John Flournoy
Encyclopedia
John J. Flournoy a graduate of the American School for the Deaf
, is best remembered as an advocate for a deaf state.
According to Jack Gannon's, Deaf Heritage: A Narrative History of Deaf Americans, Flournoy proposed that deaf people obtain a government land grant to establish a colony "where all of its citizens would be deaf and the chief means of communication would be sign language
." Flournoy's proposals were not widely accepted even among deaf leaders of the day. Most argued that such a colony could not flourish because of the low percentage of deaf children born to deaf parents. Flournoy was also a driving force in the creation of the Georgia School for the Deaf and a proponent of a national college for the deaf.
American School for the Deaf
The American School for the Deaf is the oldest permanent school for the deaf in the United States. It was founded April 15, 1817 in Hartford, Connecticut by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc and became a state-supported school in 1817.-History:...
, is best remembered as an advocate for a deaf state.
According to Jack Gannon's, Deaf Heritage: A Narrative History of Deaf Americans, Flournoy proposed that deaf people obtain a government land grant to establish a colony "where all of its citizens would be deaf and the chief means of communication would be sign language
Sign language
A sign language is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns to convey meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's...
." Flournoy's proposals were not widely accepted even among deaf leaders of the day. Most argued that such a colony could not flourish because of the low percentage of deaf children born to deaf parents. Flournoy was also a driving force in the creation of the Georgia School for the Deaf and a proponent of a national college for the deaf.