Clerc Gallaudet Week, December 3-10

This annual event began in the first full week of December 1974.  It was then called Deaf Awareness Week.  The Martin Luther King Jr Memorial Library in Washington, DC, first launched it and was proclaimed by what we called today, D.C. Mayor.
Today the public globally observe the two International Days during the week as we in America also celebrate birthday anniversaries of two first visionary leaders in the field of American deaf education, Laurent Clerc and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet.  Clerc (Dec 26, 1785 – July 18 1869) and Gallaudet (Dec 10, 1787 – Sept 10, 1851)

Thomas H. Gallaudet

Laurent Clerc

illustrations by Ruth Peterson

Indigenous Peoples’ Day  
The US President Joseph R. Biden Jr just proclaimed October 11, 2021 as Indigenous People's Day.  He encouraged  everyone to celebrate it annually recognizing Indigenous communities and cultures that make up our great nation.   

What is the Sign for indigenous people? 
https://www.handspeak.com/word/search/index.php?id=5522

Indigenous people used Indian sign language for centuries. In 1816, Laurent Clerc brought from Paris to Hartford, CT the French sign system later morphed native sign languages. The result: American Sign Language.

International Days Adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations General Assembly
https://www.un-ilibrary.org/content/periodicals/24120898
December 3.  International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Since 1992.
December 10.  Human Rights Day, Since 1948

Deaf History: District of Columbia
The District of Columbia Department on Disability Services (DDS) is committed to providing high quality services that enable people with disabilities to lead meaningful and productive lives as vital members of communities in every neighborhood in the D.C. https:/dds.dc.gov/page/dds-who-we-are          

The District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) was created by an act of Congress in 1896-28 years after the 16th US President Lincoln signed the charter on April 8, 1864, enabling the Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and Blind (now Gallaudet University) to confer college degrees.

In late March 1976, the DCPL created a position, the first of its kind in the world, Librarian for the Deaf.  The rest is history.