The school founded by Carl Oscar Malm’s played a central part in the birth of Finnish sign language. Malm taught his pupils in sign language, which he had learned in Sweden. By late 19th century, the use of sign language had become widespread in the Finnish deaf community. This was the language described in the first Finnish sign language dictionary, which was completed in the 1910s. The language later continued to diverge into two distinct variants: Finnish and Finnish-Swedish sign language.

Early on, the sign community developed its own culture. Association powerhouse and sculptor Albert Tallroth conducted sign language choirs as early as in the 1890s. The performances were described as sign-language singing. The first theatre performances in sign language were seen at association events at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Deaf Culture Days have been organised since 1956.

Interest in the linguistic research of Finnish sign languages picked up at the end of the 1970s. The study showed that sign languages met the criteria for a natural language. At the same time, research into sign languages increased, the deaf awareness movement was born and the legal and societal status of sign language was improved. They opened deaf people important new opportunities to become a part of the academic community.

Education opportunities and associations allowed deaf people to come together. As a result, deaf people started to form more romantic relationships with one another than in previous years. The first known marriage between two deaf people took place in 1863, when Carl Oscar Malm’s students Fritz Hirn and Maria Klingenberg were married with the special permission of Emperor Alexander II. The couple’s example was soon followed by many others.

Deaf people mostly married each other, although some also begun relationships with hearing people. Partners were found where deaf people gathered together – at school, in connection with association activities, hobbies and later on social media. Love could even be found halfway around the world, as Finnish deaf people have always had close ties to the international community.

The eugenist Marriage Act of 1929 prohibited marriages between people who were deaf by birth, seeking to reduce the number of deaf people. Eugenics also led to the introduction of the sterilisation act in 1935, resulting in sterilisation of deaf women. Both of these laws seriously violated the human rights of deaf people.

Associations are hubs of deaf social life. They have always provided the community with a variety of different activities. Hobby clubs, sewing clubs, study groups and group events have brought deaf people together since the end of the 19th century. Deaf associations also established separate sports clubs. The 1920s saw the founding of a central organisation for these clubs, the Finnish Deaf Sports Federation.

Many associations also acquired holiday homes for their members to socialise and spend time in. Finnish Association of the Deaf founded its own course and holiday centre in Heinola in the 1960s. The new centre was named Malminharju (‘Malm’s ridge’) after Carl Oscar Malm, the father of the Finnish deaf education. During its busiest years, Malminharju received thousands of visitors, with various courses, meetings and holidays were organised in its facilities.

The sign language community is inherently international in nature. Even as early as during Carl Oscar Malm’s times, the Finnish community had close ties to Sweden, and many Finns also attended the first Nordic events for deaf people that were organised between them at the turn of the 19th century. Finns have remained active participants in international events and established extensive networks around the world.

The deaf organised early. The first association of the deaf was founded in Turku in 1886, and the national central organisation Finnish Association of the Deaf was established in 1905. Albert Tallroth, a pioneer of association activities, gave the community a motto: “Instead of waiting for the hearing to come to our aid, we deaf people must help ourselves.”

During the years, the various associations have advocated for the rights of deaf people in Finnish society. In the fundamental rights reform of 1995, the rights of sign language users were written into law, and the Sign Language Act followed roughly twenty years later. The Finnish Association of the Deaf has been an active member of the World Federation of the Deaf, and Finnish deaf people have held several important positions within the organisation.
In 2016, the Finnish Association of the Deaf proposed an investigation into the historical injustices committed against the deaf people and sign community in Finland. The process was kicked off with the project Viitotut muistot (‘signed memories’), which made visible the gruesome human rights violations that the community and its members had faced. The preparations for the truth and reconciliation process in cooperation between the Finnish government and the deaf and sign language community are still ongoing.

Deaf people were quite well placed in working life in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The teaching programmes of schools for the deaf always included activities that prepared pupils for handicraft professions. However, the first vocational schools for the deaf were not founded until the beginning of the 20th century. One of the most famous vocational schools was the Nikkarila home economics school in Pieksämäki.

A vocational school for the deaf was opened in 1948, and a lower secondary school started its operations twenty years later. However, higher education remained inaccessible to the deaf for a long time. Applying for further studies was made difficult by, among other things, the oralist teaching methods, as many deaf people could not read or write well enough.

From the 1980s onwards, the availability of sign language interpretation services has expanded deaf people’s academic and work opportunities. At the same time, they became more aware of their rights. University studies were organised in sign language for the first time at the University of Jyväskylä. However, deaf people still had to fight against discrimination and prejudice when applying for education and training or jobs.

This exhibition is about the history of the deaf in Finland, places that have been meaningful for the sign-language community and the history of Finnish and Finnish-Swedish sign language. At the museum, you can learn about the history of the deaf from the point of views of education, work, association activities, family life and free time.

The Finnish Museum of the Deaf was established in 1907 after a donation made by Fritz and Maria Hirn. The first exhibition of the museum opened eight years later on Rikhardinkatu in Helsinki. At the Light House in Helsinki, exhibitions have been held since 1987.

Only a small part of the collections of the Finnish Museum of the Deaf is on display at the exhibition. More material and information on the history of the deaf is available in the virtual museum at www.kuurojenmuseo.fi.

It is estimated that there were around 1,000–1,500 deaf people in Finland in the 19th century. They lived in different locations across Finland, often far away from each other. Porvoo school for the deaf was founded in 1846 by Carl Oscar Malm, who was deaf himself. It was the first place where deaf people could meet each other and learn a shared language. As more schools were founded in the 1860s, more and more deaf people were able to communicate with each other.

Until the mid-19th century, all lessons were held in sign language. Towards the end of the century, however, the teaching turned towards an oralist approach. For almost a hundred years, the use of sign language was forbidden in schools, and students only received instruction in oral language. However, even though oralism was dominant, sign language managed to survive, as children signed secretly to one another, thus learning the language.

Schools for the deaf were organised as boarding schools, meaning the students could only go home during holidays. The students often formed a tight-knit community, but living far away from home was not without its downsides. It was not until the 1970s before the municipalities started founding their own schools for the hearing impaired. These schools allowed the children to go home every day, so that they no longer had to be separated from their families for long periods.

It is thought that the first deaf associations were established in France. In the 1830s, a community was founded in Paris, which arranged annual festive dinners that attracted deaf people even from outside France. Gradually, deaf associations began to emerge in the course of the 19th century. In Finland, deaf people set up associations in the late 19th century and an umbrella organisation, the Finnish Association for the Deaf, was founded in 1905.

The goal of these associations was to improve the social situation of their members, but they also served as a place where deaf people could freely communicate in sign language. In the course of its century-long history, the Finnish Association for the Deaf has developed into a strong expert and advocacy organisation. It has carried out important work for equality and strengthening the status of sign language.

The central goal of the movement was equality and it wanted deaf people to be given the same rights, responsibilities and value as everyone else. For deaf identity, sign language played a central role and the movement wanted it to be recognised by the wider society. According to the movement, deaf people should be proud of their language, and they should feel as valuable as any other member of the society.

Deaf awareness highlighted matters that had already been discussed within the community but now these matters were formulated more clearly and presented in a more emphatic manner. The movement offered a new perspective from which all areas of life could be viewed, and the Association for the Deaf considered this when it set its goals. Deaf Awareness revolutionised the way deaf people saw themselves and their community because it focused on the deaf people and their needs rather than the demands of the surrounding society.