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4
The SignWriter Newspaper
1981-1984
Fall, 1981 - Summer, 1984
The SignWriter Newspaper
was a 12 to 24 page newspaper,
published quarterly. It was
the first newspaper in history
to be written in the movements
of signed languages. Most articles
were written in two languages:
English and American Sign Language.
It was distributed free to Deaf
people in 41 countries.
Today's SignWriting publications
would not be the same, if it
were not for the research and
development done through the
publication of the SignWriter
Newspaper. The Newspaper
had historic influence on how
SignWriting is written today.
The first Deaf journalists
on the Newspaper staff were
pioneers. They were the first
group of Deaf adults to truly
become skilled at writing their
native language. At that time,
signed languages were not considered
"written languages".
It was a controversial idea
to "try to write signs",
and all who worked on the Newspaper
staff experienced resistance
to this concept, from both Deaf
and hearing people. New ideas
take time for acceptance, something
the staff had no choice but
to learn the hard way. But there
were many strong supporters
of SignWriting too. The Newspaper
was a catalyst for debating
the issue of Sign Language Literacy.
It was also a catalyst for
developing a way to type signs.
Below...
In 1981, there was no
way to type SignWriting.
Each issue of the SignWriter
Newspaper was
written by hand with ink pens....
Below...
...or wax symbols were
manually pressed on paper
with specially designed "transfer
sheets".
Below...
It took 3 months to write
one issue by hand.
The first issue, published
Fall, 1981,
was written by hand by Founding
Editor,
Nancy Ellen Woo (now Nancy Romero).
Nancy continued to write each
issue by hand
for several years. It was
tiring, painstaking work.
Below...
Lucinda Struxness (now
Lucinda Batch), was the first
Deaf
reporter to write articles
in American Sign Language.
A new profession began called
Sign Language Journalism.
Below Lucinda is joined by
other Newspaper staff members,
including (from left to right)
Kevin Struxness,
Dennis Schemenauer and illustrator
Frank Allen Paul.
Below...
Publisher Valerie Sutton
worked with Meriam Ina Schroeder,
Assistant Editor, on the newspaper's
layout and design
 .
Below...
Managing Editor, Susan
Diamond Bucher,
edited each Sign Language
article,
working with Deaf reporters
on writing
American Sign Language grammar.
Below...
Dennis Schemenauer and
illustrator Frank Allen Paul
created a cartoon strip written
in SignWriting.
Below...
Vicki Santillanes wrote
a "Dear Vicki" column
in American Sign Language,
answering questions from the
Deaf Community.
Below...
History was made when
articles were written in four
languages:
1. Danish Sign Language (DSL)
2. American Sign Language
(ASL)
3. English and 4. Danish...
Below...
Publication ceased in
1984 because it
was too much work to write
the newspaper by hand.
In 1986, just two years later,
the SignWriter
Computer Program,
programmed by Richard Gleaves,
changed history.
Finally SignWriting could
be typed!
The SignWriter Newspaper resumed
publication as
the SignWriter Newsletter
in 1989, typed by computer.
Since 1996, the SignWriter
Newsletter has been posted
regularly on the World-Wide-Web.
You can read the latest
issue on the SignWriting
Web Site...
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