Online Exhibit: Deafness in Disguise

Washington University Bernard Becker Medical Library is pleased to announce receipt of funding from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act administered through the Missouri State Library. The funds are to be used to undertake a retrospective metadata project for the "Deafness in Disguise: Concealed Hearing Devices of the 19th and 20th Centuries" digital exhibit. The digital exhibit traces the evolution of hearing devices from the Central Institute for the Deaf-Max A. Goldstein Historic Devices for Hearing Collection at Washington University Bernard Becker Medical Library that were disguised as everyday items during the 19th and 20th centuries and includes illustrations, photographs and patents.

The collection, founded by Max A. Goldstein (1897-1941), a St. Louis otologist and founder of Central Institute for the Deaf (CID), contains over 350 hearing devices dating from 1796 and represents one of the largest collections in the world. Associated with the collection is archival material pertaining to hearing devices dating from the 18th century including photographs, illustrations, advertisements and patents. Inspiration for the "Deafness in Disguise" digital exhibit was derived from Max Goldstein's words, "Such a collection should serve a more dignified and useful purpose than simply that of an exhibit of the many curious forms and devices created to exemplify the ideas of inventors." "Deafness in Disguise" can be viewed at http://beckerexhibits.wustl.edu/cid/index.htm.

Bernard Becker Medical Library will also include new digital images of hearing devices and archival material to commemorate the new ownership of the collection by the Becker Library, effective August 2003. The enhancement of the "Deafness in Disguise" digital exhibit is the first in a series of steps to promote the collection with eventually digitizing the hearing device collection in its entirety.

For more information please contact Barbara Halbrook at 314.362.2786 or halbrookb@msnotes.wustl.edu.