DEAF HERITAGE IN CANADA
Reviewed by Susan Burch
Gallaudet Today, Fall 1996, Vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 35-36.
Clifton Carbin offers a significant contribution to Deaf history in his long-waited Deaf Heritage in Canada. In response to his life-long desire to know more about other Deaf Canadians, and the obvious need for a scholarly history of the Canadian Deaf community, Carbin has produced a fine work. It is the first and only Canadian study of its kind, and its value is enhanced by the author's exemplary research, careful consideration of historical methods, engaging prose, and participation in the Deaf community.
Carbin's introduction to the Deaf community began at the Ontario School for the Deaf [in Belleville], which he entered at age 8. Like many other prominent Deaf Canadians chronicled in his book, Carbin then went on to Gallaudet University, from which he received a bachelor's degree in 1971 and, in 1989, an honorary doctor of laws. He also received a graduate degree from Western Maryland College and held Gallaudet's Powrie V. Doctor Chair of Deaf Studies for 1990-1991. An accomplished teacher and administrator, he coauthored Can't Your Child Hear? His new book attests to his deep knowledge of and passionate commitment to the Deaf community and to scholarship about it.
One of the greatest attributes of this work is the breadth and diversity of sources. Deaf Heritage in Canada is based on more than 10 years of exhaustive research conducted in every province and most American states. Carbin relies principally on primary sources: American and Canadian Deaf newspapers, journals, personal correspondence, and interviews. Secondary sources supplement these documents and serve as a framework for interpreting broad trends.
Deaf Heritage in Canada brings deaf experiences to life in 21 chapters and almost 500 photographs. It is organized thematically and includes topics such as religion, sports, technology, and military service. Deaf education, publications, and organizations — the guideposts of the Deaf community — receive the most comprehensive assessments.
Carbin interweaves analyses of broad trends in schools with lively micro-histories of student life. He also offers the first comprehensive region-by-region history of all the residential schools in Canada: Quebec and Ontario, the Atlantic Provinces, and Western Canada. Most importantly, Carbin strives to create a historical context in which to address seminal issues in Deaf heritage. By so doing, he offers an accurate and thorough understanding of controversial topics such as communication methods in schools and the employment of Deaf teachers.
Academics and nonacademics alike will appreciate both the graceful prose of Deaf Heritage in Canada and its utility as a reference work. The index provides a detailed description of the book's contents, and 1,739(!) endnotes provide abundant and accessible information for researchers.
Several sections deserve special note. Chapters 11 and 12 focus on the key issues of Deaf publications and sign languages. Carbin's extensive research proves itself in the detailed description of newspapers and other periodicals, including several publications with few and rare editions. Likewise, Carbin's treatment of the various sign systems influencing Canadian Deaf culture, including the evolution of each sign system, is accessible and thorough. His analysis of sign language and its role in the development of Deaf culture in earluer centuries is especially solid, although less attention is paid to the early and middle decades of the 20th century.
Carbin compensates for this with Chapter 20, "Silent No Longer," in which he chronicles Deaf Canadians' proactive efforts to challenge legal and social discrimination, particularly from 1900 to the 1960s. He details, for example, the struggle of the Western Canada Association of the Deaf (WCAD) and the Vancouver Association of the Deaf to win deaf people the right to drive in British Columbia. Carbin tells how David Peikoff, who chaired the WCAD's Automobile Committee, and others led to lobbying effort to convince provincial officials to license deaf drivers; they finally succeeded in 1931.
Several aspects of the inclusive approach of this book are noteworthy. One is Carbin's use of oral history to add personal Deaf insights. For example, three deaf survivors from the famous 1917 Great Halifax explosion that killed almost 2,000 people were interviewed. They discussed the effects of that blast on the Halifax School for the Deaf, the pupils, and staff, many of whom were injured. Carbin also includes in his investigation all physically deaf people, not only those individuals who demonstrate contemporary ideals of "D"eaf culture, and he wisely avoids categorizing all deaf people as "Deaf." Deaf Heritage in Canada is enriched by this approach: the broad inclusiveness affords Carbin a large frame of reference, while his refusal to force today's values on the people of the past increases the accuracy — and thus the value — of his work.
Although encyclopedic, Deaf Heritage in Canada could not, of course, cover all topics. Carbin did not incorporate discussion of minority groups within the Deaf community. A more comprehensive study of economics and legal issues in Deaf history also would improve our understanding.
Nonetheless, Carbin successfully achieves his goal of challenging misconceptions about the Deaf community by presenting a comprehensive chronicle of its heritage. He captures the spirit of the community and presents a compelling assessment of the values, issues, and events that are the pillars of its history. The quality of this work will inspire others to contribute further research on Carbin's passionate topic--the Canadian deaf experience. He and his editor, Dorothy Smith, should be congratulated. Gallaudet Today readers will want to purchase their own copies of this lavish and rewarding text.