Sound Off for Deaf Awareness

Celebrate the culture, heritage, language, and accomplishments of the deaf during Deaf Awareness Week, September 24–30.

Sculptor Douglas Tilden (1860–1935) lost his hearing and speech at age four, when a scarlet fever epidemic hit his boyhood home of Stockton, California. Educated at schools for the deaf and exhibiting an early talent for art, Tilden had a successful and productive career.

As a sculptor, Tilden received international recognition, was the designer of major public art in the San Francisco Bay area, and was described in his day as the "Father of Sculpture on the Pacific Coast."

Source: Grove Dictionary of Art Online at http://www.groveart.com.

Pictured: Douglas Tilden, 1860–1935, The Young Acrobat, modeled about 1891, bronze, 33 5/8 x 12 x 12 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dr. Wayne H. Decker.