Summer Speaker Series: Katie West: Becoming a Signing Islander

Join us for the final event in the Women of Chilmark lecture series,  “Katie West: Becoming a Signing Islander”, on Wednesday July 29, 4 pm with Professor Jody Cripps of Clemson University in American Sign Language (ASL) with a translator. The history of the deaf community in Chilmark is well-known, but what was the life of deaf residents actually like? In this lecture, Professor Jody Cripps of Clemson University, who has visited the Island many times to conduct research on the deaf community, will focus on the life of Katie West, the last known signer of Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language (MVSL) as well as introduce the audience to some of the unique signs of MVSL. Katie West’s house, on the corner of Beetlebung Farm, is now part of the Chilmark Public Library.  This program will be presented in American Sign Language with an interpreter.   https://www.clemson.edu/cah/about/facultybio.html?id=2224

The Women of Chilmark, lecture series is generously supported by Barbara Fish Lee and the Friends of the Chilmark Library.