Nebraska School for the Deaf (1869-1998)

The Nebraska School for the Deaf opened in Omaha in 1869, with families throughout the state sending their children from all over the state came to the boarding school. The school operated from 1869 to 1998.

The Nebraska School for the Deaf opened in 1869 and offered traditional academic courses along with carpentry, sewing, shoemaking, printing, and even knitting. The school changed over the next century in ways that reflected advances in deaf education. In the early 20th century, members of the Nebraska state legislature visited the school, and reflecting some of the ideas of educators, the legislature passed a bill banning the teaching of sign language to the deaf as an earnest but misguided attempt to encourage assimilation. Children continued to use sign language to communicate to one another, and some were forced to wear mittens and sit on their hands.

In the early 1960s teachers and students were changing their views on oralism in the classroom, and the new principal, George Thompson brought in ideas from deaf educators from all over the country. He reinstated the use of sign language, but some parents who wanted their children to talk and not sign were enrolled in the public school system, and the number of kids who were attending the Nebraska School for the Deaf dwindled every year as more were able to attend schools in their communities. In 1998, only 40 students enrolled for the next year, the school closed. The former school operated as an alumni center in the years that followed.

North Omaha History. “A History of the Nebraska School for the Deaf in North Omaha,” November 23, 2015. https://northomahahistory.com/2015/11/23/a-short-history-of-north-omahas-nebraska-school-for-the-deaf/.

Alec Webster. Deafness, Development, Literacy. Methuen & Co. Ltd, 1986.

“Nebraska School for the Deaf (U.S. National Park Service).” Accessed May 1, 2022. https://www.nps.gov/places/nebraska-school-for-the-deaf.htm.

The Unheard Journey of Deaf Nebraskans. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/de/series-media/non-series-video/the-unheard-journey-of-deaf-nebraskans-40175225/.

“NSDAA Home.” Accessed May 11, 2022. http://www.nsdaa1901.org/index.html.