“Deaf and Dumb” 1910 Fed Pop Census
Per census instructions for 1910, a person who was deaf OR dumb should be left blank for that column. Only persons who were Deaf AND dumb were to be marked. My question is, what was the determining factor to decide weather a person was “dumb”, who made this decision and what qualifications did that person have to determine if someone was “dumb”?
Answers
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Lol nm... I just looked up the definition of dumb... I never knew it meant “temporarily unable or unwilling to speak”
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yes - pretty standard meaning in the 1800's
though in many sense it was a more permanent medical condition (such as from a stroke or from deafness)
the phrase "deaf and dumb" was very common
"dumb" in the "temporary sense" would be like the phrase
"I was struck dumb by his comments"
what terms have been acceptable for various human conditions have often changed from one century to the next - if not more often.
this brings to memory the interesting account of the deaf mute Lemuel Yancey
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well, it is very true - what peopel have been locked up for.
but on the other hand - dont assume that words had the same colloquial meaning they do today
deaf and dumb was a common term - that did not mean "stupid"
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ikr?!? That’s why I felt really stupid when I had to google the definition of “dumb” **** (see what I did there? Teehee 😜)
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I came across the term "deaf and dumb" today in my research
see the following page which you will probably need to zoom in on to read.
An artistic family tree - put together by an 11 year old boy who was deaf and dumb - but definitely not stupid.
the original was probably in color.
http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/john_brown_copp.jpg
also of interest are the many needlework samplers that we have collected
that were usually created by 7-12 year old girls
https://www.familysearch.org/photos/gallery/album/619702
we under estimate the capability of our young people.
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