, and Libby Hatway.[Libby Hathaway]

00:45:52.000 --> 00:45:59.000
Speaker 1: Can you people tell me which one of these is hearing?

00:45:59.000 --> 00:46:05.000
Speaker 1: I have a vote here. Who's been here before? This one? What about this one, is she hearing?

00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:15.000
Speaker 1: We've got some various, uh, choices here. How can you tell? There's no way you could tell. Which one is hearing and which one is deaf.

00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:33.000
Speaker 1: It's a very invisible thing, a hearing loss. But to help you a little bit, here's the hearing one. I'm deaf, from a deaf home, where my mother's deaf, my father is hearing.

00:46:33.000 --> 00:46:44.000
Speaker 1: He is deaf, from a deaf home. Where both parents are deaf, and grandparents are both deaf, and his 4 sisters, 4 generations of deafness.

00:46:44.000 --> 00:46:55.000
Speaker 1: Libby is also from a deaf family, and I think there's been 3, 3 generations of uh deafness. Parents and grandparents.

00:46:55.000 --> 00:47:01.050
Speaker 1: I'd like to show you the bus stop. You'll be the deaf man waiting for the bus coming in this direction. Let's see what happens.

00:48:24.000 --> 00:48:28.000
*clapping*

00:48:28.000 --> 00:48:35.112
[SILENCE]