Kati Morton

Kati Morton graduated from Utah Valley University with a Bachelor’s degree in Deaf Studies. She recently received a Master’s Degree in Deaf Studies with an emphasis in Deaf History from Gallaudet University. She currently works as a Planning and Research Coordinator for the Program Development office at Gallaudet.

Alice Taylor Terry- Deaf Leader,
Writer and advocate, 1878-1950

This presentation will explain the work of Alice Taylor Terry, an American deaf woman who advocated for deaf people in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She went “beyond talk” as she fought for the rights of the deaf community.
Terry was born on May 19, 1878 in Missouri, became deaf at age nine and spent her life advocating for deaf people at a time when they dealt with challenges on multiple fronts, including education and their right to marry and have children. Terry advocated through leadership and writing regarding the issues of her time. She led the deaf community in California, becoming the first female president of the California Association of the Deaf in 1923. She also published in deaf newspapers throughout America, showing she had a voice in confronting discrimination experienced by deaf people during the early twentieth century.
Terry participated in multiple deaf organizations in California, including being president of the California Association of the Deaf. Her role in these organizations allowed Terry to have a voice in confronting issues deaf people faced and she had power in the California deaf community even though she was a woman. Furthermore, Alice Terry produced a substantial body of work, authoring over 100 known articles, with common hosts being The Silent Worker, The Jewish Deaf, and The Silent Broadcaster. These primary sources show her thoughts on issues facing the deaf community, with three of her most frequently discussed areas being oralism, eugenics, and the National Association of the Deaf (NAD). Terry exerted her voice across America in opposition to the events of the time, reflecting her discourse on the important issues occurring in the deaf community during the early 20th century.