Research Potentially Widens Scope of Vineyard's Historic Deaf Community

Richard Meier and Justin Power, linguistics professors at the University of Texas, have published a new paper entitled The Historical Demography of the Martha’s Vineyard Signing Community, inspired by the seminal work of anthropologist Nora Ellen Groce.

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Finding Common Ground on Evolution of Sign Language

Four researchers and educators traveled to the Vineyard to take part in the event on Nov. 8, organized by MV Signs: Then and Now, a project founded in 2016 by Islander Lynn Thorp to teach and revive ASL.

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American Sign Language Takes Off at Regional High School

To accommodate all the students who want to take American Sign Language, the regional high school will increase the teaching position from half to full time next year.

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Exploring the Vineyard's Deaf Community in Show Me a Sign
Louisa Hufstader

A new novel for young readers, Show Me a Sign by Ann Clare LeZotte, brings to life an often-overlooked era of Martha’s Vineyard history, when deaf and hearing Islanders shared a common sign language.

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Legacy of Vineyard Deaf Community Endures Today

David Martin, former educator and administrator at Gallaudet, visited Vineyard Haven on Sunday to talk about the legacy of the Martha’s Vineyard deaf community of the 18th and 19th centuries.

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Winds of Change on Stage Through Lens of Deaf Community

The new play Chilmark will be a different experience for the audience, where parts of the play are communicated only in sign language.

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Reviving Sign Language on Martha's Vineyard Is Personal and Historical Mission

Lynn Thorp is the energy behind MV Signs: Then and Now, an endeavor to revive Martha’s Vineyard sign language used from the 17th to 19th century.

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Alexander Graham Bell At Edgartown
Vineyard Gazette
The death of Alexander Graham Bell arouses renewed interest in the great inventor’s connection with Martha’s Vineyard. Bell’s concern with the island and its people was much more than a thing of the moment. His visits and at least one prolonged stay on the island were the result of his desire to investigate the so-called “deaf-mute” town in Chilmark about which a fictitious tradition had sprung up.
 
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