Cover next page > title: Seeing Language in Sign : The Work of William C. Stokoe author

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Page he is a tough teacher. I prefer deaf instructors in the English Department. Stokoe just learned sign language. Why should I waste my time watching him sign slowly and stiffly" Some of the Gallaudet faculty members were also put off by Stokoe. His friendship with Detmold was a constant source of gossip on campus. Detmold remembers that "other faculty complained that I was spending all my time with Bill, and doubtless showing him favors that they did not receive. 'The captain dines alone' I know this, but was resolved not to run that lonely a ship, and I tried to keep my friendship with Bill in balance with my responsibilities to everyone else."15
Detmold's attempts to achieve a delicate balance were not entirely successful. Bob Panara, the deaf professor whose teaching and signing skills Stokoe so admired, recalls that Detmold and Stokoe "flaunted" their friendship:
George Detmold and William Stokoe made it a practice to go out to lunch practically everyday after around of tennis.
They were that close. And they were closemouthed about many things. At that time, Gallaudet was trying to get accredited and Detmold brought in many Ph.D.'s to teach, some of whom were in my department. We had to add many new courses in order to establish a bona fide English major "Beowulf" "Chaucer" 'Victorian Literature" "The Romantic
Period," and so forth. Who do you think was given the responsibility to teach these courses Yours truly, as I had the signing skills and had been attending Catholic University for my PhD. Yet George Detmold appointed William Stokoe as chairman of the departmentthe position that I had held until he arrived. Furthermore, William Stokoe . . . was not very competent, as he lacked sign communication skills.16
The man whose work empowered deaf people by demonstrating that they possessed a language and culture of their own, the man whose work helped spark the Deaf President Now movement, the man whose work ultimately expanded educational and employment opportunities for deaf people, took a job away from a deaf man. Bob Panara explains the circumstances at

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