Douglas D Bahl

Douglas D Bahl

I am deaf and attended Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf from kindergarten through 12th grade. I also attended Gallaudet University for Bachelor’s Degree in Government and University of Minnesota for Master’s studies in Deaf Education.I am now serving as the Chairperson of Minnesota Deaf History Committee initiated by the Minnesota Association of Deaf Citizens in 2010. I am also involved with a team to write a published historical book on the 150th anniversary celebration of Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf (MSAD) 1863-2013. The book will be released during its 150th anniversary celebration in the fall of 2013.
I am now the Chairperson of ASL Studies and Interpreter Training Program at St. Paul College and have taught these ASL and ITP classes at St. Paul since 1990. I also taught high school Social Studies and English at my alma mater, Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf from 1976 to 1990. I was on the full spring semester sabbatical leave to teach English and ASL as second language at the Norwegian Deaf Folk High School in Aal from January to May, 2011. I was president of Minnesota Association of Deaf Citizens from 1989 to 1999 and was appointed by the City Council of Faribault to serve on Faribault Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) for two three-year terms. With my involvement on this HPC, we succeeded in nominating three houses designed by Olof Hanson, Deaf Architect on the National Register of Historic Sites.
I am now on Charles Thompson Memorial Hall Board of Trustees. Again we succeeded in getting this Deaf clubhouse designed by Olof Hanson on the National Register of Historic Sites! I also served as President on Deaf History International from 2006 to 2010. I have done many workshop presentations in the past 25 years. These workshops range from all-day events to keynote and one-hour breakout sessions at the local, state, national and international levels.

Minnesota Celebrates Our Deaf Heritage, Invest in our Future

Last year’s long journey of planning this campaign involved guidance and collaboration with Minnesota Historical Society (MHS), Minnesota Digital Library, and Oral Historians. We successfully received three grants for our three different projects being done by our own Minnesota Deaf Community with help from Minnesota Commission Serving Deaf, Deafblind, & Hard of Hearing Persons (MCDHH).
With the support of a Legacy Grant from MHS, Charles Thompson Memorial Hall, Minnesota Association of Deaf Citizens, and MCDHH worked together with a professional consultant, William Stark, to prepare and complete an official nomination to put Charles Thompson Memorial Hall, our local deaf clubhouse, which was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 22, 2011.
We also received another grant from the State library to archive historical documents including old photos and documents of three contributing partner organizations scanned, digitalized and archived. The collections are made public on the Minnesota Reflections website. The estimated value of this project is close to $20,000. Some examples will feature photos of daily life, formal portraits, handwritten and printed documents, all recounting the story of Minnesota’s Deaf Community.
The third one was a $64,100 grant from MHS to collect the oral histories of deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing people in Minnesota! Through this project, we hope to increase awareness about the historical contributions of the deaf community, improve understanding of discrimination against the community and heighten MHS’s incorporation of this community into the society’s general scope of work.
I will share with the participants through the step by step process of last year’s long journey. Participants will then leave with a blueprint for how this same process can be applied and achieved within their home state.