Annetta W. Peck (October 15, 1871 – July 14, 1958) was an American clubwoman, writer, and community leader. She was a founder and executive secretary of the New York League for the Hard of Hearing in the early twentieth century, and vice-president of the American Federation of Organizations for the Hard of Hearing. She spoke and wrote widely on the work of the League.
Early life
editPeck was born in New Jersey, the daughter of Nathan Peck and Ella Maria Thatcher Peck. She was training as a pianist in her teens when she began to lose her hearing. She gave up music as her impairment worsened.[1][2]
Career
editPeck helped found the New York League for the Hard of Hearing in 1911.[3] "We are not dealing with the deaf," she explained in a 1923 article. "The New York League for the Hard of Hearing and similar organizations are working for and with the deafened only, and admit no one to membership who cannot speak intelligently and intelligibly."[4] She served as the League's executive secretary into the 1930s,[5] and vice-president of the American Federation of Organizations for the Hard of Hearing.[6]
Peck also led the Rochester Hearing Society after she moved to Rochester in 1942, and was a founder of the American Hearing Society.[7][8] In her lectures and writings, she advocated for lip reading classes, community inclusion,[9] employment and recreational opportunities,[10][11] and audiological screenings in schools.[12][13] She worked on services for deafened soldiers after both World War I and World War II.[14] She retired in 1952.[15]
Honors
editPeck received the Better Times Medal for Distinguished Social Service in 1927. "The simplicity and directness of her methods and her gallant and wholehearted devotion to her cause have made her a leader whose inspiration has carried far beyond the limits of her immediate undertaking," commented Mrs. Danforth Geer Jr., as she presented Peck's medal.[16]
Publications
editPeck wrote for academic and professional journals, including The Laryngoscope,[17] Hospital Social Service Quarterly,[4] The Volta Review,[18] and Journal of Exceptional Children.[19]
- "How the Deafened Rebuild Their Lives" (1920)[17]
- "Social Alleviations of Adventitious Deafness" (1921)[20]
- "Hospital Social Service and the Deafened" (1923)[4]
- Ears and the man; studies in social work for the deafened (1926, with Estelle E. Samuelson and Ann Lehman)[21]
- "In the Presence of Beauty" (1927)[18]
- "Ninety Thousand Dollars for the Study of Deafness" (1927)[22]
- "Errors that Hamper the Education of Deaf Children" (1934)[23]
- "Twenty-five Years for the Hard of Hearing Child" (1936, with Estelle E. Samuelson)[19]
- "Organizations for service to the hard-of-hearing: New York League for the Hard-of-Hearing" (1937)[24]
Personal life
editPeck used a mechanical hearing aid.[7] She died in 1958, at the age of 86, in New York City.[1][15]
References
edit- ^ a b "Annetta W. Peck Dies; Was Leader in Organization for Hard of Hearing". The New York Times. 1958-07-15. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
- ^ Moriarty, Edith (1921-06-01). "With the Women of Today". Austin American-Statesman. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-05-19 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Stanley, Harriet E. (1919-06-15). "Helping the Hard of Hearing Make Their Handicap Serve Them". New York Herald. p. 77. Retrieved 2023-05-19 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c Peck, Annetta W. (January 1923). "Hospital Social Service and the Deafened". Hospital Social Service Quarterly. 7 (1): 16–20, quote on page 19.
- ^ Peck, Annetta W. Peck (1936-02-25). "Letter: Annetta W. Peck to Ida M. Tarbell, February 25, 1936".
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(help) - ^ "Will Address Meetings; Miss Annetta Peck to Deal with Work for Deaf". The Gazette. 1930-03-08. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-05-19 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Clune, Henry W. (1947-11-11). "Seen and Heard". Democrat and Chronicle. p. 31. Retrieved 2023-05-19 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Hearing Society Events Set". Democrat and Chronicle. 1948-03-14. p. 63. Retrieved 2023-05-19 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Science Helps Hard of Hearing to Enjoy Recreation of Theatre". Mount Carmel Item. 1925-02-13. p. 8. Retrieved 2023-05-19 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ De Young, Dirk P. (1922-08-27). "Deaf Find Help in this League". New York Herald. p. 26. Retrieved 2023-05-19 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Work Among Hard of Hearing Told; Miss Annetta Peck Outlined Activities of New York League". The Gazette. 1930-03-12. p. 20. Retrieved 2023-05-19 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Hearing of Pupils to be Aided Here; Undetected Defects, Official of New York League Asserts, Cause Much Trouble. Effect of Bad Hearing". The New York Times. 1931-09-27. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
- ^ Virdi, Jaipreet (2017). "Prevention & Conservation: Historicizing the Stigma of Hearing Loss, 1910–1940". Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics. 45 (4): 531–544. doi:10.1177/1073110517750587. ISSN 1073-1105. S2CID 79501564.
- ^ "Path to Better Hearing Mapped; Wilzbach Stresses Value of Health". The Cincinnati Post. 1942-06-23. p. 17. Retrieved 2023-05-19 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Ex-Hearing Society Aide Dies in New York City". Democrat and Chronicle. 1958-07-18. p. 11. Retrieved 2023-05-19 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Annetta W. Peck Receives Signal Honor". The Volta Review. 29 (12): 785. December 1927.
- ^ a b Peck, Annetta W. (August 1920). "How the Deafened Rebuild Their Lives" (PDF). The Laryngoscope. 30 (8): 490–495. doi:10.1288/00005537-192008000-00003. ISSN 0023-852X. S2CID 73180213.
- ^ a b Peck, Annetta W. (June 1927). "In the Presence of Beauty". The Volta Review. 29 (6): 273–278.
- ^ a b Peck, Annetta W.; Samuelson, Estelle E. "Twenty-five years for the hard of hearing child" Journal of Exceptional Children. Jun1936, Vol. 2 Issue 5, p116-124.
- ^ Peck, Annetta W. (June 1921). "Social Alleviations of Adventitious Deafness". Transactions of the American Medical Association, Section on Laryngology, Otiology, and Rhinology. 72: 201–207.
- ^ "Review of Ears and The Man". The Public Health Journal. 17 (4): 184. 1926. ISSN 0319-2660. JSTOR 41973472.
- ^ Peck, Annetta W. (July 1927). "Ninety Thousand Dollars for the Study of Deafness". The Volta Review. 29 (7): 328–330.
- ^ Peck, Annetta W. (February 1, 1934). "Errors that Hamper the Education of Deaf Children". New York State Journal of Medicine: 112 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Peck, Annetta W. (April 1937). "Organizations for service to the hard-of-hearing: New York League for the Hard-of-Hearing". The Laryngoscope. 47 (4): 233–236. doi:10.1288/00005537-193704000-00005. ISSN 0023-852X. S2CID 70574202.