InfoGuides: Deaf Women: Overview

Last Updated: Oct 7, 2024 9:29 AM

Researching Deaf Women

The image at left is from The Silent Worker. This guide will assist you in finding information about Deaf Women in various formats. We have reference books, auto/biographies, DVDs, and online material on Deaf Women. Search by career and/or multicultural groups using the Gallaudet University Library Guide to Deaf Biographies Database. For example, suppose you are interested in African Americans. In that case, you can look up that cultural group and get a list of names, descriptions of their careers, and citations to works about them.

There is a Deaf Suffragists/Activists InfoGuide if you are interested in this topic.

We also have articles about Deaf Women in Deaf periodicals (magazines and journals). You can use the Gallaudet University University Index to Deaf Periodicals to find articles. Check out Karen Christie's Deaf Women History website.

Recommended encyclopedias are the online Gallaudet Encyclopedia and the Sage Deaf Studies Encyclopedia, which can be used in print or online form. The latter contains more recent entries on Deaf women in various fields.

The Summon search box is the orange box on the RIT Libraries' homepage. Summon searches all of the library's content, like a Google search of RIT Libraries' (and other libraries) materials. Use the left-hand column to filter your results (books, articles, videos, etc.). We also have scholarly works about Deaf Women, which you will find using the Summon search, RIT Libraries Catalog, and databases.

Check out Deirdre Schlehofer's Undocumented Voices of Deaf Women Leaders: A Historical Analysis Project in Archives. BB Bourne-Firl YouTube, Carol Padden YouTube, and Jackie Roth YouTube. The video page listing all is here.

Christine Kim, an alumna, performed the National Anthem and America the Beautiful in ASL during the 2020 Super Bowl. She has also done international exhibits in museums. Find out more about her works.

Check out Deaf Women Surdists, all from various fields.

Hey Listen: Deaf Women-Double Challenge-Part 1
Due to their dual minority status, deaf women face a double challenge. In the first segment, three deaf women (Barbara Ray Holcomb, Thelma Bohli, and Mindy Hopper) chat with HEY LISTEN! host Leslie Greer about their experiences with discrimination, work, family, and social life.
Hey Listen: Double Challenge-Part 2
Kathleen Hozwarth, a student at NTID and member of Sunshine II, Vicki Hurwitz, a mother of two children and alcoholism counselor at Norris Clinic, and Dorothy Wilkins, a single career woman, and sign language instructor at NTID, discuss their dual minority status with host Jackie Schertz.

American National Biography This link opens in a new window
Find biographies of well-known Deaf women.
EBSCO This link opens in a new window
This scholarly collection provides coverage for nearly all academic areas of study.
Proquest Complete This link opens in a new window
All-in-one database that provides coverage for nearly all academic areas of study including arts, business, humanities, health, social sciences, sciences and current affairs.