This is True®
by Randy CassinghamRandy Cassingham's Honorary Unsubscribe Recognizes the Unknown, the Forgotten and the Obscure People who Had an Impact on Our Lives
William Stokoe Jr
Copyright 1998-2012 ThisisTrue.Inc, all rights reserved. May not be copied or archived without express, prior, written permission. "This is True" is a registered trademark of ThisisTrue.Inc, Ridgway Colorado. 3615
In 1955 Stokoe, a linguist, became fascinated with American Sign Language, the language of the deaf, when he went to teach English at Washington DC's Gallaudet University. At the time, deaf students were expected to learn from writing and lip reading. Long thought to be simple gestures that mimicked spoken English, when Stokoe watched students communicate among themselves by signing he realized ASL was a language unto itself, with its own vocabulary and grammar. In 1960, his book Sign Language Structure was published, and four years later he co-wrote A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles. These new scholarly studies gave ASL new respect, and ended its banishment in schools for the deaf. Stokoe died April 4 at home in Chevy Chase, Md. He was 80.
From This is True for 9 April 2000
About the HUs
About This is TrueSubscribe Free
to This is TruePrev: Pioneering journalist June Anderson Almquist
Next: Aeronautical engineer Richard S. Shevell