Nebraska School for the Deaf
| Nebraska School for the Deaf | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1869 |
| Closed | 1998 |
| Grades | K12 |
| Color(s) | Black and orange |
The Nebraska School for the Deaf, or NSD, was a residential school for Deaf students in kindergarten through Grade Twelve at 3223 North 45th Street in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded in 1869, the school closed in 1998. The school attracted national attention throughout its existence, first for controversial teaching practices and then for its closure.
The NSD was founded in 1869 by a deaf man named William DeCoursey French on 23 acres (93,000 m2) in North Omaha.
NSD was long a site for educational innovation. In 1893 the school's superintendent was cited for his commitment to encouraging teachers to use innovative techniques for classroom teaching, including gender integration and age-level isolation.
The Nebraska School for the Deaf basketball team was the first deaf school to have won an all-classes state championship in 1931, defeating teams from hearing schools to win the title. The team was coached by Nick Petersen, a graduate of the school.
In 1911 the school was the target of the Nebraska Legislature, which passed a bill that year that banned the use of American Sign Language at the school after intensive lobbying against the ban by the National Education Association and Alexander Graham Bell. Bell bankrolled the activities of an organization called the American Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf during this period. In 1911 school superintendent Frank Booth was quoted as writing in reference to American Sign Language, "That language is not now used in the school-room and I hope to do away with its use outside the school-room."
Using a rationalization that cited successes of the integrated style of combined signing and speech used in instruction at Gallaudet University, state legislators faced immediate opposition from students and alumni who argued for an identical system at NSD. After four years and several attempts to repeal Nebraska's law, there was no change, and the rule remained in force. Today this case is viewed as a rallying point for the deaf community in the United States.
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