The Invention of Miracles: Language, Power, and Alexander Graham Bell’s Quest to End Deafness (Simon & Schuster, 2021)

Please join us on Thursday, September 23, at 5 p.m. Eastern, for a 2021 History Book Festival virtual event with Katie Booth, author of The Invention of Miracles: Language, Power, and Alexander Graham Bell’s Quest to End Deafness (Simon & Schuster, 2021). Booth will be in conversation with Feta Fernsler. This event is free but registration is required.

This presentation is co-sponsored by the Delaware Association of the Deaf, Deaf Outreach, Inc., and Epworth United Methodist Church.

About the book
Many think of Alexander Graham Bell as the inventor of the telephone, but as the son of a deaf woman (and, later, husband to another), his goal in life from adolescence was to teach deaf students to speak. He became a leading advocate for the oralist movement, which valued teaching deaf students how to speak English verbally and shunned the use of American Sign Language — in spite of growing evidence that this led to the detriment of all other learning, causing not only stalled development, but also social isolation. The author describes the harm that many people, including her grandparents, experienced as a result of Bell’s movement to stamp out ASL and explains how the deaf community reclaimed their once-forbidden language.

About the author
Katie Booth, who was raised in a mixed hearing/deaf family, teaches writing at the University of Pittsburgh. She spent more than 15 years researching this book, poring over Bell’s papers, Library of Congress archives, and the records of deaf schools around America.

Feta Fernsler, president of the Delaware Association of the Deaf, will be in conversation with Katie Booth during the event. He works as a job coach for the Delaware Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and the Delaware Division of Developmental Disabilities Services; serves as a mentor for families with newborns identified as deaf or hard of hearing; and manages the Delaware Relay telecommunications system.

How to attend the online event
All registered attendees will receive a follow-up email from “LibCal” with Zoom log-in information. If you don’t receive this email after registering, please check your SPAM folder. If you still can’t locate the email, please contact info@historybookfestival.org.

Purchase the book
Please help support local independent bookstores by purchasing this book at Browseabout Books, official bookseller of the History Book Festival. Online sources and digital versions are tempting; however, supporting local brick and mortar shops helps to preserve our vibrant main streets. Drop by Browseabout, order books online, or call the store at 302-226-2665. You also may purchase a copy at biblion in Lewes. Each copy purchased comes with a signed archival bookplate.

About the Festival
With the help of our presenting sponsors—Delaware Humanities and The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices I Gallo Realty—as well as our community partners and volunteers, the 2021 History Book Festival will, once again, be full of great discussions online with authors of newly published narrative nonfiction and historical fiction.

Our 2021 Festival will follow last year’s format: allowing you to bring history home—and stay safe! We are extremely grateful for the virtual venue and assistance in event promotion provided by the Lewes Public Library, in conjunction with the Delaware Division of Libraries and Sussex County Libraries.