Sounds Like Home: Growing Up Black and Deaf in the South

by Mary Herring Wright, Joseph Christopher Hill (Introduction), Carolyn McCaskill (Introduction)

Overview

Originally published in 1999, Sounds Like Home adds an important dimension to the canon of deaf literature by presenting the perspective of an African American deaf woman who attended a segregated deaf school. Mary Herring Wright documents her life from the mid-1920s to the early 1940s, offering a rich account of her home life in rural North Carolina and her education at the North Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind, which had a separate campus for African American students. This 20th anniversary edition of Wright’s story includes a new introduction by scholars Joseph Hill and Carolyn McCaskill, who note that the historical documents and photographs of segregated Black deaf schools have mostly been lost. Sounds Like Home serves “as a permanent witness to the lives of Black Deaf people.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781944838584
Publisher:	Gallaudet University Press
Publication date:	09/30/2019
Edition description:	20th Anniversary Edition
Pages:	271
Sales rank:	534,083
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Joseph Hill is Assistant Professor of ASL and Interpreting Education at Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf.


Carolyn McCaskill is Professor of ASL and Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University.

Table of Contents

Note from the Publisher iii

Foreword v

Introduction to the Anniversary Edition vii

Part 1 A Bouquet of Roses

The Beginning: Home and Family 3

Iron Mine School Days 16

More Childhood Memories 25

Scary Times 44

Make Me a Child Again 51

Part 2 A New Kind of Life

The Nightmare Begins 69

The Train Ride to a New World 80

Home!! 98

Queen of the Fairies 108

The Old and the New 123

Changes, Worries, and Adventures 136

Coming of Age 146

Boys and Other Trouble 157

More Changes and a Difficult Decision 173

Accepted at Last 189

Graduation 206

From Student to Teacher 231

Goodbye, School Days! Hello, World! 246

Epilogue 253

Editorial Reviews

Praise for the first edition
“Precious few works have examined the intersection between race and disability…Sounds Like Home is a welcomed illustration of the quiet resolve and considerable accomplishments of working women of all colors and communities. Their efforts grace our lives forever; their stories only infrequently enrich our books.

Disability Studies Quarterly

"Wright’s first-hand account opens the door for discussions about the intersectionality of language, culture, and identity. It contributes to growing awareness regarding current gaps in identifying and implementing culturally responsive educational practices that deaf education and deaf studies are now seeking to fill. It also emphasizes the need for diversity among teachers who teach deaf children. Nugget: The intended audience is professionals, educators, and others who are interested in the intersectionality of being Black and deaf. Readers are likely to find commonalities in the roles that race, culture, and geography play in the lives of deaf children in the 1940s and currently in 2022."

Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education - Chidinma Amadi-Ihebuzor

I decided to write my story because I wanted my children to have a lasting document that chronicled my experiences growing up as a deaf person in Iron Mine, North Carolina. I also decided to write my story for my many deaf friends because my story, in many ways, is also their story.”
—From Mary Herring Wright’s Foreword to Sounds Like Home

From the Publisher

Wright tells of her experiences growing up as a deaf person in Iron Mine, North Carolina in the 1920s-1940s. Her account is historically significant because its provides valuable descriptive information about faculty and staff at a residential school for black deaf and blind students. She was involved in the school as both student and teacher, and gives details on curriculum, which included a Black History celebration. Includes b&w photos from family collections. Lacks a subject index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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