[Around 1912-1913 the National Association of the Deaf made a series of films showing various aspects of deaf culture - jokes, speeches, anecdotes, songs in sign. These aren't the oldest sign language movies around - Edison made one around 1907 of a woman signing the Star-spangled Banner, but they are certainly the most interesting of the old ones. The full person comes across even though there is no sound - we have J. B. Hotchkiss telling us directly of life in Connecticut before the Civil War.

Other interesting sign movies were made before talkies came in, sometimes by amateurs. In Chicago, where I used to live, in the 1920s a deaf man got into a discussion with his friend, the story goes, about whether during the winter in Chicago, it stays warm down south. They decided to find out for themselves. They took a camera, and along their route they located deaf people in each city, inviting them out of their house or their shop for an interview on the street. The pair must have been well to do, because when they got to Florida, they continued on to Havana, and recorded life there.

The speech below is from the National Association of the Deaf film, c. 1913. The last sentence is well-known and often quoted. A mimeo version of the translation was circulated without a name or date -- I think it came from Ted Supalla and Elissa Newport. The translation below is influenced by this one, but not the same. (The English wording is changed somewhat - I wouldn't question their views on the original meaning.) Thanks to Ted and Elissa, but if I'm wrong about the earlier source, I'd like to learn about that.

Vedtiz was the head of the deaf school in Colorado. His signing is very dignified and rhetorical. He never mouths the words. There are many great signers in the old NAD movies, but Ella Lentz chooses this speech as her favorite and no wonder. His idea that American Sign Language would deteriorate unless it was put it on movies turned out to be wrong, fortunately.]

Friends and fellow deaf mutes,

The French deaf people love de L'Epée. Each year on the occasion of his birthday, they gather for banquets and festivities to express their joy that this man came to be born here on this earth. They go to his gravesite in Versailles, and decorate it with flowers and wreaths, to show their respect for his memory.

They love him because he was their first teacher, but they love him the more because he was the true father and inventor of their beautiful signs.

For the past 33 years, the French deaf people have looked on, their eyes swelling with tears, their hearts broken, as this beautiful language of signs has been barred from their schools. For the past 33 years, they have pushed, struggled and fought to reinstate it in their schools, but for the past 33 years, their teachers have kept it out, refused their pleadings, preferred to listen to incompetent, hard-hearted people who think they know all about teaching the deaf. But these people know nothing about their thoughts, spirit, feelings wants and needs.

The same has happened in Germany. The German deaf people, the French people watch at us American deaf with jealousy in their eyes, look at us like a prisoner shackled down in leg-irons would look at someone outside who is free to travel around. They admit freely that American deaf people are superior to them in intelligence, in spirit, in success in the world and in happiness. And to what, do they admit, this superiority is due? One thing: we permit the use of signs in our schools. The French deaf attribute their inferiority to one thing: lipreading is required for teaching in their schools. Fingerspelling has been systematically banished; signs have been systematically banished.

But we American deaf people are fast approaching bad times for our schools. False prophets are arising, spreading the word that our American way of teaching the deaf is all wrong. These men are trying to convince people that the oral method is the true and single best way for teaching the deaf. But we American deaf people know, the French deaf people know, the German deaf people know, that the oral method is the poorest way.

Our beautiful language of signs is quickly beginning to show the results of their efforts. They are trying to cast out signs from the schools, from the churches, from the world. And our signs our deteriorating. The signs of the masters long ago, the Peets, the Dudleys, the Elys, the Ballards, are fast diminishing and disappearing. We love those men of long ago. They were masters of precise signs. They used signs only, and we could understand them.

But fortunately we have several masters of our sign language still with us. Edward Miner Gallaudet, who learned from his father Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, and several others, Dr. John B. Hotchkiss, Dr. Edward Allen Fay, R. P. MacGregor, are with us still. And we want to preserve our signs as those men used them, to keep them and to pass them on to future generations.

Many men now living learned their signing from men such as these. Many have tried to keep the signs and pass them on, but I know one way to pass them on: through moving pictures. In fact, our National Association of the Deaf has gathered funds, $5,000 dollars, for that purpose. We have several motion pictures, with Gallaudet, Fay, Hodgkiss and Macgregor, to pass on. I'm sorry we don't have $20,000, for we could use it all. If we had that money we could have drama in sign, sermons in sign, speeches in sign, and it would not only be the American deaf who would benefit from this, but deaf far away in Germany, in England, in France, in Italy, who would see these moving pictures, see these films. Fifty years from now these motion pictures would be priceless.

A new race of pharaohs that knew not Joseph, is now seizing control in many of our American schools. They do not understand sign because they themselves cannot sign. They proclaim that signs are worthless, of no help to the deaf. Enemies of sign language, they are enemies of the true welfare of the deaf.

We need these films to preserve and pass on our beautiful signs. As long as there are deaf people on earth there will be signing. And as long as we have our films, we can preserve our beautiful signs in their old purity.

I hope we will all love and protect our beautiful sign language, the noblest gift that God gave to the deaf.

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SPEECH in pseudo-coding of ASL

FRIENDS AND F-E-L-L-O-W D-E-A-F M-U-T-E-S

FRENCH DEAF LOVE D-E L-E-P-E-E//

YEAR-YEAR-YEAR HAPPEN HIS BIRTH DAY ARRIVE

[YEAR is an A, circling around then coming down on top of an open B hand.]

THEMSELVES GATHER-TOGETHER GO B-A-N-Q-U-E-T-S EAT EAT EAT FESTIVITIES//

[FESTIVITIES: hands come from the sides of the mouth, fingers wiggling]

SHOW THEMSELVES HAPPY THAT MAN BORN ON HERE EARTH//

[HAPPY, tap twice on left side of chest with B hand.]

[BORN is like the sign BABY but moving both hands forward]

THEMSELVES (REPEATED WITH BOTH HANDS) THEMSELVES (SWEEP) TRAVEL

[TRAVEL with V's]

TO HIS DEATH-GRAVE V-E-R-S-A-I-L-L-E-S//

PUT-PUT-PUT FLOWERS GREEN WREATH GRAVE//

[WREATH with C-hands]

SHOW RESPECT FOR HIS MEMORY//

THEMSELVES LOVE HIM BECAUSE HIMSELF THEIR FIRST TEACHER//

[LOVE is open hands on the right side of chest, one over the other. YEAR is an A, circling around then coming down on top of an open B hand. TEACHER: TEACH-TEACH, then BODY sign: B hands move down sides of body. ]

BUT THEMSELVES LOVE MORE BECAUSE HIMSELF TRUE FATHER INVENTOR

[MORE is done placing one hand on top of the other. FATHER is done with both hands, one at forehead the other below, then they move up to the sky, then the BODY sign.]

THEIR BEAUTIFUL SIGNS//

FOR YEAR YEAR 33 UP-TO-NOW

THOSE FRENCH DEAF SEE WITH EYES FULL TEARS WITH HEART BROKE

[HEART is a circle on the left with an open-8 hand.]

THAT BEAUTFIUL L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E O-F S-I-G-N-S REMOVED FROM THEIR SCHOOLS//

YEAR YEAR 33 UP-TO-NOW

THEMSELVES TRY STRUGGLE FIGHT FOR AGAIN SET-UP SCHOOLS//

BUT YEAR YEAR 33 UP-TO-NOW THEIR TEACHER REMOVE-AND-CAST-ASIDE//

SAY-NO THEIR BEGGINGS

BUT ENJOY BETTER LISTEN TO WORTHLESS HEAR-HARD PEOPLE

THINK KNOW ALL ABOUT TEACH DEAF//

[In ALL, the hands move symmetrically.]

BUT KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THEIR THOUGHTS

[NOTHING comes from the mouth]

AND SPIRITS FEELINGS WANTS NEEDS//

LIKE THAT IN THERE GERMANY

GERMANY DEAF PLUS FRENCH DEAF

[PLUS is tapped twice.]

LOOK-UP-TO US AMERICAN DEAF WITH EYES JEALOUS//

THEMSELVES LOOK-UP-TO US LIKE SOMEONE PRISONER LOCK SHACKLE-ON-LEG

LOOK-UP-TO SOMEONE OUTSIDE FREE WALK-AROUND//

THEMSELVES FREE ADMIT AMERICAN DEAR

SUPERIOR THAN THEMSELVES IN INTELLIGENCE IN SPIRIT

[SUPERIOR inferior/superior A hands on right or left side, highand low]

IN SUCCESS WORLD IN HAPPINESS//

AND THEMSELVES ADMIT THAT SUPERIORITY OWE THANSK TO WHAT? ONE THING

WE LET-LET USE SIGN IN OUR SCHOOLS//

[In WE, the finger starts pointing downward, and points downward during most of the semicircle. OUR is palm points outward during part of semicircle]

THEMSELVES FRENCH DEAF BASE INFERIOR ON ONE THING

LIPREADING REQUIRE TEACH IN THEIR SCHOOLS//

REMOVE REMOVE FINGERSPELL REMOVE REMOVE SIGN//

BUT WE AMERICAN DEAF QUICK APPROACH SOMETHING BAD TIME FOR OUR SCHOOL//

[What we might call SOMEONE or SOMETHING, he uses as the article A, the index finger, 1, circled.]

[In OUR, palm points outward during part of the semicircle.]

F-A-L-S-E P-R-O-P-H-E-T-S COME-UP

THAT INFORM PEOPLE OUR AMERICAN HOW TEACH DEAF ALL WRONG//

THOSE MEAN TRY TEACH TEACH PEOPLE BELIEVE

ORAL METHOD TRUE ONE BEST HOW TEACH DEAF, TRUE ONE//

BUT WE AMERICAN DEAF KNOW, FRENCH DEAR KNOW, GERMAN DEAF KNOW

TRUE ORAL O-R-A-L M-E-T-H-O-D POOREST//

[POOREST is POOR with A hand rising, brushing side of other A hand.]

OUR BEAUTIFUL L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E O-F S-I-G-N-S

FAST BEGIN SHOW RESULT THEIR EFFORT-EFFORT//

[RESULT: R comes out of O hand and makes a semicircle in a vertical plane.]

THEMSELVES TRY ABOLISH SIGNS

FROM SCHOOL, FROM CHURCH FROM EARTH THROW AWAY TRY-TRY//

[In CHURCH, base hand is held vertical, bottom of the C hand touches first joint.]

SO OUR SIGNS DETERIORATE//

OLD LONG-AGO TIME MAST-ER THAT SIGN

[LONG-AGO is done with an A hand, twice over the right shoulder]

T-H-E P-E-E-T-S T-H-E D-U-D-L-E-Y-S T-H-E E-L-Y-S T-H-E B-A-L-L-A-R-D-S

QUICK GO-DOWN-DOWN DISAPPEAR//

AND WE LONG-AGO LOVE THOSE MEN//

THEMSELVES MASTER THAT SIGN PRECISELY//

[PRECISELY: P's symmetrically circle in front.]

THEMSELVES CAN SIGN ONLY, WE UNDERSTAND CAN//

BUT HAPPY WE HAVE SEVERAL MASTER

[MASTER: right B-hand palm down, circles wide over left B, palm down. ]

OUR S-I-G-N L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E STILL WITH US//

E-D-W-A-R-D M-I-N-E-R G-A-L-L-A-U-D-E-T E.M.GALLAUDET

LEARN FROM HIS FATHER T-H-O-M-A-S H-O-P-K-I-N-S G-A-L-L-A-U-D-E-T T.H.GALLAUDET

SEVERAL OTHERS DR J-O-H-N H-O-T-C-H-K-I-S-S HOTCHKISS

DR E-D-W-A-R-D A-L-L-E-N F-A-Y FAY

R P M-A-C-G-R-E-G-O-R MACGREGOR STAY WITH US//

[EMG is sign M left breast, then right; THG is Gallaudet College sign; Hotchkiss is H, cheek to chest; Fay is F twice upward off forehead, palm down; MacGregor is R tapped twice on chin.]

AND WE WANT KEEP SIGN LIKE THOSE MEN USE

KEEP PASS-ON (4X) FUTURE F-U-T-U-R-E G-E-N-E-R-A-T-I-O-N-S//

MANY MANY MEN NOW LIVE LEARN THEIR SIGN FROM MEN LIKE THOSE//

MANY MANY TRY KEEP PASS ON, BUT ONE KNOW HOW PASS ON ONE//

THROUGH M-O-V-I-N-G P-I-C-T-U-R-E-S//

TRUE OUR N-A-T-I-O-N-A-L A-S-S-O-C-I-A-T-I-O-N O-F T-H-E D-E-A-F

GATHER F-U-N-D-S 5000 DOLLARS FOR THAT PURPOSE//

HAVE SEVERALMOTION PICTURES GALLAUDET FAY HODGKISS MACGREGOR

SEVERAL PASS-ON//

I SORRY WE NOT HAVE 20 THOUSAND DOLLARS

[20: L to closed G moves across front space left to right.]

WE CAN USE THAT ALL//

WE HAVE THAT MONEY, WE CAN DRAMA IN SIGN

[DRAMA, like present day sign for GYM.]

PREACH(3x) IN SIGN LECTURE(3x) IN SIGN//

AND NOT ONLY WE AMERICAN DEAF GET HELP FROM THAT ONLY

BUT DEAF IN THERE GERMANY IN ENGLAND IN FRANCE IN ITALY

WILL SEE THAT MOVING PICTURES AND SEE F-I-L-M-S//

YEAR YEAR 50 FUTURE THAT MOTION PICTURE WILL BE P-R-I-C-E-L-E-S-S

ONE NEW R-A-C-E O-F P-H-A-R-O-A-H-S T-H-A-T K-N-E-W N-O-T J-O-S-E-P-H

NOW GRAB (3x) MASTER MANY OUR AMERICAN SCHOOL//

THEMSELVES NOT UNDERSTAND SIGN BECAUSE THEMSELVES CAN'T SIGN//

ANNOUNCE SIGNS NOTHING HELP DEAF NOTHING//

E-N-E-M-I-E-S O-F S-I-G-N L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E, T-H-E-Y A-R-E

E-N-E-M-I-E-S O-F T-H-E T-R-U-E W-E-L-F-A-R-E O-F T-H-E  D-E-A-F//

WE NEED THAT VARIOUS FILMS FOR KEEP PASS-ON (3x) OUR BEAUTIFUL SIGN//

A-S L-O-N-G A-S HAVE DEAF ON EARTH WE WILL HAVE SIGNS//

AND A-S L-O-N-G A-S HAVE OUR FILMS

WE WILL CAN PRESERVE OUR BEAUTIFUL SIGNS

IN THAT THEIR OLD P-U-R-I-T-Y

I HOPE WE ALL WILL LOVE GUARD OUR BEAUTIFUL S-I-G-N L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E

T-H-E N-O-B-L-E-S-T G-I-F-T  THAT GOD GAVE TO THE DEAF//