Hidden Legacies of Helen Keller: A History Symposium
Hidden Legacies of Helen Keller: A History Symposium
American Printing House for the Blind
September 17-18, 2022
Hidden Legacies of Helen Keller: A History Symposium
Saturday, September 17
Street Hall, Filson Historical Society
8-8:45 am – Coffee
8:45-9:00 am – Welcome
Micheal Hudson, Museum Director, American
Printing House
10:45 – Curiosity, Pedagogy, and Tools
Iain Hutchison, Research Affiliate, University of Glasgow, Scotland
A Procession of Elites: Edinburgh’s Royal Blind School Visitors, 1876-1948
Leona Godin, Author and Adjunct Faculty, NYU
“Gutenberg of the Blind”: A Brief Personal History of Braille
Cristina Hartman, Independent Writer
A Life of Visual, Spoken, and Tactile Languages: A DeafBlind Perspective
Moderated by Micheal Hudson, Museum Director, American Printing House
11:00 am – 12:45 – Missing Pieces: Influence & Influencers
Laurie Block, Executive Director, Disability History Museum
Helen Keller’s Liberation Narratives
Betsy Emerson, Independent Writer and Artist
Joseph Edgar Chamberlain & The Red Farm Circle
Max Wallace, Independent Writer and Filmmaker
Helen Keller & Apartheid, South Africa, 1951-1960
Moderated by Aukram Burton, Executive Director, Kentucky Center for African American Heritage
12:45 – 2:00 pm – Lunch Break
2-4:30 pm – Tracing Evidence: Picturing Keller, Reproductive Advocacy, and Eugenics in the Progressive Era
Graham Warder, Chair, Keene State College History Department
The Value Of Bad Movies: Deliverance & Keller Mythmaking
Janet Golden, Professor Emerita of History, Rutgers University
What Is Said, What Is Silenced: Eugenics, Public Health & Educating the Public, 1900-1925
Ted Supalla, Professor, Department of Neurology, Georgetown University Medical Center
Understanding American Sign Language as Heritage Language
Brian Greenwald, Director, Schuchman Deaf Documentary Center, Gallaudet University
Push Back: Deaf Advocacy & Regaining Liberties, 1928-1948
4:45-5:45 pm Pre-keynote Reception
6-7 pm – Keynote Address: Language Makes the Mind
Language acquisition creates our emotional and intellectual worlds, allowing us to appreciate the value of communication strategies more fully, from American Sign Language to braille.
Sanjay Gulati, Harvard Medical School
Moderated by Laurie Block, Executive Director, Disability History Museum
Sunday, September 18
American Printing House
10:00am – 12:00 pm – Optional Tour of the American Printing House and AFB Helen Keller Archive
Sunday, September 18
Street Hall, Filson Historical Society
1-4:00 pm – What was Access? The Development of Assistive Technology
Leah Samples, Ph:D. Candidate, University of Pennsylvania
Blind Community Advocacy, Policy and Social Security, 1924-1940
Jannelle Legg, Assistant Professor in History, Gallaudet University
Visualizing Deaf Spaces
Frank Mondelli, Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow, UC Davis
Hearing Justice: Helen Keller in Japan
Moderated by Mara Mills, Co-Director NYU Center for Disability Studies
The Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind creates encounters with artifacts, images, and ideas that engage people with the history of literacy and learning for people who are blind or visually impaired and the role of the American Printing House for the Blind, changing their minds, attitudes, and actions.
For more information visit https://aphmuseum.org.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to our symposium program committee chaired by Laurie Block: Brian Greenwald, Jain Hutchison, Mara Mills, Sassie Outwater-Wright, Mike Rembis, and Graham Warder.
Accessibility services coordinated by Sonja Smith, University of Louisville American Sign Language Program.
Special thanks to the staff of the Filson Historical Society.
CART services provided by McLendon-Kogut Reporting Service, LLC.
ASL interpretive services provided by: Ahyicodae, Halene Anderson, Julie Buckham, Amanda David, Michelle Rinehart, DeeLayne McCoy, Annie Welch
Student Volunteers, University of Louisville: Rachael Durbin, Jordyn Greenwell, Maggie May
Audio-visual services provided by C&H Audio Visual Services
Catering by Divinity Fine Catering
Images from the AFB Helen Keller Archive courtesy the American Foundation for the Blind.