A lot of people go to DC to see the regular tourist stuff like I did in 8th grade like the Smithsonian, Vietnam Memorial, Holocaust Museum, and Arlington National Cemetery.

However there is one blip that a lot of people miss or don’t know about D.C., that is this city is considered to be the center of deaf culture in the United States due to the proximity of a little University called Gallaudet, located in the Northeast corner just a few blocks behind Union Station.

Gallaudet is the world’s only four year liberal arts university for the deaf and hard of hearing, established in 1856, when Abraham Lincoln signed the school charter. (Ever since, the sitting president has signed the diplomas) It is known around the world in deaf circles, as the school to go to for inclusive college education, since all classes are taught in American Sign Language. Hearing people can attend the school, as graduate students, but as an undergraduate, a prospective student would have to show competence in American Sign Language before admittance, and are limited to majoring in Interpreting or Deaf Studies.

It has also been the center of controversy with the 1988 “Deaf President Now” protest, which lead the spark that helped get the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) get passed in congress, leading to many major reforms in the workplace and schools across the country.

It may seem like a small and insignificant little school, but its bell tower used to be the center piece of the town, waking up congress, letting them know it was time to head to their morning sessions. After Martin Luther King Jr. was shot, there were riots not that far from Gallaudet along H Street, where many wealthy shops and people lived, sought refuge on campus.  Since then, the area has become downtrodden; however there has been signs of that area coming back, due to the affluent moving away from Georgetown, are now realizing that area is becoming a good place to flip a house or two.

I personally would love to go visit DC, and Gallaudet, I have many friends in the area whom attended, and have kept me abreast of different events that has happened, such as the protest against ex-president elect Jane Fernandez (it began due to her amazingly bad leadership skills toward the staff and the students, the whole “she’s not deaf enough” is something she herself created) and the undefeated football team back in 2005 with the tearing down of the goal posts.

I would blog about the accessibility of different museums that DC has, and attend the biggest event they have every month, Deaf Professional Happy Hour, (DPHH) which takes place the first Friday on the month at a different venue each month, where on average 150 to 300 deaf people attend, that I would love to bring back to Milwaukee, and I need to meet the people that started it out there in DC, to find out how they did it.

I would also love to go and catch up with a few close friends that have left Milwaukee for the more deaf friendly DC, and hear about their travels, for one of my best friends, I have not seen her since she got back from Cameroon where she was over there helping to set up a school for the deaf.

I would love to go to DC just for a lovely long weekend, to see this great city once more, and to show onmilwaukee.com readers the great amazing underground deaf culture that lurks there!