Nebraska School for the Deaf

Founded in 1869, the Nebraska School for the Deaf (NSD) in Omaha was an integral part of the Deaf community. Like many Deaf schools in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the NSD had to make a hotly debated decision about which method—manualism or oralism—was best suited for Deaf students. With manualism, students were taught sign language, and with oralism, students were taught to read lips and speak. Both were used and taught in the school’s curriculum until, in May 1911, Nebraska Gov. Charles Aldrich signed a law banning manualist curriculum. Complying with the law, the NSD joined the 40% of deaf schools in the United States at the time who only taught oralism; by 1918, the portion had risen to 80%. The prohibition resulted in a disadvantage to the students, who overwhelmingly preferred and were more successful with manualism.

Although sign language was banned from classrooms, students and faculty continued using manualism during extracurricular activities. In 1970, the NSD slowly began reincorporating sign language back into their classrooms; this was seven years before the Nebraska legislature repealed the 1911 law. In 1998, the 23-acre campus closed due to low enrollment.