STRONGER THAN EVER

Giclée Series

Introduction of Rick Rush's "Stronger Than Ever"

by Thomas Horejes

DEAF, Inc. is proud to present the nationwide tour of Stronger Than Ever, a commissioned giclée series that highlights the richness of Deaf culture—often unseen or misunderstood—while sharing a unified message: the Deaf community is Stronger Than Ever.

In 2012, world-renowned sports artist Rick Rush was commissioned to create a collage representing the mission of DEAF, Inc. and countless other Deaf-centered organizations. Although Rush was best known for his sports paintings, he embraced the opportunity to step outside his comfort zone. He worked closely with DEAF, Inc.’s leadership and engaged with many stakeholders across the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. Drawing from these experiences, Rush created a powerful piece that reflects diverse perspectives and lived experiences within Deaf culture.

Reflecting on the project, Rush shared that the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community today is truly Stronger Than Ever, thanks to organizations like DEAF, Inc. that continue breaking communication barriers every day.

To share this message broadly, DEAF, Inc. produced five giclées of Stronger Than Ever for permanent display at key locations across the country:

DEAF, Inc. — St. Louis, Missouri
Chapel Hall at Gallaudet University — Washington, D.C.
National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) — Rochester, New York
Alabama School for the Deaf — Talladega, Alabama
California School for the Deaf — Riverside, California

Through this nationwide presence, Stronger Than Ever continues to inspire pride, awareness, and connection within Deaf communities everywhere.

Rick Rush unviels the first giclee.

Rush discusses his goals

for the project

The Story Behind Stronger Than Ever

At the heart of this powerful artwork stands Greg Hlibok, one of the four student leaders of the 1988 Deaf President Now movement at Gallaudet University. Positioned on the steps of Chapel Hall, he addresses a sea of protesters, passionately signing that the Deaf community is stronger than ever — the message that inspired the title of this piece.

Watch Greg signing, "stronger..."

Rush talks about Greg Hlibok

Framing the artwork are two powerful symbols: the Statue of Liberty and Lady Justice. Together, they represent the enduring values of freedom and justice — ideals the Deaf community has long fought to secure. Their presence reflects the ongoing journey toward full participation in society, where Deaf individuals can access communication without barriers and live and work alongside hearing people as equals.

These figures remind us that the Deaf community’s movement has always been grounded in the universal pursuit of equality, dignity, and human rights.

In the background, towering mountains and bold vertical barriers symbolize the many challenges the Deaf community continues to face. These elements represent persistent communication barriers between Deaf individuals and the broader world — obstacles that often require interpreters, captioning, and other accessibility resources to ensure equal participation.

The mountains reflect both challenge and determination. While meaningful progress has been made, there are still peaks to climb and barriers to remove. This imagery serves as a powerful reminder that the journey toward full access, inclusion, and equality is ongoing — and that the Deaf community continues to rise, persevere, and move forward.

Rush reflects on the themes of “hurdles” and “mountains”

These two images highlight statues representing influential figures in the history of Deaf education in the United States. On the left stands Thomas Gallaudet, recognized as one of the earliest and most influential educators of Deaf children in America. On the right is President Abraham Lincoln, honored for signing the 1864 charter that established the National College for the Deaf and Dumb — now known as Gallaudet University.

Rush reflects on the significance of the statues

The sports symbols in this artwork honor Deaf athletes whose innovations reshaped baseball and football.

Major League player William “Dummy” Hoy helped inspire the adoption of visual hand signals in baseball — a system now used universally by umpires.

In 1894, Gallaudet University quarterback Paul Hubbard introduced the football huddle to keep signed play calls private — an innovation that became standard across the sport.

Together, these contributions reflect the lasting influence of Deaf athletes on America’s athletic history.

Dummy Hoy

Gallaudet Football Team

Rush reflects on sports culture

The banner shown here — reading “We Still Have a Dream” — was first used during Civil Rights marches led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and later adopted by Gallaudet University students during the 1988 Deaf President Now protest. Its message connected the fight for Deaf leadership and equality to the broader American pursuit of civil rights.

During this historic movement, the Deaf community on campus and across the nation united with remarkable strength and determination. Their solidarity affirmed a shared dream: equal representation, recognition, and the right to lead their own institutions.

The movement’s success empowered Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals across the United States and reinforced a powerful truth — the community was stronger than ever.

"We Still Have a Dream" banner

Rush reflects on the meaning of the banner

This image highlights the transformative power of education within the Deaf community. Through meaningful access to learning, Deaf individuals gain the tools to pursue their goals, overcome barriers, and move toward greater freedom and justice.

At the center stands the iconic Tower Clock of Chapel Hall at Gallaudet University — a lasting symbol of the institution’s role in educating, empowering, and preparing Deaf students for generations. It represents a legacy of knowledge, leadership, and opportunity.

Education remains one of the strongest forces for progress, continuing to shape a future in which the Deaf community can thrive.

Tower Clock of Chapel Hall

Rush reflects on the importance of Deaf education

This section presents a timeline of pivotal moments in Deaf history. Through his research, artist Rick Rush sought to honor the significant events that shaped the Deaf community — capturing milestones of achievement, struggle, and progress across generations.

The images within the timeline are explored in the next section, offering deeper insight into each historic moment. Together, they reveal a rich and powerful narrative that underscores the depth and lasting impact of Deaf history.

Deaf History Timeline Icons

Descriptions by Rick Rush

The Star of David at the beginning of the Deaf History Timeline is symbolic of what ideas from antiquity were concerning the deaf. The Torah stood for the protection of the deaf from being cursed by others. However, it did not allow them to participate in the rituals of the temple and had special laws concerning marriage and property. The ancient Talmud denied the deaf from having property rights.

The Alpha and Omega letters in the second icon of the Deaf History Timeline symbolize the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. They also represent what the Greeks believed about Deaf individuals. Aristotle claimed that Deaf people could not be educated because they were without hearing. Consequently, non-hearing people were thought unable to be taught and therefore unable to learn.

The third point in the Deaf History Timeline is also built on the Greek letters Alpha and Omega. These letters carry an additional reference to Christianity, with a cross layered atop them. Some early church leaders believed that the birth of Deaf children was a sign of God’s response to the sins of the mother and father. In contrast, Benedictine monks who could hear took vows of silence to enhance their communication with and honor of God by not speaking. These monks developed a system of signs to communicate during these periods of silence.

The next symbol in this Deaf History Timeline is the Italian flag stacked above the Spanish flag. It symbolizes Geronimo Cardano of Padua, Italy, a physician who made one of the first attempts to teach his Deaf son using a code of symbols. Cardano believed that symbols were the most effective way to teach his son to communicate.

Below the Italian flag is the Spanish flag, overlaid with the image of a monk or priest. In the late 1500s, around the same time Cardano was teaching his son, a Benedictine monk in Spain, Pedro Ponce de León, was having success teaching people who had been Deaf all their lives to speak. Although Cardano and Ponce de León did not have far-reaching impacts, their work during this period of Deaf enlightenment and progress encouraged Spanish priest Juan Pablo Bonet to write a book of alphabetic symbols used for communication. Bonet’s book of manual communicating signs, written around 1620, gained widespread attention and success.

After Bonet’s book was written in Europe around 1620, an unusual occurrence took place toward the end of the 17th century, around 1690, in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Icon number four depicts the oldest lighthouse on the island, symbolizing the Gay Head Lighthouse, which stood there beginning in 1799. The residents of Martha’s Vineyard developed their own sign language because nearly one-quarter of the island’s population was Deaf due to a hereditary hearing condition. This Deaf culture was prevalent in their villages from about 1690 until around 1880, to the point that sign language was used in many town meetings.

With the historical era of the Enlightenment came a significant period in Deaf history marked by the development of signs and symbols in Europe, along with the unique growth of Martha’s Vineyard’s own sign language. During this same timeframe, a French priest, Charles-Michel de l’Épée, established the first Deaf school in France. Because of his desire to help those in need, his school was free to the public.

The iconic symbol of the Eiffel Tower displayed over the German flag reflects how de l’Épée was committed to caring for Deaf individuals in France and wrote a French dictionary of sign language that was also published for public use. At the same time in Europe, many educators were beginning to teach lipreading and oral communication skills to Deaf students. Simultaneously with de l’Épée’s work in France, the “German Method” became one of the most successful approaches to oral communication, developed by German educator Samuel Heinicke and taught throughout parts of Europe.

The last icon in this left section of the Deaf History Timeline depicts the American School for the Deaf building, founded by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc in Hartford, Connecticut. Gallaudet traveled to Europe to meet Archbishop Roch Sicard, the successor to de l’Épée in France. Laurent Clerc was one of Sicard’s instructors and was assigned the mission of traveling to the United States with Gallaudet to help establish a school and train Deaf students.

Sicard wrote the important book Theory of Signs, which played a vital role in the teaching and growth of effective communication for Deaf students. Alice Cogswell was the first student of the American School for the Deaf, and many Deaf educators were later trained and encouraged to establish schools in different regions to teach sign language to Deaf individuals.

The first icon in the middle section of the Deaf History Timeline symbols is an American Indian headdress. As the United States expanded westward, Americans discovered that Native tribes of this land had used sign language and symbols to communicate for centuries, just as many other people groups throughout history have done around the world.

The antique telephone icon represents the effort expended by Alexander Graham Bell to help Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals. Bell sought to assist his mother, who was hard of hearing, and was influenced by his father, who spent many years as a Deaf educator teaching a system known as “visible speech.” He was also attempting to improve effective communication for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people in America.

After unsuccessful efforts related to oral deaf education versus sign language methodology, Bell completed work on the telephone in 1876. His invention grew into technology that expanded widely in its uses and eventually led to TTY and other effective communication tools for Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals.

Shortly after the invention of the telephone, the Conference of Milan publicly supported oral-based education as a better system for educating Deaf individuals than the use of signing and symbols. The United States was the only country that moved in a contrary direction to the Conference of Milan, continuing to support manual systems to teach and train Deaf individuals for more effective communication.

The NAD logo icon illustrates how, in 1880, the National Association of the Deaf was founded. Its inaugural meeting focused on strengthening and supporting manual Deaf education and the use of sign language. The founding of the NAD stood in direct opposition to the Conference of Milan and encouraged manual communication teaching techniques and sign language.

Following the impactful work of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc at the American School for the Deaf, a new school was established in 1856 by General Amos Kendall, with Edward Miner Gallaudet serving as its superintendent. This school — along with its work and influence in teaching and training Deaf students — is symbolized by the icon of the Tower Clock of Chapel Hall on the campus of Gallaudet University.

The United States Congress chartered the school for the education of Deaf and blind students in 1857, naming it the National College for the Deaf and Dumb. Shortly after, in 1864 during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, it became the first university for Deaf students in America. The institution was later renamed Gallaudet University and has educated and trained Deaf students for more than a century, shaping Deaf culture along the way.

In 1988, Gallaudet was the site of the Deaf President Now protest, which demonstrated the strength of the Deaf community in America and affirmed that it is stronger than ever as it continues to advocate for the rights and freedoms of Deaf individuals.

This icon in the Deaf History Timeline represents one of the first hearing aids invented to assist Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals. Most hearing aids produced in the late 1800s were heavy and cumbersome. However, by the early 1900s, hearing aids had been developed that were much easier to use and transport. For the first time, Deaf and hearing-impaired individuals could hear sounds more effectively.

As Deaf education, effective communication, and ASL for Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals grew stronger in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Deaf community was also making a major impact on American sports. The football and baseball icon symbolizes how these two games were changed by Deaf players.

In baseball, outstanding Major League player William “Dummy” Hoy influenced the game by establishing the need for umpires to use hand signals to call balls, strikes, and plays so that players could clearly understand what was happening. Deaf football players also helped change another major American sport. In 1894 at Gallaudet University, quarterback Paul Hubbard realized opposing teams could see their hand signals for plays. To prevent this, Hubbard had his team form a huddle so opponents could not read the signals before the play began.

Through the contributions of Deaf baseball and football players, American baseball and football were changed forever.

Good jobs, steady work, and new employment opportunities were extremely limited for Deaf individuals in the early 1900s. However, with the onset of World War I and World War II, more significant and stable job opportunities became available for the Deaf community.

The iconic symbol for this new era of employment is a Goodyear tire with a shovel and sledgehammer crossed in front of it. Goodyear was one of the major manufacturers that employed a strong community of Deaf workers in their plants to produce goods during wartime. This wartime development of manufacturing communities around factories and production sites became a trend that lasted well into the 20th century in America.

It also helped create new opportunities for jobs and stable employment for Deaf workers.

This icon depicts the TTY teletypewriter. It celebrates an invention that dramatically changed the ability of Deaf individuals to communicate effectively with others. During the early 1960s, Deaf inventor Robert Weitbrecht created one of the most helpful tools for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people — the TTY teletypewriter machine, which allowed communication over telephone lines.

The dome of the United States Capitol building forms the next icon in the Deaf History Timeline. From the halls of Congress in 1964 came the Babbidge Report. This landmark report declared that oral deaf education had failed. It also emphasized that manual communication methods and manual-based education were a far more effective system for creating meaningful communication for Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals.

Another major step forward in the development of more effective communication for Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals came in the early 1970s. This icon of a classic standing cabinet television represents another technological leap in the Deaf History Timeline. Greater access arrived in 1972 when closed captioning appeared on television for the first time. A Boston network, WGBH-TV, was the first to air a closed-captioned program, The French Chef.

Once again, more effective methods of communication for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community were achieved.

In 1973, the U.S. Congress passed the Rehabilitation Act. The TTY symbol forms the next icon in the Deaf History Timeline. This symbol illustrates how the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 provided federal assistance and support for Deaf individuals. That support came through government funding for TTY phones and the provision of interpreters, helping create more effective communication for those who needed these resources.

By 1985, advances in technological devices and equipment for aiding hearing had reached a new level. For the first time, cochlear implants were approved to encourage and enhance hearing. This icon of a cochlear implant device marks that step in the Deaf History Timeline.

The iconic symbols of the Oscar Award and the tiara crown represent two historic firsts in America. In 1985, a Deaf woman, Heather Whitestone, became the first Deaf Miss America. Following this achievement, in 1987, another milestone was reached when a Deaf woman, Marlee Matlin, won an Academy Award for her role in the film Children of a Lesser God.

These moments marked significant strides in the visibility and public awareness of the strength, creativity, and empowerment of the Deaf community. The community was becoming stronger than it had ever been in the history of the United States.

The “DEAF PREZ NOW” sign forms a historic icon in the Deaf History Timeline. The year 1988 was pivotal in raising national awareness of the strength and empowerment of the Deaf community in America. On the campus of Gallaudet University, Deaf students had been educated for more than a century using effective manual communication methods, including ASL. That year, the campus became the center of the Deaf President Now protest.

Students and their supporters ultimately succeeded when the recently appointed hearing president was replaced by a Deaf president, I. King Jordan, who became the first Deaf president in the university’s history. A powerful symbol of unity during the protest was a banner borrowed from Howard University, originally used during Civil Rights marches led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The banner read, “We Still Have A Dream,” reflecting the continued pursuit of equality and self-representation.

This demonstration of solidarity showed that the Deaf community on campus and across America was stronger than ever. Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals throughout the United States were strengthened, more recognized, and encouraged by this unified stand for their principles. They truly were Stronger Than Ever.

With the ever-growing empowerment and increasing strength of the Deaf community in America, DEAF, Inc. of St. Louis was established in 2009. The final icon in the Deaf History Timeline features the American flag overlaid with the ASL symbol for an interpreter and the St. Louis Arch.

Part of the mission and vision of DEAF, Inc. is to work toward justice, equity and equality for Deaf, Hard of Hearing and DeafBlind individuals in the St. Louis metro region while encouraging effective communication for all people. This is accomplished in part through a range of programs and services tailored to meet individual and community needs.

DEAF, Inc. seeks to enlighten, encourage, and empower the Deaf community locally and across America. The organization strives to inspire Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals to have the vision and courage to overcome difficult hurdles and climb their most ambitious goals. DEAF, Inc. believes that when the Deaf community is supported with passion and purpose, individuals, communities, and the nation itself become Stronger Than Ever.