Search Biographies

Helberg, Lenore

ID
1318
Nationality
American
Occupation
Deaf-blind
Actress
Summary
Although legally deaf-blind, played the lead role of Sarah in a stage production of Children of a Lesser God at Ohlone College.
References
Deaf Women, p.101.
Dates
fl. 1989

Hague, Joseph

ID
1236
Nationality
British
Occupation
Deaf-blind
Summary
Born at Newton Heath into a deaf family; admitted in 1852 to the Manchester Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, though he also took some classes at the adjacent Blind Asylum. Trained in basketmaking, he began in that trade while living with his parents, but financial problems in his family put him in the "workhouse" (asylum for the poor). Died from an illness and was buried in the Sheffield general cemetery.
References
Deaf Lives, p.87-88; Touch, Touch, and Touch Again, p. 54-56.
Dates
1844-28 February 1879

Juncar y Reyes, Inocencio

ID
4279
Nationality
Spanish
Occupation
Deaf-blind
Summary
Either born deaf or became deaf in early infancy. Entered the municipal school for the deaf and the blind at Barcelona at age 6; became also blind soon after. Attained a basic education at the school.
References
American Annals of the Deaf, v.38 no.3, June 1893, p.240-241.
Dates
fl. 1888

Tunison, Winifred Ann Weisgerber "Winnie"

ID
0404
Nationality
American
Native American
Occupation
Deaf-blind
Activist
Summary
Born deaf and with Usher Syndrome; totally blind by age 40. Graduated the New Jersey School for the Deaf; passed up entry into Gallaudet College to go into the workplace instead; soon married James Tunison. Retrained at the Helen Keller National Center in 1992 and worked at a teaching internship there for 21 months. Gave many motivational talks and seminars about coping with deaf-blindness to both normal and deaf-blind audiences. Finally entered Gallaudet University in 1994, graduating 2000 with a B.A., summa cum laude. Sister, also deaf, was Chereyl Lynn Weisgerber Rhodes (q.v.).
References
Step Into the Circle, p.19-23.
Dates
1947-

Caswell, Oliver

ID
0592
Nationality
American
Occupation
Student
Deaf-blind
Summary
Received some lessons from Laura Bridgman (q.v.), herself also deaf-blind.
References
Looking Back, p.46.
Dates
1829-?

Keller, Helen Adams

ID
1555
Nationality
American
Occupation
Author
Orator
Activist
Summary
Deaf-blind. Born at Tuscumbia, AL; deafened and blinded at 19 months of age by an illness. Was re-introduced to language at age 8 by Anne Sullivan, who remained Keller's companion until Sullivan's death, then succeeded by Polly Thompson. Keller died at Westport, CT, and is buried in the Washington National Cathedral.
References
Deaf Persons in the Arts and Sciences, p. 205-208; Gallaudet Encyclopedia, vol.2 p.123-126; Extraordinary People with Disabilities, p.50-54; Movers & Shakers, p.77-82; Encyclopedia of Special Education, vol.2, p.891; Great Lives from History: American Women Series, vol.III p.1015-1018; ABC-Clio companion, p.178-181; American National Biography, vol.12 p.472-475; Dictionary of American Biography, eighth supplement; Deaf Women, p.43, 78-79.
Dates
27 June 1880-1 June 1968

Lamb, Hannah

ID
1635
Nationality
English
British
Occupation
Deaf-blind
Summary
Born deaf and blind; died from burns sustained when her nightgown accidentally caught fire.
References
Touch, Touch, and Touch Again, p.34.
Dates
1799?-1808

MacFarlane, Colin

ID
1778
Nationality
Scottish
British
Occupation
Deaf-blind
Summary
Native of Arochary, Dumbarton, Scotland. Known to have been in the Glasgow Deaf Asylum at age 12 in 1851. No other information is known.
References
Touch, Touch, and Touch Again, p.63.
Dates
1839?-?

Tani, Sanzan

ID
2729
Nationality
Japanese
Asian
Occupation
Scholar
Summary
Deaf-blind. Became deaf at 8 years of age, and blind in adulthood. Hungry for knowledge in his youth, he read voraciously and incessantly; when he grew up, he became an itinerant scholar, reading and questioning teachers everywhere, and became more knowledgeable about the great books than anyone else. The government recognized his brilliance and awarded him a teaching position. Even after he became blind also, Tani continued to teach, students writing in his palm and he answering them from his prodigious memory.
References
Movers & Shakers, p.121-123.
Dates
1802-1867

Rocheleau, Corrine

ID
2349
Nationality
Canadian
born American
Occupation
Author
Summary
Although born in the U.S., French was her native language. Deafened at age 9 from illness; attended the oral Sisters of Providence school for the deaf in Montreal, then completed her studies at home on her own. Worked for a while in the U.S. civil service in Washington, DC, then "associated in business with her brother" for a number of years before giving that up to write and lecture full-time. Wrote Hors de Sa Prison (Out of Her Prison, 1928, honored by the French Academy), Heroic French women of Canada (1922), and Those in the Dark Silence: The Deaf-Blind of North America, a Record of To-day (1930). Laurentian Heritage is probably the best known of her works. After marriage, she often used the name Corinne Rocheleau-Rouleau.
References
The Fanwood Journal, Feb. 1937, p.14-15; Deaf Women, p.118; American Annals of the Deaf, Nov. 1970, p.675.
Dates
1881-1963