29 May 2014

Research Blog 29 May 2014 - Reading, Researching and Planning

I talk about my  progress in the last while on my blog, including my first visit to PRONI and discovering files on Deaf Women Prisoners, as well as my upcoming presentations at the Deaf Village Ireland and the Kinghan Church, Belfast.



English transcription to follow...

15 May 2014

A Letter from an angry Deaf female workhouse inmate...

A letter from an angry Deaf female workhouse inmate.

[Source: 1906 Sep 29 - Dundalk Democrat]

I have met Anna Eakins before - both in the Irish Deaf History Archives and on RTE's 'Hands On' recently (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2w4PmegUvs).


Here we see another example of a poor Deaf woman dealing with a harsh institutional system - but with the benefit of a good education and impressive literacy.

01 May 2014

Out Of Sight – The Documentary

Out Of Sight – The Documentary

"Geoffrey has never had a mental disability. His family sent him to Meanwood Park Mental Hospital in Leeds because they couldn’t cope with his deafness. He didn’t get out again for 22 years."

This clip features the testimony of a Deaf man placed in a mental hospital.

"This collection of videos takes in Storthes Hall, Stanley Royd, Meanwood Park Colony, New Church Hospital, Carstairs and former service user experiences..  Documentary about the introduction of the Community Care Act in April 1993 and the closure of many of Britain's older mental hospitals. This report reveals how thousands of people, who were locked away in such institutions for long periods of their lives, were never mentally ill in the first place. They were incarcerated for being deaf or pregnant or simply unwanted, but, once committed they were automatically deemed insane, and had no way of escaping. Includes the personal testimonies of a number of victims of this cruel and outdated system."

A full transcript into English is at: http://www.meanwoodpark.co.uk/insight/out-of-sight-the-documentary/

Many thanks to Julie Wolfers for the link to this documentary.