A Place of Their Own: Creating the Deaf Community in America

by John Vickrey Van Cleve, Barry A. Crouch

Using original sources, this unique book focuses on the Deaf community during the 19th century. Largely through schools for the deaf, deaf people began to develop a common language and a sense of community.         A Place of Their Own  brings the perspective of history to bear on the reality of deafness and provides fresh and important insight into the lives of deaf Americans.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Disability, School, Language

212 pages, Paperback

First published March 10, 1989

Reviews

[Reagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

This book is okay. I read this for my asl class in university and I honestly wasn't as interested in this book. Maybe it was because I took two years of asl in high school and just got told all of these events in short, more exciting stories, or maybe the book was just bland. It doesn't read like a textbook but it reads like a nonfiction book that is trying to write from an unbiased view but it is clearly biased. This book reads like a college essay about a strongly political topic and the teacher told them to be unbiased but they are not about to write that there is logic behind putting children in a school with a completely other language that is impossible to learn and forcing them to learn it to perfection. Like I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this was a student thesis for graduation.
This book focuses on deaf history as long as you only mean the history of deaf white americans from the early 1700's to the late 1900's. Like this does not have any color representation unless you count like the last two pages.
Honestly if you aren't turned off by the first chapter which is literally just a religion fest then go for it and read the rest of the book. I don't think it is a good book or is the best way to learn deaf history. Just go do some research or better yet ask someone in the deaf community as you will get a better telling of their history, hear what is important to them, and you won't fall asleep.

[David Kerschner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well... OK so the book started off on kind of odd/low note with the authors berating the Christian Greek Scriptures for belittling the deaf. The biggest problem the authors had was with Romans 10:17 where Paul is discussing how people will put faith in the Good News with out having "heard" it. They are confusing hearing you do with your ears with the hearing meaning being told. Frankly, I think this is as ridiculous as people who insist on using the "word" herstory instead of history. Fortunately, this weirdness only lasts for a two pages and the tone significantly improves.

Setting that aside I rather enjoyed this short history of (white) deaf culture in the 19th century. Like all short histories, it moved along rather quickly, and probably glossed over many topics, but was sufficient to give a good idea of the key players and events.

It was interesting to learn that Gallaudet University was giving an education to the deaf community that surpassed what their hearing counterparts were receiving at the time.

I also found it interesting that Alexander Graham Bell was so involved in promoting oralism. I appreciated that, while the authors clearly disagreed with the position of oralism, they tried to present the arguments in a reasonable way.

In general, I'd recommend this book but also say that people should ignore the authors odd attack on the Christian Greek Scriptures.

[Ricky Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a decent book focusing on the development and history of American Deaf Community from 1800s to 1989. Since it was published in 1989, there is no mention of changes that impacted Deaf people, schools, communities between 1990 to 2025. The book should have an updated edition on that as well.

Crouch & Van Cleve did do a great job of compiling the details into less than 200 pages. Maybe I'm biased since I took a class under Crouch many years ago and he was the most toughest professor that I encountered at Gallaudet.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit as a Christian I did not love the first chapter.
For faith comes by hearing..
That can be translated as actually hearing the gospel or as giving audience to or paying attention. The Bible was not targeting deaf people.

After reading this I dislike Alexander Graham Bell even more then I already did.. which is a lot. I feel sorry for his deaf wife and all she must have been subject to.

[Mellisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was required to read this book for a GU course. It was okay, as I didn't enjoy all of the chapters—some were boring. I read some comments that this is white-based Deaf history—they are correct. There's no information about DHH people from different cultural backgrounds, and nothing about DeafPlus/ DeafDisabled people and their contributions to society.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book. I had to read it for a class, but would still recommend it for any person interested in the Deaf community and it’s culture. Full of history and understanding for what Deafhood really means.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disagreed some at the Biblical viewpoint in the beginning, but the rest of the book presented information on the history of the deaf culture in an interesting and easy to read way. I enjoyed learning about this.

[elle vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

i had to read this for my deaf culture class. it’s very thorough as far as information goes but it’s got a textbook-quality writing style so i was bored

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and informative look at the history of the Deaf community in America. I learned a lot and it wasn't a painful, textbook-like read!

[Randi Monday · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informational. A little slow at times but full of information!

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I would never consider this a pleasure read, A Place of Their Own is a decent book to have been required to read for class. It isn't inundated with stereotypically scholarly words that would make it slow to read; it isn't so in-depth as to shift itself beyond the purposes of the casually interested; but neither is it so brief and full of summary as to leave the readers feeling as if they learned nothing. Essentially, this is the perfect introduction to American Deaf Culture, particularly for students who are more interested in earning the grade or learning the language.

[Maris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't get to read this cover-to-cover, but I did read the majority of it for class. I really enjoyed it! I had another book to read for class, but it wasn't as fun to read as this one, for it was just speeches and papers and such, which didn't have the flow and ease of this book. I would recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn a bit more on American Deaf History!

[Joolie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An important, but extremely dry historical mini-tome about Deaf history, focusing mainly on the Deaf community in America. Learned a lot, but not very intriguing or in-depth culturally speaking. A good overview for those interested in learning about Deaf history and a springboard to other more rich historical/cultural writings about Deaf community.

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent history of (white) deaf people in America from the viewpoint of the Deaf community. Maybe people without much knowledge of (white) deaf history would probably enjoy it more, but I found it rather dull. Also, there was not even a throwaway passage about non-white deaf people.

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though it is a short book, I felt it was a dry read. The first chapter upset many Christians, such as myself, and I feel the author's had imposed the wrong view throughout the book. Yes there has and still is suffrage for deaf people, but their views of the hearing are also misconstrued.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book. I'm learning more about Deaf history and community. It reinforces what I already know.

[Seed · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very dry, very boring but it is also informative. I knew a bit of the info already though and there's more interesting ways to learn about Deaf Culture than this specific book.

[Bob Ayres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Highly recommended.

[Hanz Bustamante · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took the class so amazing

[Daleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book about the history of the Deaf culture.