"During the early nineteenth century, American schools for deaf education regarded sign language as the "natural language" of deaf people, using it as the principal mode of instruction and communication. These Schools inadvertently became the seedbeds of an emerging Deaf community and culture. But by mid-century, an oralist movement developed that sought to suppress sign language, removing Deaf teachers and requiring deaf people to learn speech and lip reading.

Historians have all assumed that in the early decades of the twentieth century oralism triumphed overwhelmingly." "Susan Burch shows us that everyone has it wrong; Deaf students, teachers, and staff consistently and creatively subverted oralist policies and goals within the schools. Ultimately, the efforts to assimilate Deaf people resulted in fortifying their ties to a separate Deaf cultural community.".

"In Signs of Resistance, Susan Burch persuasively reinterprets early twentieth century Deaf history. Using community sources such as Deaf newspapers, memoirs, films, and oral (sign language) interviews, Burch shows how the Deaf community mobilized to defend sign language, increased its political activism, and clarified its cultural values. In the process, a collective Deaf Consciousness, identity, and political organization were formed."--BOOK JACKET.