Archives & Distinctive Collections

In 1975, Mary Garland, a Deaf woman, gave a box of old materials about Deaf Catholics to Joseph Bruce, then a Deaf Jesuit novice. These materials included news clippings, photographs, newsletters, reports and minutes of meetings relating to the Deaf Catholic community. Very quickly, other pastoral workers assigned to Deaf ministry all over the US and Canada began sending their newsletters to Mr. Bruce. The collection grew significantly in 1977 when, on a visit to Canada, Sr. Elizabeth Kass, S. P. gave Mr. Bruce several boxes of newsletters written in English that were going to be destroyed if left in French Canada, pleading with him to return with them to the US to preserve them. By 1985, the collection had grown to 15 file cabinets that traveled with the now Rev. Bruce (ordained a priest in 1981) to his various assignments. The Deaf Catholic Archives (DCA) collection was donated to the Archives and Distinctive Collections at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA in 1990.

Today, the DCA provides insight into the history of Deaf culture as well as an understanding of how Deaf Catholics practice their faith (culturally) in new ways, when traditional methods are insufficient. The DCA includes a wide variety of materials such as newsletters, scrapbooks, periodicals, conference material, publications, photographs, ephemera, books, and audiovisual recordings from parishes, Catholic schools for the Deaf, regional organizations for Deaf Catholics, and other institutions across the globe.

Digitization of key components of the DCA is underway. This project is supported by a Digitizing Hidden Collections grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The Deaf Catholic Archives (DCA) collection includes magazines, newsletters, scrapbooks, ephemera, and convention information from the International Catholic Deaf Association; magazines and convention information from the National Catholic Office for the Deaf; local newsletters from hundreds of dioceses in the US, Canada, and internationally; Sign Language books, Bibles, glossed readings, and videos of Biblical stories in ASL (American Sign Language). There are also religious education materials, including guidelines for teachers and materials for Deaf children and adults; yearbooks and newsletters from Catholic Schools for the Deaf; and other materials relating to the Deaf Catholic community and individuals and the pastoral care for Deaf and hard of hearing people. Additionally, there are books about Deaf Catholics and their history and culture. To view current offerings available online, visit the Deaf Catholic Archives in CrossWorks.

More in the DCA:

• International Deaf Catholic Association (ICDA)
  • ICDA News magazine
  • Deaf Catholic magazine
  • Unity in Love newsletter
  • Material from ICDA conventions
  • Material from ICDA regional conferences
  • Business Correspondences
• National Catholic Office for the Deaf (NCOD)
  • LISTENING (including several translated into Braille) and VISION magazines
  • Material from NCOD Pastoral Week conferences
• Periodicals for Deaf Catholics
  • National magazines
  • Local newsletters from dioceses in the US, Canada and internationally
• Sign Language items
  • Sign Language books by priests and nuns
  • Bibles adapted for the Deaf
  • Mass Readings, glossed for signing
  • Videotapes and DVDs of Biblical stories in ASL
• Teaching Faith Concepts
  • Materials for Deaf children
  • Materials for Deaf adults
  • Guidelines for teachers
• Catholic Schools for the Deaf
  • Yearbooks
  • Newsletters
• Other materials from:
  • International Catholic Foundation for the Service of Deaf Persons
  • International Catholic Deaf Clergy and Religious
  • Camp Mark 7
  • Dominican Missionaries for the Deaf
  • Knights and Ladies of de l'Épée Benefit Society
• Other material:
  • Books related to Deaf Catholics
  • Scrapbooks

The DCA is actively accepting donations!

If you have materials you believe may be appropriate for the collection, including physical or born-digital materials or other donations to enhance the collection, please contact us at deafcatholicarchives@holycross.edu. We will gladly evaluate the materials for addition to the collection. Our donation process includes signing a Deed of Gift form that allows us use of the donation, including adding it to the CrossWorks repository for public use online.

Materials can include anything relating to Deaf culture and communities and/or pastoral work with the Deaf that can be shared to visitors to the Archives and Distinctive Collections or digitally through CrossWorks, the institutional repository.

Rev. Joseph Bruce, S.J. is both founder and curator of the Deaf Catholic Archives. He was born in Malden, Massachusetts, growing up in Springfield, MA, where he attended Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, MA and Cathedral High School in Springfield before enrolling at Holy Cross in 1969.

During his years at Holy Cross, he was the only student who was Deaf. This was at a time before the many accommodations available today, and he often relied on his classmates to take notes on carbon paper purchased by his mother.

Rev. Joseph LaBran, S.J. was a beloved and charismatic figure on the Holy Cross campus who became a mentor to Fr. Bruce. Fr. LaBran even suggested that he consider the priesthood despite the Church not yet allowing the ordination of deaf priests.

After graduating from Holy Cross in 1973, Fr. Bruce received his M.S. in Special Education for the Deaf at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY before entering the Society of Jesus in September of 1974.