Crawford, Isabel Alice Hartley "Belle"

Born near Toronto; interested in religious work from an early age; deafened at 16 from quinine administered for a 6-month illness. Entered the Baptist Missionary Training School for Women in Chicago, IL in 1891, graduating 1893. Appointed first to the Kiowa Indian tribe in Oklahoma. Unable to speak or learn their language due to her deafness, she learned the Plains Indian sign language to get around the communication barrier, and remained with the Kiowas for over 13 years. 1906, she left Oklahoma to travel across the U.S. on behalf of a Baptist missionary society, returning in between trips to a home in Red House, NY, an Indian settlement. Studied lipreading at at NYC school for the hard of hearing, wrote a book, Kiowa: The History of a Blanket Indian Mission (1915), and earned a diploma from the Chautaqua Literary and Scientific Circle. Retired in 1930 to Grimsby, Ontario, and published two more books, A Jolly Journal (1932) and Joyful Journey (1951). Died at Winona, Ontario, but was buried on the Kiowa Indian reserve in Oklahoma.